Picture Gallery: iconic items at the Design Museum

Apple iMac designed by Jonathan Ive, 1998-9. Credit: Design Museum.

A new permanent collection at London's Design Museum has been created to reveal intriguing stories behind some of the most everyday objects.

Extraordinary Stories About Ordinary Things includes much-loved and iconic designs, including the Dyson vacuum cleaner and the Apple iMac.

Some of the exhibits - such as the phone box, the post box and the London 2012 logo - explore national identity. Others reveal the surprising origins of well-known designs, such as the Anglepoise lamp, created by a car engineer who had an obsession with springs.

Anglepoise Lamp, Design Museum Collection. Credit: Design Museum.
Apple iMac, Jonathan Ive 1998-9. Credit: Design Museum.
Boby Trolley, Joe Colombo 1964. Credit: Design Museum.
Cesca armchair (model B32), Marcel Breuer. Credit: Design Museum.
Coast Chair, Marc Newson, 1995. Credit: Design Museum.
F Type Post Box, David Mellor Design. Credit: Design Museum.
G-Force Cyclonic Vacuum Cleaner, James Dyson 1986. Credit: Design Museum.
Handlebar Table. Credit: Phillips de Pury
Jim Nature Portable Television, Philippe Starck 1994. Credit: Design Museum.
K6 Kiosk, Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. Credit: BT Heritage.
LAR Armchair, Charles Eames 1948. Credit: Design Museum.
Low Table, Marcel Breuer 1936. Credit: Design Museum.
Mezzadro Stool, Achille & Pier Castiglioni1954. Credit: Design Museum.
Traffic Light, David Mellor. Credit: Design Museum.
Road Sign, Jock Kinneir & Margaret Calvert 1964. Credit: Design Museum.
Typewriter Valentine, Ettore Sottsass for Olivetti. Credit: Design Museum.

Extraordinary Stories About Ordinary Things will be showing at the Design Museum, Shad Thames, London SE1 2YD, 10.00-17.45 daily, T: 0870 833 9955, www.designmuseum.org