Dezeen Magazine

Nendo's Oki Sato named world's most popular designer on Dezeen Hot List

Oki Sato of Japanese studio Nendo has seen off competition from Thomas Heatherwick to claim a higher spot than any other designer on the first-ever Dezeen Hot List.

Published this week, Dezeen Hot List is the most comprehensive data survey of architecture and design media ever conducted. Based entirely on audience data, the 400-strong list reveals the key players and emerging talents in the design world.

Nendo is the only industrial designer to rank in the top 20 of the overall list, compared with 13 architects – proving how much more popular architecture is among Dezeen readers. In total, there are just 53 designers on the list.

Notably, both Sato and Heatherwick have also dabbled with architecture over the past year – Sato completed a department store in Bangkok , while Heatherwick is pushing forward with his controversial Garden Bridge.

Designers Hot ListOur Designers Hot List features the most-searched for names in design over the past year. For the top spot, it was a close-run thing between Oki Sato of Nendo and Thomas Heatherwick. Find out more about who made the cut on dezeen.com/hotlist #dezeenhotlist

Posted by Dezeen on Friday, 11 November 2016

The top 10 designers on Dezeen Hot List are counted down in this video

On the dedicated Designers Hot List, Sato is closely followed by Heatherwick, then Ronan and Erwan BouroullecTom Dixon and Jasper Morrison.

By nationality the UK is top dog on the list, with seven designers in the top 20. As well as Dixon, Heatherwick and Morrison, this includes Benjamin Hubert (number seven) and Barber and Osgerby (number eight).

Apple's British design chief Jonathan Ive is surprisingly low down the list at number 11.

But perhaps the most striking thing about the Designers Hot List is how male-dominated it is: Patricia Urquiola (number 10) is the only woman in the top 20. Hella Jongerius is next at 21, while Ilse Crawford is at 31.

Find out more on www.dezeen.com/hotlist