The world is changing and so too are the design and art markets. The household names of Monet, Warhol, Freud and Bacon are now joined by the likes of Zaha Hadid, Ron Arad, Gio Ponti, Marc Newson and Alexandre Noll. Such designers are breaking through the art market mould as viable investments in their own right.

Design is sweeping through an enthralled global circuit of fairs, auction rooms and galleries as collectors are rampantly buying into this new world.

The Zeitgeist is spreading its wings, in the last year alone, the auction houses proved that design has been increasing in popularity and value. Christie's made ₤1,251,400, Sotheby's ₤1,903,600 and leading the field was Phillips de Pury with ₤2,320,050 of sales.

In the past year, design's establishment as a stand-alone artistic medium has been confirmed with a show at the New York Museum of Modern Art and by the September opening of the Museum of Arts and Design in New York.

Christie's New York opened its autumn auction season in September with an inaugural sale dedicated exclusively to "contemporary design", a brand new category in the auction world. The 21 lots brought in more than $1.16 million, with the top lot, a mirror-polished stainless steel sofa by Ron Arad, going for $206,500. These sale results reflect a growing international enthusiasm for the contemporary design market.

Despite growing price tags, art collectors are lining up for their limited edition chairs and tables. This new appetite for design has drawn artists, painters and sculptors to try their hand at design also. Among them is the British artist and sculptor Marc Quinn. For Quinn, the impetus to make furniture came from the simple desire to furnish a home. "I became interested in furniture because I was building a house in Spain," Quinn said in his studio in East London. "I thought it would be interesting to work directly with real material, rather than draw something on the computer then have it made." Quinn’s marble works are exquisite and when asked, how long could he spend watching television, perched on a rock-hard, cold marble Mountain chair? "Hours".

Promoting these designers is a host of design fairs and galleries. Design Miami is at the forefront for collectors of design. This past year at Design Miami/Basel assorted celebrities and collectors alike were all looking to add to their collections with furniture, lighting and objects. Avid followers of design and architecture bought items including a white marble table by Jeroen Verhoeven, a fibreglass lamp by Atelier Van Lieshout and two Ron Arad chairs.

With this growing appreciation, galleries are also representing designers – elevating design to collectable status, whereby chairs, lamps and loungers are marketed as precious one-off pieces or in limited editions. The attraction to such designers is evident when you look at the success of Marc Newson, the Sydney born designer who, when Sotheby’s sold his Lockheed Lounge for about £482,000 in 2006, broke the record for an item of furniture sold by a living designer. Away from these record breaking auction prices furniture by the mid-century moderns such as Jacobsen and Eames can be snapped up for a more modest amount upwards of £5,000.