Design Week BERLIN - DMY

showcases of more than 500 designers from more than 30 countries.

By Nota Tsekoura, on 18th Jun, 2013 13:42

Design Week Berlin - DMY

Berlin's Tempelhof airport has for once more hosted hundreds of international visitors, this time for the DMY International Design Festival 2013 that opened its doors last week. An international design fair that included showcases of more than 500 designers from more than 30 countries.

The exhibition was successfully presented through a well-thought mixture of students' researches and professional product design, with the organization of space being a very interesting aspect by itself. Unlike other design fairs, the DMY provides a forum, where research and commercial production come together on the same field, with the academic work worthy competing the work done by professionals. Needless to say that we have definitely entered an era where research and commercial production are playing on the same field while most of the time bets are in favour of the academic production. Giving a fresh and alternative approach to design, covering their objects with stories and interesting concepts and offering flexibility for personalisation and customisation in design, students work wins our attention.

This interesting blend however, not only supports speculation on the blurry border between students' work and the industrial production but furthermore it is reinforced by the applied media used in each case.

We found work of students being more experimental and interesting this time, incorporating an excellent variety of tools, methods and technologies in the final designs.

During the week, several workshops and talks were taking place, giving important information to the visitor on possible links between technological advances and design possibilities. One of these links, well discussed within the academic circles for the last decade, was 3D printing that broadly appeared to the general public during the past couple of years. Therefore, MakerBot – Replicator 2X was centrally placed to mark a new era on everyday printing, following the third dimension. However, even when 3D printing workshops were using specified plastics and special powders, cardboards, recycled materials and metal, they were manifesting their own handcrafted qualities. All shouting loud that handcraft is here to stay for much longer than we might have thought.

Not surprisingly, the majority of Polish design was also remarkably innovative, paying extra attention to detail, entailing a unique quality of what could have been the future of product design. If one was never exposed to Polish design and its high quality illustration this festival was definitely a good opportunity to do so.

Closing up, Berlin's Design Week - DMY resulted from a series of successful organization strategies and associations, which wrapped up the 2013 festival by highlighting the best works and honour them with DMY awards. The jury consisted of the renowned design experts Prof. Axel Kufus (University of the Arts, Berlin), Daniel von Bernstorff (Stylepark.com), Prof. Czeslawa Frejlich (Arts Academy Krakow and editor-in-chief Designmagazin 2+3D) und Joerg Suermann (CEO DMY).

Follow our' selection of works for an idea on some exciting designs!