Hot 50: I-DESIGN

Celebrating its third incarnation last September, London’s i-Design has gone from strength to strength. The organisers have taken the concept of a conference and networking event to extremes, involving a diverse array of international participants and collaborating with the likes of Onedotzero, Cybersonica and the Future of Sound to present a full programme of debate, interactive installations and short films.

One of the coups this year was that the event, staged by New Media Knowledge with Malcolm Garrett (pictured) of Applied Information Group and blog Dynamo London, and Tara Solesbury of Creative Strategy Production, was held in one of London’s first cinemas – the Old Cinema at the University of Westminster’s Regent Street building.

A key part of the London Design Festival, i-Design has succeeded against the odds. Originally funded in part by the Greater London Authority, it had to find its feet financially last year. It achieved this, while broadening the debate in interaction to go way beyond website design.

It would be great to see i-Design go forward in 2010. Interaction events such as the Victoria & Albert Museum’s ongoing Decode: Digital Design Sensations exhibition are alerting the wider public to the potential of interaction design, and it is fitting that practitioners have a regular forum to share ideas.