YOUNG BALKAN DESIGNERS 2014 - Everyday Heroes

Young Balkan Designers is a regional talent platform dedicated to identifying, promoting and developing creative potentials of the Balkans in the field of conceptual and product design. The two-year program consists of the regional design competition (February – March, 2014), an international touring exhibition of the winning projects (May 2014 – February 2015), and a series of residency workshops and practical trainings around the region (March 2015 – February 2016), tailored for the final three winners of the project, pursued in cooperation with the leading regional design manufacturers

As a result of the evolution of the project, two regional partner organizations are joining Mikser in organizing and managing the Young Balkan Designers project. Cooperation network among equal partners: Croatian Design Association, Public Room form Macedonia and Mikser organization from Serbia pose a fresh challenge for the project this year. Young Balkan Designers initiative aims at unifying regional design scene, bringing it closer to the international market, strengthening its creative potential by offering additional education and practice, while at the same time contributes to the restoration of multi-cultural cooperation in the Balkan region.

The Young Balkan Designers slogan for 2014: “EVERYDAY HEROES” emphasizes the power of simple, incremental changes in social behavior that designers can contribute to their community, collaborating with the locals, visioning and solving local problems and needs related to the economic crisis, limited resources, and the necessity for people to search for alternatives to inefficient public services. Competition Young Balkan Designers 2014 calls for more impactful design solutions that can serve as a catalyst for social innovation in everyday lives within local communities, and mobilizes designers to provide not only the final products, but to design tools, concepts and services that help communities and individuals to solve their own problems. Design concepts, products (furniture, lighting, interior elements, everyday objects, home accessories, stationary, aid products), urban services, recycled materials, fashion garments, etc. that offer innovative yet rational solutions to everyday problems. Criteria appreciated by the Jury: innovative features that enhance the quality of community life; ergonomics; rational production costs; use of materials available locally; environmentally friendly production process; significant social impact. The competition is open from 3 February – 10 March 2014.

More information: http://ybd.mikser.rs/