Wallpaper represents hope in Cape Town – World Design Capital 2014

During the bidding phase of Cape Town’s Winning World Design Capital 2014 campaign, the focus was often on the need that Cape Town had, not for high-end ‘stuff and pretty objects’, but for creative problem solving. The emphasis was on the important role that interesting, functional and beautiful objects and environments play in transforming lives (the successful application of user centred design principles).

Textile designer Jane Solomon
, at the request of the Cape Craft and Design Institute, recently worked with women from the Saartjie Baartman Centre to transform their dining area. The one-stop centre in Manenberg caters for women and children who experience domestic and / or sexual violence. As well as providing a 24-hour emergency shelter, the centre also provides short and medium term residential care, childcare services, counselling, mental health support, and legal and economic empowerment services.

Due to limited resources, the main section had an under-equipped and uninviting dining area. Synnov Skorge, director of the Saartjie Baartman Centre, says: “The women come here under extreme, emergency circumstances. Our funding covers the basic needs, but we wanted a welcoming, comfortable dining space where the women could enjoy their meals with their children and reconstruct their families.”

In an effort to enable and inspire, Jane worked with 10 women from the centre over four days to redesign their visual environment … collaborating on the creation of a colour palette and incorporating circular mandalas that express challenges, hopes, experiences and more. These paper circles – or flowers – were scanned and professionally printed as the “Flowers for Saartjie” wallpaper.

“The wallpaper is both attractive and profound because of the messages about [the women’s] experiences,” says Synnov. “It is a testimony to their lives and where they are going, about the strength they have shown.” More information here.

City of Cape Town appointed as World Design Capital 2014

“Taipei, Taiwan (Chinese Taipei) – The International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (Icsid) announced today that the City of Cape Town (South Africa) has been designated the World Capital Design (WDC) 2014. Cape Town is the fourth city to hold this biennial appointment and marks the first for the African continent”.

Respect
Cape Town ran an exceptional campaign. They began their campaign very early, they devised a visual identity that was very strong (in black and yellow) and they consistently and in a single-minded way applied that identity everywhere … and it was displayed on thousands of websites (17,500+ when I last checked). Capetonians in general gave their unreserved and enthusiastic support for the bid – the theme of which was a very accessible and usable “Live Design. Transform Life”. The enduring image of the WDC 2014 Bid Campaign is Cape Town’s Table Mountain illuminated in yellow on the evening of the Icsid Jury visit. Congratulations and well done to all involved – great success in 2014.

Table Mountain was illuminated yellow on the occasion of the Icsid/WDC visit


There are two winners from this campaign – Cape Town and The International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (Icsid) who ran an exceptionally professional project and kept the World Design Capital brand on track. This brand is not just important to Icsid, and not just important to Cape Town and the previously designated Turin (2008), Seoul (2010) and Helsinki (2012) – it helps change the way city inhabitants and city administrators around the world view and understand their environment and how it can be improved.

From the Cape Town official bid website: “Cape Town’s feeling on top of the world after being named World Design Capital 2014. Want to catch the fever? Watch this video – screened at the International Design Alliance (IDA) Congress in Taipei during an electrifying announcement of the Mother City’s win.”

It’s the end of the World

Actually it’s only the end of the World Design Capital 2014 Bid Process.

Wednesday 26th at noon in Taipei (5am in Dublin) the announcement confirming which of the three short-listed cities will be designated WDC 2014 will be made.

Win, Lose or Draw the Thomas Reid (corner of Parliament Street and Dame Street) has been designated as the meeting place (Wednesday at 6.30pm) for those wishing to celebrate or commiserate.

It’s not an ‘official’ event just a get together to mark the occasion – and everyone is welcome so pass on the details.

World Design Capital 2014 – ‘Building the Groundswell for Pivot Dublin’

Dublin is now shortlisted for designation as World Design Capital 2014. As the tension-filled days passed, and the bids were submitted, the organisers announced that over 50 cities had expressed interest – now our city is one of just three left in the race.

The prize is an important one. Becoming World Design Capital in 2014 would not simply change the design sector for ever … or the Creative Sector … it would change Dublin City forever and help make it more liveable, lively and interesting (as well as more manageable).

Winning designation as World Design Capital 2014 will change things for the better – for everyone … and everyone can help. Below are two images – it would be very helpful if you could put one of them on your organization or company webpage with a back-link to www.pivotdublin.com

And it would be even more beneficial if you could send them to each of your members / friends / followers with your request that they also support the Pivot Dublin effort by putting a Pivot Dublin image on their sites (with the same back-link) too. And please use them on your emails too!

This would be an effective component of ‘Building the Groundswell for Pivot Dublin’ at this important time. There is plenty left to do if we are to turn a short-listing into a triumph!

Dublin on WDC 2014 shortlist

The news that Dublin is one of the three cities short-listed for designation as World Design Capital 2014 is welcomed by the representative bodies of the Irish Creative Sector. Although certain of the irrefutable power of the Pivot Dublin bid there has been a period of nail-biting tension for members of the Irish Creative Community as the days ‘clicked’ closer to the announcement. Now it is official – Dublin joins Cape Town and Bilbao on the shortlist. One of these cities will be designated World Design Capital 2014 in October.

To be included on the shortlist is a milestone for Dublin City – and there is now a window of opportunity for Dublin to show the ‘WDC decision-makers’ that Dublin is the one! The selection committee will visit the three listed cities in the next few weeks – prior to reaching a final decision on which city will be designated World Design Capital 2014. It is all to play for.

The Irish Creative Industries can help lead our economy back towards growth, can put our people back to work and can tell an uplifting story of Ireland and of the creative skills and abilities of its people. Being shortlisted in this very important competition provides a significant step forward on that road. Well done to Ali Grehan, Owen O’Doherty, Bob Gray (Red & Grey Design), Emma Curley (Emma Curley Architecture, Urban Design, Facilitation), Tom Burke and Shane Hogan (Areaman Productions), Dr. Linda King (IADT) and Henrietta McKervey who deserve unreserved congratulations for taking the Dublin bid this far.

Garrett Stokes, Chairperson at Design Business Ireland [DBI]
Eddie Shanahan, Chairperson at Council of Irish Fashion Designers [CIFD]
Seamus Byrne, Interaction Design Association [IxDA]
Sarah Brown, President, Interiors Association [iA]
Elaine McDevitt, Operations Director, Institute of Creative Advertising & Design [ICAD]
Carol Coffey, President of Institute of designers [IDI]

– – – – –

Expect to be inspired

As the pressure intensifies and the submission deadline comes closer, Dublin’s Bid for World Design Capital, 2014 comes more sharply into perspective. The closing date for tenders was Tuesday 26 October 2010 – so an announcement about the winner must be imminent. Their role will be to prepare the bid presentation (working closely with Dublin City Council) for submission to ICSID by March 31st 2011. A four month turnaround is demanding , working to such a tight schedule – with Christmas ‘interfering’ at the start – will require an ‘all hands on deck’ approach. Some work will already have taken place in advance of tenders being submitted.

On Wednesday 24 November The Trinity Long Room Hub presents a lunchtime talk by Ali Grehan, Dublin City Architect, Dublin City Council.

Everyone who reads this blog already knows the background – Dublin City and County Councils, in collaboration with the successful tenderer, are preparing a bid to have Dublin designated the World Design Capital of 2014.

The bid itself has one objective – Achieve World Design Capital 2014 designation for Dublin … but the bid submission process has a number of important objectives/outcomes including:

(1) Unify and strengthen the Irish design community and make it more effective as a driver of innovation (this is already beginning to happening)
(2) Set the stage for a subsequent WDC winning bid … in the event that Dublin WDC designation is not achieved on this occasion (this will be the natural outcome of a strong initial bid)
(3) Begin and follow through on the process of making Dublin a ‘real’ design capital – for the benefit of its citizens and visitors (this in itself is a vast project but it has already started).

World Design Capital is a biennial designation awarded following a competition held by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (Icsid). The award is intended as a way of recognising cities that most effectively use design as a tool for social, cultural and economic progress.

In submitting a bid, Dublin will compete with a number of other cities worldwide. Some of these cities are recognised globally as centres for design, others have, over recent years, begun to build towards that status and have deployed significant financial and human resources over several years in preparing their cities and their bids.

Dublin cannot currently claim to be a centre for world-class design, but in this talk Ali Grehan will outline the ambition, imagination and vision behind the bid to fashion Dublin into an internationally-recognised centre of excellence in this field.

The Irish Creative/Design Community has considerable potential. There should be no doubt about our ability to mount an exceptional WDC year (when we achieve that designation) and by doing so to contribute greatly to the development of the WDC brand itself – as well as creating a much more pleasant, equal, green, social, interesting … and creative city for citizens of Dublin and those who visit.

BUT … Realistically, this is a most difficult ‘project’ to win as the competition includes many outstanding global cities with longer histories in design, with deeper pockets to fund projects, (and now with more stable economies!) and there are other issues too.

Where are we now? Ail Grehan and Dublin City Council have provided the leadership and impetus for the bid. The design community and the creative sector in general have joined ‘the cause’. Dublin’s bid must be submitted by 31st March 2011. The clock is running – and even after the bid is submitted there is much work to be done.

EVENT DETAILS: Wednesday 24 November from 1 – 2 pm, The Trinity Long Room Hub presents a lunchtime talk by Ali Grehan, Dublin City Architect, Dublin City Council, in the Neill / Hoey Lecture theatre, Trinity Long Room Building, Fellows’ Square, Trinity College Dublin, Admission Free, All Welcome

For two days in January Helsinki and Paris will be World Design Capital

My favourite city is Helsinki, or perhaps its Paris, no Helsinki, Paris! It is a choice I won’t have to make next January as I can enjoy two days when Helsinki and Paris will be World Design Capital. The 8th International Conference on the Challenges of Design Support in Europe will take place in Paris on Monday 10th and Tuesday 11th January 2011 in Cité des Sciences et de l’industrie. Organised by the Agency for the Promotion of Industrial Creation (Agence pour la promotion de la création industrielle [APCI]) the first day of the event will focus on the career paths of design professionals.

The second day will be co-presented by APCI, World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 and the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design [Icsid] and will focus on the following issues:

– the broad impact of the WDC application process on the regional design resources (professionals, clients, schools, institutions etc.)

– an essential axis of Helsinki’s project: using design to promote citizen’s welfare. The municipality (and the neighboring ones) intend to transform Public Service using design approaches and design thinking

– starting a dialog between Helsinki, ambassador of a European spirit of design, and the global challenges of the profession. In other words, to what extent, and how, design might contribute to build communities that can evolve in harmony.

Those who manage World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 have long ago decided that one year was ‘insufficient’ to celebrate Helsinki as a World Design Capital and that the celebration should begin by 2011, run through 2012 and continue beyond the designated year.

I visited Helsinki in October and already the Design District was humming with anticipation – their 2010/2011 design book was published and on sale, the discrete blue window stickers proclaiming World Design Capital 2012 were on display and everyone was willing to discuss design and WDC. I am a frequent visitor to Finland and I know this is as close as the (reserved) Finns get to public euphoria (leaving aside Finnish “horror rock” group Lordi and their surprise win at the 51st Eurovision Song Contest.)

APCI
Created in 1983 with the intention of the bringing together of culture, research and industry, in collaboration with its members and its partners, APCI develops tools and group actions that provoked the economic, social and cultural aspects of French design in France and abroad.

Icsid
Founded in 1957 the primary aim of the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design [Icsid] is to advance the discipline of industrial design at an international level. Icsid is a non-profit organisation that protects and promotes the interests of the profession of industrial design.

World Design Capital (WDC)

Under the direction of the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (Icsid), the WDC promotes the importance of good design strengthening and empowering cities to use design to position their competitive advantages from a social, cultural and economic point of view. The World Design Capital project is a biennial international designation created to identify and recognise cities that have effectively used design to revive the city and improve its quality of life.

Further conference information:
Jean Schneider
Chef de project / APCI Project manager, email: conf.apci@free.fr

World Design Capital Bid Resources – Pivot Dublin

Dublin City Council has published a Request for Tender for those interested in bidding to provide ‘bid support’ to DCC for the Official Pivot Dublin Bid to achieve designation as World Design Capital 2014.

Those intending to respond to DCCs Request for Tender may find the following links useful. I will continuously update this information as relevant material is published.

2014: DUBLIN:
Official Bid Website
Pivot Dublin Press release here.
Original Dublin City Council document from April 2010 here.

2014: CAPE TOWN:
Official Cape Town Bid Site
Cape Town FAQ
Cape Town Businesses in Support of Bid
Andrew Boraine’s perspective
Showcase for the South African creative industry
Cape Town on youtube

2014: BILBAO:
Comment on Bilbao Bid

2014: BEIJING:
According to the statistics from Beijing Statistics Bureau, Beijing at present has 20,000 various design companies and enterprises with 250,000 employees, and also has 112 design institutes and colleges with over 30,000 students! This creative city is drawing a creative workforce, what better example than Oliver Boulay, the chief designer of Mercedes-Benz, who moved to Beijing in April 2009 and has established the Mercedes-Benz Beijing Design Centre. ICOGRADA’s 2009 World Design Congress was held in Beijing. Chinese concept and design magazine is here.
Editorial

2012: HELSINKI
Helsinki was successful in its bid for designation as World Design Capital (WDC) 2012, their bid document is here.
The Helsinki WDC 2012 website is here.
This is also useful.

2012: EINDHOVEN
Eindhoven was the only other city to be shortlisted for WDC 2012, the bid document is here.
Blog Comment on Eindhoven

2012: NOTTINGHAM
Nottingham’s 2012 bid is here
Dexiner Comment on Bid Support Consultancy
BBC article about Nottingham bid
Another look at a Nottingham brand for their bid

2010: SEOUL
Seoul is WDC 2010. The South Korean capital was the WDC first city chosen through competition. Their WDC website is here. Other useful sites are here, and here and here… and the Business Week review entitled “The Seoul of World Design” is here.

Creative Cities attract Creative Talent: General Motors has established its Advanced Design Studio in Seoul where there are now 30 designers at the studio doing interior and exterior design for GM’s mini and small vehicles.

2008: TURIN
Turin was WDC 2008. It was chosen by Icsid in order to test/demonstrate the viability of the WDC concept. The Turin website is here.

Comments / additional information … all very welcome.

The next six months in Seoul (calendar of 82 events)

July 2010 (14 events):
International Young Designers Workshop
Seoul Youth Creativity Summit & Festival (until August)
“Children and Parents Joining Together” Design Workshop (until August)
Project of Local Community Artist Development (until August)
Hanstyle Expo 2010
Seoul International Cartoon & Animation Festival (July 21-25)
Seoul Character & Licensing Fair 2010
Design Exhibition at Kumho Museum
Design Exhibition at Doosung paper gallery
Golden Eyes international Art Fair
MBC Architecture Fair
Package Design Summer Camp
SICAF Promotion Plan 2010 (SPP) (July 21-23)
Seoul International e-Sports Festival (July 23-25)

August 2010 (6 events):
8th Samwon Scholarship Foundation Awardees Design Exhibition (August 16-30)
17th Design Competition for the Youth
Korea Art Summer Festival
KODDCO 2010 (Korea Digital Design International Online Competition – until November)
Xi Design Fiesta
Seoul Brand Furniture Fair (August 20-25)
Korea International Furniture & Interior Fair

September 2010 (19 events):
6th Seoul International Media Art Biennale (until November)
7th QMON Design Ground (September 15th – December 30th)
Korea International Art Fair 2010 (September 08-12)
Seoul International Contemporary Art Festival 2010
International Creative Content Fair 2010
Special Exhibition – Gyeonghuigung Palace (September 17th – October 31st)
Good Design Selection 2010
Seoul Digital Culture Open 2010
Tokyo TDC Seoul Exhibition (Tokyo Type Directors Club – until October)
Cutting Edge Best Digital Designers Invitational Exhibition
College Fashion Week
Dongdaemun Fashion Festival 2010 (September 15-22 – TBD)
Korea Textile Trade Fair
Korean Crafts Council Exhibition
Seoul Gift Show 2010
Seoul Drum Festival 2010
Riverside Cafe Festival
Hangang Performing Artist Project (until October)
Seoul e-Culture Festival 2010 (September 29)

October 2010 (25 events):
Seoul Design Olympiad 2010 (October 8-31)
Haechi Festival
“Seoul, I Design” Public Design Competition 2010
International Design House Exhibition (October 8-31)
Seoul Design Market 2010 (October 8-31)
WDC Convocation Ceremony (October 30-31)
Seoul Design Studio Design Company Exhibition
Korea Space Design Festival 2010
Seoul Fashion Week 2010 (Autumn edition)
Visiting Fashion Show 2010
Design MADE
Playgrounds With Culture (Autumn edition)
Hangeul Font Type Design Competition
POSCO Steel Art Award
Steel Design Competition
PIN UP Design Awards 2010
Korea Architecture Fair & Festival 2010
International Lighting Fair 2010
Seoul International Toy Fair 2010
Designtag Online Shop
Saemungil Festival (October 16-21)
Hangang Children’s Drawing Contest
Itaewon Global Village Festival
Seoul Metro Vintage Show
Seoul International Performance Festival 2010 – SIPF 2010

November 2010 (9 events):
International Exhibition of Professional Artists 2010
VIDAK Annual Members Exhibition (Visual Information Design Association of Korea)
KOSIGN 2010 – Korea International Sign & Design Show (November 11-14)
Korea Package Design Competition
Korea Interior Design Contest
Public Design Expo 2010
Post-Professional School of Architecture, Korea Institute of Architects
Home & Table Deco Fair
Korea Society of Design Science Conference 2010 (Autumn edition)

December 2010 (9 events):
Design Korea 2010 (TBD)
Seoul Design Festival 2010 (December 7-11)
Seoul Ice Carving Festival 2010
Korea Invention Patent Exhibition
2010 Trademark – Design Right Exhibition
Siggraph Asia 2010 (December 15-18)
Creative Designers Award
Seoul International New Art Fair
Design Yearbook “Creatio”

World Design Capital (WDC) –
Was WDC; Is WDC; Will be WDC … and Wanna-be WDC

Dublin is considering a bid for WDC designation in either 2014 or 2016.
Anyone interested in World Design Capital events can find information by following these links:

WAS WDC 2008:
Torino

IS WDC 2010:
Seoul Design Olympiad
and
Seoul – World Design Capital 2010

WILL BE WDC 2012:
Helsinki – World Design Capital

WANNA BE WDC 2014: (this is just a selection of the bidders for WDC designation in 2014)
Cape Town
Taipei
Beijing
Bilbao