At its best, it can make you smile, provoke new ideas and challenge your preconceptions. At its worst it can be baffling – you can spend hours hopping from foot to foot on the pavement riddled with indecision, unsure where to go next. So we at Endpoint thought we’d make it just that little bit easier. Here’s our Top 5 pick of what looks hot.
And don’t forget, if you work in the industry you can get in for free and avoid the queues. Simply pre-register as ‘Trade’. Well worth the effort. As we’re feeling nice, we’ve listed those main Registration pages here for you too.
Enjoy! We’ll be tweeting from the festival on @endpoint_uk so please do get in touch if you would like to meet in person and say hi.
We hope to see you there.
1. The Maker Carousel by design studio Mette, at 100% design
Located in the Interiors Hub at 100%, design studio Mette are giving people the opportunity to be a designer-maker. They are encouraging experimentation and play through talks, tasks and activities based on both hands-on and hi-tech methodologies in design, from paper prototyping and block-printing to 3D printing and connectivity.
2. Talks at 100% design: Wed 17 and Fri 19 Sept
Just when you think you might die if you see another lamp shade or bookcase, there is always the Talk series at 100% to provide some respite. We love the look of these two talks (is that cheating?), and not only because of the participation of our friends at Dalziel and Pow.
Wednesday 17 September 15:00 Beyond architecture: designing a multisensory space
Just think how rich our environments could be if alongside the visual we designed with sound, texture, taste and smell. Join world-leading, experimental psychologist Professor Charles Spence whose research looks at how better understanding our minds will create better environments and Adam Scott at creative agency Freestate, an experience designer who has designed multisensory spaces for clients including Sony and Samsung.
Friday 19 September 16:30 The Big Question: in an online world, what is the role of a shop today?
Lynda Relph Knight chairs a debate on the future of retail. Speakers include Oliver White of Heal’s, on its successful rebranding, Chloe Macintosh, creative director of made.com, the innovative online retailer which also has a shop, and Ross Phillips from Dalziel & Pow who create shops for some of the world’s biggest brands.
3. H_Edge – Balmond Studio in Bishop’s Square, Spitalfields, E1 as part of the Shoreditch Design Triangle
H_Edge. Enter the mind of Cecil Balmond. Part structural engineer/part magician, his structures always delight. They challenge the notion of what is possible. You’d expect nothing else from an ex-Arup tour de force.
H_Edge is assembled using thousands of ‘x’-shaped aluminium plates that are held, one above the other, in tension by stainless steel chains. They appear to rise from the floor in an incredible balance of forces. An installation that visitors are free to walk around, within and through.
4. The Wish List, what I have always wanted is. V&A
Sir Terence Conran, Benchmark the London Design Festival and the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) have invited ten design legends along with ten emerging talents, to design and make something they have always wanted, but never been able to find. On display at the V&A.
Sounds intriguing.
5. The themed days at the V&A – Graphics Weekend on 13/14 September, with Architecture and Materials taking place on Mon 15 September
Content at the V&A has been ‘themed’ this year. What a relief – it’s a much more palatable way of digesting all the content. We are especially looking forward to a talk by Alan Kitching – one of the world’s foremost practitioners of letterpress typographic design and printmaking. He will show work from his 50-year career, including a look at a recent collaboration with Monotype.
Images courtesy of London Design Festival 2014, 13 – 21 September