12 hot design dates you can't afford to miss
With events season in full swing, here are some cracking world-class conferences, festivals, exhibitions and more for April and May 2015.
April is a gloriously hectic month in the global design calendar, building up to a crescendo of world-class events in May.
Here's our pick of the key creative dates you need to know about over the coming weeks. Are you going to any? Let us know in the Comments below – we'll see you there…
01. Generate New York
- 17 April 2015
- New York, USA
At time of writing there were still a few tickets remaining for the design event of the year: Generate New York, which takes place this Friday.
net magazine and Creative Bloq's leading conference for web designers and developers features some of the biggest names in web design, including Mike Monteiro, Val Head and JoonYong Park as well as some fantastic new speakers, the two-track one-dayer promises inspiration, education and unparalleled networking opportunities. Here are 13 reasons why you need to attend...
02. Design Ranch
- 16-19 April
- Waldemar Guest Ranch 1005 FM 1340, Hunt, Texas, USA
An intimate, three-day, hands-on, workshop-driven design retreat on the rustic banks of the Guadalupe River, AIGA's Design Ranch is about reviving your creative spirit, putting away your mouse and getting your hands dirty. The ranch is open to people of all creative disciplines "seeking a recharge".
03. Deadline to enter:
Kyoorius Advertising and Digital Awards
- 17 April
- Work must have been published for a client in India or created by a studio in India for a client abroad
The final deadline for submitting entries to the 2015 KyooriusAdvertising and Digital Awards has been extended to Friday 17th April. This year Kyoorius has added a host of new categories to incorporate emerging areas in advertising, communication and digital design.
The nine-member advertising jury comprises of international and Indian agency representatives, and will be led by Nils Leonard, chairman and chief creative officer, Grey London, while the Kyoorius Digital Awards will be helmed by Andy Sandoz, creative partner, Havas Work Club and Deputy President of D&AD.
04. D&AD judging begins
- 19 April
- London, UK
Judging for the prestigious D&AD Awards starts on 19 April 2015. The organisation will announce results as they are confirmed on the D&AD website. Winning work will be featured in the 2015 D&AD Annual and on the D&AD site. It'll also be showcased at D&AD's Awards Night, and at D&AD exhibitions and events internationally.
PROMOTION
05. Behance 99u conference
- 30 April - 1 May
- Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Centre, 1941 Broadway, New York, USA
"Get fired up to make sh*t happen" at Behance's annual conference, 99U, which is designed to shift the focus from idea generation to idea execution – in short, bringing ideas to life.
Talks inspire action, with everyone from comic artists to CEOs and directors sharing the secrets of their success. This year's line-up includes Christoph Niemann, MoMA's Paola Antonelli and Adobe's Scott Belsky.
06. Pictoplasma
- 29 April - 3 May
- Babylon, Platoon Kunsthalle, Urban Spree and numerous art spaces in Berlin, Germany
The world's largest conference and festival for contemporary character culture design and art, Pictoplasma unites artists from all realms of media and discipline with some of the world's leading graphic and games designers, animators and illustrators.
Full of lectures, presentations, screenings, workshops, performances and more, with confirmed speakers including Adventure Time's Andy Ristaino, Yves Geleyn, Hikari Shimoda and TADO.
Pick Me Up
- 23 April - 4 May
- Embankment Galleries, South Wing, London, UK
The UK's original contemporary graphic arts festival is now in its sixth year. Subverting the norm of your traditional art fair, Pick Me Up showcases graphic art in all its forms.
A fun, quirky and informal festival with studio spaces where you can shop for affordable art, digital Q&As, competitions and workshops. Up-and-coming artists are celebrated, so get networking!
Here are the hottest illustrations from Pick Me Up 2014...
08. HOW Design Live
- 4-8 May
- Hyatt Regency Chicago, Chicago, USA
The 25th anniversary of HOW Design Live promises to be the biggest and best ever, with a bolder-than-ever speaker line-up including Jessica Walsh, Karim Rashid, Spin's Tony Brook and Mucca Design's Matteo Bologna. This is one of the biggest international design events, and this year will be merging five events into one experience.
09. F5
- 17-18 May
- Terminal 5, 610 W 56th St. New York, USA
F5 seeks to unite art, technology and design by bringing together the thinkers and doers that are breaking ground and shaping new standards in media and design.
The two-day festival gathers filmmakers, writers, digital artists, game designers, graphic designers, VFX experts and many more seeking to inspire and create. Speakers this year include Patrick Clair, Debbie Millman, Eddie Opara, Partik Moberg and Block & Tackle.
10. What Design Can Do
- 21-22 May
- Stadsschousburg, Amsterdam
What Design Can Do explores the impact that design can have across all creative disciplines, with 2015's speakers including the inimitable Stefan Sagmeister, johnson banks' Michael Johnson, Google Creative Lab's Steve Rura, and experimental artists Bompas & Parr.
11. TYPO Berlin
- 21-23 May
- Haus der Kulturen der Welt, John-foster-Dulles-Allee 10, Berlin, Germany
The global design conference with a typographic flavour returns to Berlin with talks and workshops covering "design, culture, society – with a little bit of kerning."
With this year's theme of 'character', talks will present strategies against a culture of superficiality, with a view to building personality within your work. The myriad guest speakers include Aaron James Draplin, Matthias Frey, Jon Gray, Josh Higgins and Gemma O'Brien.
Here's a little taster of day three of TYPO Berlin 2014...
12. OFFF Barcelona
- 28-30 May
- DHUB, Plaza de les Glories Catalanes 37, Barcelona, Spain
This year marks a milestone for OFFF Barcelona. It's the 15th anniversary of the epic three-day design conference, and plans are in place to make it a party to remember.
This year's featured artists include Laika, Michael Cina, Mirko Borsche, Stefan Sagmeister and Studio Blup. It promises to be an explosion of graphic design, web development, motion and sound design – and almost everything in between.
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