[BDF 2018] A celebration of the local, national and international design industry
The Summer of 2018 will see the launch of the Birmingham Design Festival – an ambitious celebration of the dynamic design industry, held over four packed days and hosted right here in our backyard.
Curated by designers Luke Tonge and Daniel Alcorn, with incredible support from a team of designers, project managers, curators and volunteers, Birmingham Design Festival has been a true labour of love.
Whether you’re a seasoned professional, design student or someone who just enjoys a casual critique of the modern world, we’ll offer you the opportunity to engage with a broad range of disciplines and top practitioners from the UK and beyond – not to mention exciting local talent.
Through a carefully-curated programme based around an annual theme, BDF hope to encourage further conversation, interaction and inspiration. On the line-up you can expect to hear from individuals and studios who are helping champion the local scene, combined with iconic designers who’ve made waves around the world.
On the line-up you can expect to hear from individuals and studios who are helping champion the local scene, combined with iconic designers who’ve made waves around the world.
Birmingham Design Festival (7th – 10th June) will consist of workshops, talks, exhibitions, demonstrations and screenings loosely gathered into three Design Districts (Graphic, Digital & Product) and will be held in both modern and historic venues across Birmingham, showcasing the innovative institutions and rich heritage Birmingham offers.
The much anticipated festival will feature a host of world renowned designers, print-makers, graphic artists, advertising maestros, UI aficionados, illustrators and animators, and will be held in some of the city’s most impressive and innovative venues across the festival’s three Design Districts.
See the full line up here.
Birmingham Design Festival will be held in some of the city’s most impressive and innovative venues across the festival’s three Design Districts.
Birmingham Design festival runs for three jam-packed days, culminating in a final evening celebration in the Graphic District with four incredible intergalactic speakers held at the Conservatoire. Showcasing some of the most visually exciting work out there.
Kicking things off will be the Yarza Twins – Marta and Eva – an independent London-based multidisciplinary studio with a bold and beautiful portfolio that spans branding, coding, animation, typography, filmmaking and illustration. The twins grew up in Vigo – a city on the Galician coast – and went to university in Madrid. They moved to London after living in New York (where Eva interned with Sagmeister & Walsh) and set up their own studio in London’s Southbank area in 2016.
Yarza Twins
Up next is helloMuller – the studio of Belgian award-winning graphic designer and creative director Tom Muller fresh from his appearance at OFFF Barcelona. He partners with, and designs for technology startups, movie studios, publishers, media producers, filmmakers, and ad agencies, and his work will dazzle you – it was made for this kind of venue.
Rounding up the evening will be U.S designer Aaron James Drapin. Firebrand, truth-teller, man of the people, vector-terrorizor, field-notes founder, motivational speaker and radical designer Aaron James Draplin is as sought after for his words of wisdom as he is for his design skills. Ticketed workshops will also be running on Sunday 10th June.
Aaron Draplin
Alongside these headline events the festival programme will feature workshops, talks, exhibitions, demonstrations and screenings curated into three Design Districts across the four days. The Graphic District will be in the city centre, the Digital District in the Digbeth area of the city and the Product District will feature venues in the city’s historic and unique Jewellery Quarter.
BDF have taken great care to include both modern and historic venues across Birmingham, in order to showcase the innovative institutions and rich heritage the city has to offer. Each district will have a hub venue which will play host to a diverse programme of FREE (that’s right, FREE) talks featuring some of the world’s most innovative, award winning creative studios including R/GA, Rosie Lee, B-Reel, Make, Gensler and DBLG.
Tickets are now on sale.