GOING EAST - DESIGN MEETS INDUSTRY
When: 11.06 – 22.06. 2010
Location: Shkorpilovtsi, Bulgaria - 20km south from Varna by the Black Sea
When it all started….
The idea started in 2008 when a group of motivated Bulgarian designers organized a 10-day workshop to develop design concepts together with furniture manufacturers. The project won the hearts and the minds of some of the most talented products designers in Bulgaria and solidified their cooperation with the national furniture industry.
For the second time, design will meet manufacturers, a collision of talent with business that promises to be an exhilarating experience. Set within the Sofia Design Week but outside the capital by the Black See coast the ‘Workshop Rabotilnitsa’ will be the nook for creative thinking and constructive interaction in an inspiring and relaxing setting.
Mission statement
The ‘Project Rabotilnitsa' is dedicated to forging long-term relationships between national and international designers as well as Bulgarian manufacturers. The idea is to create a win-win situation for businesses who need to innovate to stay on the top of their competitors and for designers to get exposure to manufacturing companies and to see their creations in production. While there is not such a long tradition of collaboration between product designers and high-end manufacturing in Bulgaria, there are strong indications that it is changing.
The aim is thus to make Bulgaria a vibrant place for design, where businesses are more than ever willing to take risks and where designers are keener than ever to demonstrate that they can create and innovate, as elsewhere in the world, to international standards.
Objectives
1. Forging an environment for creative interactions
2. Supporting relationship building between design talent and furniture manufacturers in Bulgaria
3. Strengthening the collaboration between national and international designers
4. Creating a new working experience in the design world and establish Bulgaria as an international design hot spot.
The ‘Project Rabotilnica’ challenge
At the beginning of the workshop, eight Bulgarian manufacturers will provide a brief for a product they wish to see included in their production palette. Designers will be divided into 8 groups of each 3 people based on the desired product challenge/theme. They will have 10 days to elaborate the one concept or multiple concepts and, at the end of the week, to present to the manufacturer the final concepts including drawings, 3Ds, or physical models. It is also expected that designers put some thoughts into the saleability in an international market and production costs (materials, etc).
On the final day the groups will make a presentation of their elaborated concepts to manufacturers, who will select, for which products they will make prototypes and to eventually manufacture them for mass production. It is expected that selected designers and manufacturers will form a solid partnership to jointly develop the product, bring it to market fruition, and present it at international and national exhibitions (e.g. Cologne, Milan, Sofia, Paris, London).
Participants
The participants will be invited from Europe (Austria, Bulgaria, United Kingdom) and from other countries. All travel costs, accommodation as well food & drinks will be provided based on availability. Further logistical information on the workshop should be expected by the end of April.
Provisional schedule of events (11/06 – 22/06/2010)
Friday, June 11: Arrival and check-in
19:00 Reception at the beach
Saturday, June 12: Start at 10:00 Presentation of workshop programme. Manufacturers present the briefs, teams are set-up and start working on projects
15:00 Press conference
Sunday, June 13 until Friday, June 18: Product development (sketches, CAD drawings, first models)
Friday, June 18: 14:00 Stocktaking: First presentation to the manufacturers, feedback received
Saturday, June 19 – Sunday, June 20: Concepts and models refined
Sunday, June 20: Start 09:30 presentation to manufacturers
Monday, June 21: 19:00 Cocktail & party with the manufacturers
Tuesday, June 22: End of the workshop. Departure to Sofia and return to home base
SUPPORTED by
Sofia Design Week
PureAustrianDesign
Media Partners
Ideal House, MD, etc
Organizers
Cherga (Bulgarian Design Group);
Co-organizer
DIBLA
PROJECT CORDINATORS
Velichko Velikov -
Valentin Vodev - http://www.pixstudio.net/
Get a glimpse of the rawest design talent at the Black Sea!
