Brit Insurance Design awards 2009: The winners

Winner of the fashion category, Italian Vogue: A Black Issue. This was published in July 2008 at the peak of the US presidential campaign. Sales of the magazine jumped by 40% and the issue was recognised by the judges to be "a cultural watershed" that "proved 'black' does sell" in an industry repeatedly accused of racism Photograph: PR

Konstantin Grcic's cantilevered plastic chair – the MYTO – scooped the furniture prize in the awards. The judges commented: "It is tough creating a design classic but the MYTO might just have achieved this through its rigorous experimentation and research" Photograph: PR

Interactive prizewinner Make Magazine is a website and blog devoted entirely to DIY technology products. It impressed the judges with its sophistication as "a remarkable resource of practical and social value" Photograph: PR

Competing against the refurbishment of Kings Cross St Pancras and a sport wheelchair, the Line-J Medellin Metro Cable in Columbia triumphed in the transport category. The design has re-appropriated the traditional use of cable cars on ski slopes as "a mass transit system for the urban poor". The judges found it "intriguing" Photograph: PR

Olso's new opera house, designed by Snøhetta and overlooking the Oslofjord, was a worthy winner of the architecture prize. Recognised by the panel to be "a beautifully designed building that's a living part of the city", it provides a generous mix of indoor and outdoor spaces for the public to roam and explore from sea to roof level Photograph: birdseyepix.com/Christopher Hagelund/PR

Indonesian designer Singgih S Kartono's Magno wooden radio took the product prize at the Brit Insurance awards. Manufactured by local craftspeople in Indonesia, the small but perfectly formed radio impressed judges with its "clear respect for the material it uses and sensibility to details" Photograph: PR

And the overall winner ... Shepard Fairey's Obama Hope poster. Now an iconic image replicated and refashioned the world over, the poster was originally commissioned by the initiative Artists for Obama to raise awareness for the presidential campaign. Based on an image taken by Mannie Garcia, the poster, said the judges, "demonstrated the power of communicating ideas and aspirations from grassroots level" Photograph: PR