This is a Guide to a selection of the most popular design events.
It includes:
Design Conferences: Large-scale events where designers, creatives, and professionals gather to discuss industry trends, share insights, and attend presentations or workshops.
Trade shows or exhibitions, where designers showcase their work, innovative products, or the latest design solutions. These trade fairs provide a platform for networking, business development, and exposure to new design ideas.
Design Competitions bring together designers to showcase their skills and compete for recognition or prizes. These competitions can focus on various design disciplines, such as graphic design, industrial design, or architecture.
Workshops and Seminars are smaller-scale events where participants can engage in hands-on activities, learn new techniques, or gain practical skills in specific design areas.
Design Weeks: some cities or regions host design weeks, during which take place various design-related activities, exhibitions, and events. These weeks often celebrate and promote the local design community.
After Mathieu Lehanneur, Designer of the Year 2024, the Designer of the Year at Maison & Objet 2025 is British designer Faye Toogood. Her Roly-Poly armchair, featuring a soft, embracing shape, was a big hit in 2014, and is the product that gave her great fame as a designer. But her activity is all-around creative, spanning various fields. She explains, “I was born in the UK to a very English family, and we lived in the countryside. My mother was a florist and my father loved ornithology. We didn’t have television, so I read, drew, and we got up early to watch birds. Nature was our playground, I would collect all kinds of things and then spend time arranging them. This still influences my work in the way I use materials. My color palette is inspired by those landscapes.”
https://designweekguide.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Genevieve-Lutkin-2.jpg6671000adminhttps://designweekguide.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/tdwg_white_big-copy_center.jpgadmin2024-12-19 20:44:382024-12-23 15:58:05Faye Toogood: Designer of the Year 2025
The fourth edition of Courmayeur Design Week-end returns February 1-4, 2024. Like every edition, the event includes lectures, exhibitions, and convivial moments.
One of these moments, new to 2024, is the “Courma Beach,” a beach on the snow. An idea to use the Courmayeur Sport Center tennis court in the winter months. Courmayeur Beach will host a snow-beach volleyball court, classic Versilia wooden deckchairs and a bar with Oysters&Champagne.
Mathieu Lehanneur , who designed the Olympic Torch and the Olympic Cauldron for Paris 2024, is “Designer of the Year” at Maison & Objet 2024. This award honors a prominent personality in the international design scene at each January edition. During Maison & Objet, January 18-22, 2024, Mathieu Lehanneur will create a setting dedicated to his work, Outonomy.
After the virtuous growth during the Covid emergency, the home decor market is settling. According to market forecasts, from 2024 to 2027, it will grow by more than 4% in value.
Discover Milano HOME, the new trade fair dedicated to the home decor
DesignTO, in Toronto Festival returns in Toronto from January 24 to February 2, 2025, marking its 15th anniversary. Recognized as Canada’s premier annual design festival, DesignTO transforms Toronto into a vibrant nexus of creativity, presenting over 100 complimentary exhibitions and events. Over the past 15 years, the Festival has welcomed more than 1 million attendees, showcased the work of over 6,500 creatives, reached an audience of 2.6 billion through media coverage, and generated $120 million in tourism impact. This year’s Festival presents bold and innovative ideas addressing critical issues such as the climate crisis, social justice, and advancements in technology.
“DesignTO is not merely a festival; it is an ‘anti-loneliness machine,’” remarked co-founder Christina Zeidler. The Festival serves as a platform where creativity fosters connections, inspiring a future that is more sustainable, equitable, and filled with joy.
DesignTO festival and the promotion of schools and young designers
In collaboration with the University of the Arts London (UAL), DesignTO highlighted Canadian and British designers. In addition, faculty, students and alumni from UAL and OCAD dialogued with each other and with experts in the field, talking about research and creativity in design.
DesignTO Youth, on the other hand, is a community engagement program that gives young people access to creative disciplines, culminating in a public exhibition of their work at the DesignTO Festival. For 2022-23, DesignTO Youth has partnered with JAYU, a charity that shares human rights stories through the arts and conversation. Thus, young artists have the opportunity to imagine Toronto’s future.
The DesignTo Awards
The DesignTO Awards started in 2013 with the iconic design brand Herman Miller. Since then, the DesignTO Awards has partnered with organizations such as DIALOG and Yabu Pushelberg.
DesignTO recognizes design excellence in the Festival each year with up to 24 DesignTO Awards. An annual jury of designers and industry experts vote for the ‘Founders,’ ‘Emerging Artist/Designer’ and ‘Best Product’ awards, as well as three ‘Best in Festival’ categories and three ‘Juror’s Choice’ each, while the public votes for four ‘People’s Choice’ awards.
Awardees are recognized and celebrated through DesignTO’s extensive network. Prizes accompany most awards.
Date & Time: January 24, 2025 | 7–11 PM Location: Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay West, Toronto
Celebrate the start of DesignTO’s 15th Festival at the official Launch Party! This event brings together Toronto’s creative community while raising funds for the non-profit Festival.
Enjoy a one-night-only installation by Toronto artist Asli Alin, preview the ‘REVIVE’ exhibition at Gallery 235, and explore new exhibitions showcasing works in lighting, sculpture, glass, textiles, and more. Dance to music by DJs Fly Lady Di and Delicious.
At the Conjuring of Roots, I Wished to Meet Me…
Dates: January 1–31, 2025 Location: Sankofa Square, 1 Dundas Street East, Toronto
Photographer and visual artist Delali Cofie presents a series of photos on five digital screens, exploring themes of identity and heritage.
BIPOC Portfolio Collaboration 2025
Dates: January 30–31, 2025 Format: In-person and online
Hosted by Gensler, this collaboration offers BIPOC students a chance to engage with industry professionals in architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, and more.
Bubble Quilt
Dates: January 24 – February 2, 2025 Location: 55 St Clair Avenue West
Studio Rat’s immersive installation transforms reclaimed waste plastics into an inflatable, glowing quilt, inspired by traditional patterns.
Date & Time: January 31, 2025 | 2 PM Location: Ace Hotel Toronto, 51 Camden Street, Toronto
This half-day event gathers ten multidisciplinary experts to discuss innovative, abundance-driven responses to the climate crisis. Tickets: $40 + HST (member discounts available)
DesignTO Youth: Story Story
Dates: January 25 – February 15, 2025 Location: Collision Gallery, 30 Wellington Street West, Toronto
A group exhibition featuring nine emerging artists from the DesignTO Youth program, reflecting on themes such as family, identity, and femininity.
DesignTO Youth Story Story – Lacework by Mal Yu
Dwell
Dates: January 24 – February 2, 2025 Location: Union Station (West Wing), 65 Front Street West, Toronto
A design exhibition that offers moments of pause in the busy urban environment. Showcasing furniture, florals, rugs, and animation, it invites visitors to reflect and reconnect.
Ideas Forum: Labour in Architecture
Date & Time: January 28, 2025 | 12 PM Format: Online
This panel discussion, hosted with the Toronto Society of Architects, delves into the workplace dynamics of architecture teams and their evolving practices.
REVIVE
Dates: January 24 – March 30, 2025 Location: Gallery 235, Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay West, Toronto
This exhibition features works by seven local and international artists, exploring endangered creative practices through sculpture, installation, photography, and more.
Surface Impressions
Dates: January 24 – February 21, 2025 Location: Umbra Concept Store, 165 John Street, Toronto
An exhibition exploring how creative processes can transform materials in unexpected ways, with contributions from nine local and international designers.
The Invisible Tide
Dates: January 24 – February 1, 2025 (specific dates vary) Location: Mason Studio Cultural Hub, 91 Pelham Avenue, Toronto
A sensory installation by Mason Studio that immerses visitors in an unfamiliar yet resonant journey through light, sound, smell, and touch.
Why visit
Some data show that the DesignTO festival has a very positive impact on Toronto. In 13 years, the Festival has produced over 1,000 events. It has involved over 6,000 artists and designers. Visitors to the various events, including exhibitions, presentations and talks, totaled more than 160,000 in 2024, over 950,000 since 2011, attracting more than 19,000 tourists. And the figures on the economic impact generated by the DesignTO festival on Toronto are really interesting. In fact, the Festival produced more than $11.3 million in tourism spending, increasing direct GDP +$5.9 million, and $9.5 million in total economic impact on GDP.
The DesignTO festival engages the design community and citizens in a positive development throughout the city. The events, exhibitions, and presentations revolve around all the issues surrounding design. Several talks, with experts and internationally renowned designers, address a wide range of topics.
The aim of the Festival, in fact, is to make the general public love design and understand its value.
With more than 100 exhibitions and product presentations, talks, and guided tours, the DesignTO festival is an ideal place to expand design knowledge, especially among the general public.
DesignTO, various locations, Toronto, January 24-February 2, 2025
DesignTO is a design festival open to the general public
Size: 500 exhibitors, designers and artists, 160.000 visitors in 2024 Visit website DesignTo.com for more info on venues and exhibitions
https://designweekguide.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Shared-Terrain-Photos-by-Christine-Lim_Courtesy-of-DesignTO-1536x864-1.jpg8641536adminhttps://designweekguide.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/tdwg_white_big-copy_center.jpgadmin2023-12-13 18:31:312024-12-29 17:25:48DesignTO: The Toronto Design Festival
