If you still need convincing that 'design' is more than just window-dressing then take a look at this. The Child Vision glasses have just won the Visitor Vote - ie voted by members of the general public - at the Design Museum's Designs of the Year 2013.

These glasses have a fluid-filled lense that allows children (aged 12-18) to self-adjust their glasses as their sight changes over time. Targeted at children with limited access to opticians - and who would otherwise struggle to see blackboards in class clearly - it was designed by Professor John Silver from The Centre for Vision in the Developing World to not only improve vision, but look good too.

It's a fantastically feel-good story and one that shows what happens when the general public engages with design - note that The Shard did not win. In fact, in second place was the [tear-jerk alert] 3D printed Exoskeleton "Magic Arms" device to help children with musculoskeletal disabilities and in third was a non-stick ketchup bottle.

The overall winner of Designs of the Year (not voted by the pubic) was the GOV.UK website. Best product went to the briliant Cola Life initiative - as previously featured in this blog post. Yeah!