5/5/14

CALL FOR ENTRIES: Detroit Design Festival 2014



Click here to see a video about the Detroit Design Festival

CALLING ALL DESIGNERS, ARCHITECTS AND CREATIVES: DETROIT CREATIVE CORRIDOR CENTER ANNOUNCES CALL FOR PROPOSALS FOR 2014 DETROIT DESIGN FESTIVAL

Call for Entries for North America’s Festival of Independent Design
 
DETROIT, MI (May 2, 2014) – The Detroit Creative Corridor Center (DC3) is calling on designers, architects and creatives to submit proposals to exhibit at this year’s Detroit Design Festival (DDF), to be held Sept. 23-28, 2014. Candidates will not only have the opportunity to explore and realize their most innovative ideas, but they also can apply for micro grants, up to $1,000, to support their vision. Applications are due May 31.
 
 “Detroit Design Festival is a platform to celebrate Detroit’s and North America’s best design talent,” says Matthew Clayson, DC3’s director. “The festival creates an annual design conversation that fosters growth within the creative community by raising awareness of local designers to international audiences. We also use this opportunity to highlight good creative work occurring at the neighborhood level and design practices not traditionally associated with Detroit,” explains Clayson.
 
Launched to position Detroit as a global center for design, creativity and innovation, the fourth-annual DDF will celebrate the work of Detroit's creative community through product launches and shows, lectures, panel discussions, trunk shows, tours, open houses, retail events and design battles. Hundreds of designers and creative practitioners will create 60 Design Happenings, experiences consumers can immerse themselves in during the festival. These Design Happenings will take place in venues across the city.
 
“We hope to cast a wide net this year, attracting the best talent throughout North America and beyond,” says Melinda Anderson, festival manager. “The entry process will be much more competitive this year. We’ve worked with more than 600 designers in the past three years. With so much talent in Detroit and international buzz, we expect this year’s festival will be the most dynamic and collaborative to date.”
 
Metropolitan Detroit is home to the highest concentrations and quantities of commercial and industrial designers of all U.S. metro regions. Detroit’s professional creative industry is the third largest private sector employer in the city, employing approximately 12,300 individuals. Detroit’s Creative Corridor is home to 200 individual creative sector companies, which employ 4,000 people and generate $640M in aggregate annual revenues.
 
The DDF is poised to take advantage of and spotlight that creativity. The website – www.detroitdesignfestival.com – will serve as a portal where designers can post their proposed Design Happenings and the general public can view ideas and pledge support. Through this online submission process, DC3 strives to build a network between Detroit and the international design community. Applications are due May 31.
 
For more information about how to submit a Design Happening, apply for a micro-grant, to attend events, or to become a Design Ambassador or sponsor, please visit www.detroitdesignfestival.com. Find the Detroit Design Festival on Facebook at www.facebook.com/detroitdesignfestival, or @DetDesignFest on Twitter. Please use hash tags #DDF2014 #DesignLivesHere.
 


ABOUT DC3:
The Detroit Creative Corridor Center is designed to support the growth of Detroit’s creative economy by delivering business acceleration and attraction services and developing signature programming tailored specifically to creative professionals’ needs. 

DC3 extends business acceleration services to Detroit’s creative community in partnership with TechTown and the region’s business incubators; helps existing businesses realize the potential of concentrating and growing operations in Detroit’s Creative Corridor through leading business attraction specific to the needs of the creative and design sectors; and develops unique programming that strengthen networks between creative practitioners in Southeast Michigan while reinforcing their essential role as a social and economic change agents.

DC3 is a partnership between Business Leaders for Michigan and the College for Creative Studies. It receives funding from the U.S. Small Business Administration, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, the New Economy Initiative for Southeast Michigan, The Kresge Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Surdna Foundation.  It also generates a portion of its revenue through fee-based consulting work.

Click here for images by J. Singleton





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