Top 5 design things to look out for in April

A conference in Dublin, a festival in London and a trade fair in Milan – April is set to be an exciting month for designers.

Conference: Offset Dublin

Screen Shot 2016-03-24 at 14.34.08

What: Staged over three days, design conference Offset never fails to bring a mix of sought-after high profile names and up-and-coming designers, from Dublin and further afield. This year, the likes of Seb Lester, Morag Myerscough, McBess, Angus Hyland, Jonathan Barnbrook and Assemble will be speaking. The tickets are pretty reasonably priced for such an abundance of talks, too.

When: 8 – 10 April

Where: Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Grand Canal Square, Dublin 2

Info: Ticket prices range from €110 – €250 (£87 – £198). See the website for more info.


Festival: D&AD

D&AD Festival branding, by The Beautiful Meme

What: D&AD, host to the awards giving out coveted Pencils, is launching its first ever festival this year, which will include more than 150 speakers, Q&As, training sessions, creative workshops, and exhibition tours. Headline speakers include Sir Martin Sorrell, fashion designer Sir Paul Smith, film graphic designer Annie Atkins and illustrator Ralph Steadman. Exhibitions will showcase D&AD and New Blood award winners’ work, and insight sessions will tackle everything from strategy planning to writing skills. The brand identity for the festival was designed by The Beautiful Meme.

When: 20 – 22 April

Where: Truman Brewery, 91 Brick Lane, London, E1 6QL

Info: Ticket prices range from £55 – £185. See the website for more info.


Trade show: Salone del Mobile Milano 2016

Milan Furniture Fair © Annamaria Alois
Milan Furniture Fair © Annamaria Alois

What: Milan’s huge furniture design trade show will see five main events this year, with its main event the International Furniture Fair set to host more than 1,300 exhibitors. There’ll also be an exhibition of international furniture design, a home tech fair called EuroCucina, an exhibition focused on bathroom design and SaloneSatellite, a fair aimed at providing young designers with inspiration. The International Furniture Fair alone saw 310,000 visitors last year – so expect it to be busy.

When: 12 – 17 April.

Where: Fiera, Milano, Italy.

Info: Ticket prices range from €24 – €71 (£19 – £56). See the website for more info.


Talk: How Brands & Agencies Can Thrive in The Age of Design

AdvertisingWeekEurope

What: This session, part of Advertising Week Europe 2016 (#AWEurope), will be a panel discussion looking at how brands are using design, and how design-thinking will affect our futures. Speakers include Alice Tonge, creative director at Channel 4’s in-house agency 4Creative, Amanda Gosling, a partner at IBM iX, James Hurst, executive creative director at DesignStudio and our very own Design Week editor Angus Montgomery.

When: 21 April at 12pm

Where: IPA Stage, Great Windmill Street, Piccadilly, London, W1D 7DH

Info: Ticket prices for Ad Week Europe range from £419 – £1,399. See the website for more info.


Book: The Graphic Design Idea Book: Inspiration from 50 Masters

The Graphic Design Idea Book-front cover final

What: This little, yellow book with cover design by Pentagram sums up concepts within graphic design, incorporating pearls of wisdom from designers such as Michael Bierut, Neville Brody, Paula Scher and Paul Rand. Co-written by ex-New York Times art director Steven Heller and designer and writer Gail Anderson, it breaks down themes such as narrative, colour, imagery, typography and humour into digestible, bitesize chunks with illustrative examples – perfect for the designer starting out, or any designer seeking a concise go-to guide.

When: Due to be published 13 April by Laurence King.

Where: Across the UK.

Info: Available to buy for £12.95 from the Laurence King website.

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