ED: Explore Design ‘08
If you’re a student planning your first career path, or someone considering a career change into any aspect of design, Explore Design ‘08 is where you want to be this week.
ED is North America’s First Design Education Fair for Youth, taking place on October 1st + 2nd at The Metro Toronto Convention Centre, where “a consortium of educational institutions, associations and professional groups will provide 2 days of interactive exhibits, hands-on workshops, and seminars.”
An incredibly “full range of design disciplines will be represented including video/game design, furniture design, architecture industrial design, textile design, fashion design, interior design, graphic design, and the dozens of other design disciplines.” The possibilities for researching all of these creative avenues are endless and the opportunity to speak to well-connected experts in each discipline, in person, is simply invaluable.
ED will feature a number of educational events, in addition to the keynote presentations by internationally recognized design professionals and design celebrities. Some of my personal faves would include the talented Johnson Chou, who is responsible for the gorgeous design of Blowfish in Toronto. If you’re contemplating a career in fashion design, your must-see speakers should include Joyce Gunhouse & Judy Cornish, the highly successful duo behind the Comrags label.
The ultimate highlight for Green Design Girl would be the two day seminar series entitled Design For The Greater Good, which is “dedicated to environmentally and socially conscious design” and is sponsored by Treehugger. If you’re able to attend ED on both days, I would urge you to check out their green seminars on both Day 1 + Day 2.
ED’s Event Schedule has a comprehensive listings of all of their offerings. Be sure to arm yourself with a notebook and camera in hand, as no doubt you will have a gazillion things to do, see and learn. Of course, if you’re a student and don’t have a business card as of yet, this might be the perfect time to whip up some temporary ones. A networking gem of an event like ED would certainly be worth it.
I spoke to some very gifted design students during last week’s IIDEX/NeoCon and will be posting some of their work on GDG in the days to come.
[Artwork featured above is by Dose contest winner Nicco Miranda, an incredibly talented 16 year old student from Richmond Hill, Ontario. His winning entry is now printed on the official ED exhibition t.shirts.]
