International and Singapore Designers meet at inaugural design event - DesignEDGE

The inaugural Singapore Design Festival, from 9 to 23 November 2005, is a multifaceted showcase of design creativity and an interactive forum between Asia and the world. It is organised by the DesignSingapore Council (DSg), a division under Singapore's Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts.

The Singapore Design Festival aims to transmute the emergent design culture in Singapore and around the world into an interactive and "live" presentation of the entire gamut of the design process, its end product, and beyond.

The feature event of the Singapore Design Festival, DesignEDGE, aims to heighten awareness of design in Singapore and also create a signature anchor event for the Singapore Design Festival that will put Singapore on the world map of design festivals 'not to be missed' by serious designers and creatives. It is presented by DSg and produced by International designers Network, the people behind the IdN design magazine which has an international cult following. On 5 September 2005, a public call was made through the media for Singapore designers to submit their portfolios and present alongside notable international names during feature event.
The programme will consist of a line-up of notable designers, sharing, demonstrating and performing their design processes from one main stage and flanked by seven interactive pavilions. The seven pavilions are arranged by different genres - music, print, art, interactive media, urban culture, animation, fashion. A selection of the international presenters are:
-Delta, The Netherlands: An Amsterdam-based graffiti artist most well-known for introducing idiosyncratic aesthetic into the world of graffiti.
-DEVILROBOTS, Japan: Inventors of the celebrated Tofu Oyako.
-Maharishi, UK: Extremely influential in the proliferation of camouflage in civilian fashion, Maharishi was awarded 'Streetwear Designer of the Year' at the British Fashion Council Awards in 2000.
-Parisydneytokyo, Australia: Studio started by Frank Le petit, a photographic artist who inspired new movements in Neo-Photography.
-Rostarr, USA: A prolific artist commissioned by commercial giants such as ESPN, Wieden & Kennedy, Gravis and Swatch, and long-term collaborator of Agnes b. where he hand painted most of her fashion outlets.
-The Designers Republic, UK: Branded as "The World's Most Copied Design Company" and known for its ground-breaking designs for the music industry, including clients such as Warp Records; crossed to computer games such as Wipeout and Grand Theft Auto.
-U.N.K.L.E, UK: Famed guerrilla multi-disciplinary design collective, headed by Art Director Ben Drury.

DesignEDGE will have a strong developmental focus, with the key objective of developing the capability of designers to raise the bar in design innovation. The event will focus on the design process, as well as essential cultural underpinnings of a vibrant design culture that will act as stimuli and change agents to inspire and spark design innovation. DesignEDGE will also tap into the media multiplier strategy of the Singapore Design Festival to extend its life beyond the event dates - its interactive contents will reach new audiences through transformation into other mediums such as web, digital and print media.

Planned as a two-and-a-half day event from 10 - 12 November, DesignEDGE will be held at the Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre, Halls 401 and 402. The event aims to attract about 8,000 designers internationally. In tandem with the bienniel Singapore Design Festival, DesignEDGE will be organised once every two years.

The luminary-studded speakers line-up will be confirmed towards the end of September 2005. More information on DesignEDGE can be found on www.designedge.sg.

The Council also welcomes international contributions of other design-related events for the Singapore Design Festival, including open houses, product launches and workshops.