Birmingham Design Festival announces programme

Birmingham Design Festival announces programme of inspiring speakers from around the design world.

This Summer will see the launch of the Birmingham Design Festival – a celebration of the local, national and international design industry, held from 7th to 10th June, at venues around the city. Through a carefully-curated programme based around the theme ‘Forward’ the festival, which has been organised by a team of designers and event organisers who work in the city, hopes to encourage interaction, inspiration and conversation on how design will shape the future in our rapidly changing world.

The programme of designers and studios confirmed for the festival so far has just been announced, and includes printmakers, illustrators, typesetters, animators, architects, UX aficionados, product designers, digital talent and good people changing the design industry from the top down and the bottom up. These include some incredible speakers who who have made waves around the world including designer Aaron Draplin, graphic artist, print-maker and designer Anthony Burrill, Pentagram partner Marina Willer, multi-award winning designer Jack Renwick, Lead Designer on Star Wars and Blade Runner 2049 Laura Dishington and founder of Studio Sutherl& Jim Sutherland. The full list of speakers can be viewed here: http://birminghamdesignfestival.org.uk/whats-on/speakers

Birmingham Design Festival will consist of workshops, talks, exhibitions, demonstrations and screenings curated 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 the city has to offer. The event hopes to attract a broad spectrum of visitors, from industry professionals to design students, alongside visitors who merely enjoy a casual critique of the modern world. The programme of events will offer an exciting opportunity to engage with a broad range of disciplines and top practitioners from the UK and beyond – not to mention exciting local talent.

Organiser Daniel Alcorn said,

Our beloved city is currently undergoing an exciting period of evolution and development, and over the last few years these changes have also been evident in the creative industries. Brum is starting to act and feel like the creative powerhouse it has always had the potential to become. It’s been a long road but we’re nearing the finish line, with the festival less than 3 months away. This programme announcement is truly more than we could’ve ever hoped for in our first year and we have been blown away by the support for the festival.

The programme will continue to be developed over the next month as Birmingham based speakers and a range of creative workshops for all ages will be announced. The full programme of events will be listed online at the start of April, along with tickets going on sale.

A call for entries for anyone wishing to submit a talk or workshop at the festival is also open via the website until Friday 27th April.

Birmingham Design Festival is grateful for support from main partners BLOC Hotels and Awesome Merchandise. For information on all of our partners and how you can support the festival visit http://birminghamdesignfestival.org.uk/support-us

To find out more about the festival visit: http://birminghamdesignfestival.org.uk