coadg bursary :: open for applications

The confessions of a design geek bursary is back – and it’s bigger and better than ever! I am delighted to be partnering with Home London again this year to offer one new designer an incredible opportunity right at the beginning of their career.

The winner will receive:

• A complimentary stand at Home London within the bursary area of the New Talent Zone
• Their products stocked at the Southbank Centre Shop for three months and included in the window display
• The chance to participate in a one week pop-up shop at West Elm
• A one-day studio shoot with Yeshen Venema resulting in product, lifestyle and cut-out photography
• A film shoot with R&A Collaborations resulting in a short film
• Monthly mentoring for one year with established artist and designer and founder of HAM, Jo Ham
• One hour mentoring sessions with: October Communications‘ Daniel Nelson re e-commerce, Decorum‘s Justyna Sowa re social media, Mini Moderns‘ Keith Stephenson and Mark Hampshire re stand design, The Design Trust‘s Patricia van den Akker re business coaching, Seen PR‘s David Gorrod re PR, The Southbank Centre’s Adam Thow re working with buyers, and West Elm creative director Vanessa Holden
• One year’s free membership of The Design Trust Business Club
• Six months’ free membership of Press Loft, plus a 20{ff546b69e23b1524d799f96c6ba7a638e1f677053b0a2a1568b05315fd5f8fc7} discount thereafter
• The chance to take part in a pre-show mentoring workshop with Daniel, David, Patricia, Keith, Mark, Adam and Jo hosted at West Elm
• 50 LUX business cards, 50 standard business cards and 250 postcards from Goodprint
• Last year’s winner, Fanny Shorter, as a “buddy”
• Coverage on Home London, confessions of a design geek and Front + Main, the West Elm blog

Home London expects 16,000 buyers to visit in its fourth year – and 6.25 million people will pass the Southbank Centre Shop window where the winner’s product will be displayed. This is a fantastic opportunity to get your products in front of the right people and get 2015 off to the best possible start.

2014’s winner Fanny Shorter said, “Winning the confessions of a design geek bursary has made all the difference to my business. The advice, guidance and donations provided by the mentors and partners were invaluable. There are so many hats you have to wear when running your own design business and winning the bursary meant that I had someone there to help with every “hat” at a time in my career when it would have been all too easy to become overwhelmed. I am so grateful to Katie and everyone involved with the bursary for making this year my best in business.”

And this year, we’ve worked really hard to put together some amazing opportunities for the four shortlisted designers too. Each of the shortlisted designers will receive:

• A complimentary stand at Home London within the bursary area of the New Talent Zone
• The chance to participate in a one week pop-up shop at West Elm
• A one-day studio shoot from Yeshen Venema resulting in product, lifestyle and cut-out photography of five products
• A 20{ff546b69e23b1524d799f96c6ba7a638e1f677053b0a2a1568b05315fd5f8fc7} discount off a film shoot with R&A Collaborations
• Three months’ free membership of Press Loft, plus a 20{ff546b69e23b1524d799f96c6ba7a638e1f677053b0a2a1568b05315fd5f8fc7} discount thereafter
• The chance to take part in a pre-show mentoring workshop with Daniel, David, Patricia, Keith, Mark, Adam and Jo hosted at West Elm
• 50 standard business cards and 100 postcards from Goodprint
• confessions of a design geek 2013 winner Jessica Hogarth, and 2014 shortlisted designers Nancy Straughan, Annabel Perrin and Taz Pollard as “buddies”
• Coverage on Home London, confessions of a design geek and Front + Main, the West Elm blog

2014 shortlisted designer Nancy Straughan said, “I was absolutely thrilled when I discovered I’d made the shortlist! Having no experience with trade shows meant that the bursary really educated me in what it takes to produce work on a more commercial scale. Since taking part, I’ve began to create products that I wouldn’t have made before and they’ve proven really popular, the same goes for new pattern designs. I think exhibiting at a trade show really pushes you and I ended up producing some work that I’m really proud of. I feel like I really know my brand now.”

We are looking for passionate new designers with original products.

To be eligible, you must…

• be within your first three years of business
• not have had a stand of your own at a mainstream trade show before
• be available 10 – 14th January 2015

and your products must be…

• design-led interiors products
• designed and made in the United Kingdom
• commercially viable and ready to wholesale

If you and your products fit these criteria, what are you waiting for?! Email coadgbursary@gmail.com using the subject line “coadgbursary 2015 application” with the following things:

• a PowerPoint presentation including: a description of yourself, your business and your products, an explanation of why you should be shortlisted, images of the work you intend to show if  selected, details of your wholesale and retail pricing, and your contact details including web address and social media handles
• a Dropbox link to 10 high res images of your products including both lifestyle and cut-out images

…by midnight on Thursday 13 November 2014

NB Applications that don’t meet the criteria above will not be considered, so please, please follow the instructions very carefully.

A shortlist will be selected by a panel of judges and announced on Thursday 20 November. Then it’s up to confessions of a design geek readers to vote for a winner – to be announced on Thursday 04 December, giving the winner and shortlisted designers plenty of time to take advantage of everything the bursary offers before appearing at their first trade show, Home London, 11 – 13 January 2015.

I’ll be announcing more details of the bursary and talking to 2014’s shortlisted designers over the coming weeks, so watch this space for more info – and please help spread the word on twitter using #coadgbursary.

With huge and heartfelt thanks to all the people who have made this bursary possible: Ian and Julia at Clarion, Adam at the Southbank Centre Shop, Jess at West Elm, Yeshen Venema, R&A Collaborations, Blair at Press Loft, David at Seen PR, Keith and Mark at Mini Moderns, Jo at HAM, Justyna at Decorum, Daniel at October Communications, Patricia at The Design Trust, Ferren at Good Print, Fanny Shorter, Jessica Hogarth, Nancy Straughan, Annabel Perrin and Taz Pollard.

*The winning and shortlisted designers must be available to attend at Home London on all days including set-up and break-down. They need to provide products, styling and public liability insurance. They will have to pay any for optional extras. Winner’s products to be stocked at the Southbank Centre Shop for three months on an exclusive basis. Designers will need to be present during the pop-up shop (dates TBC) at West Elm and handle sales themselves. Winner will be asked to pay for R&A Collaboration’s travel expenses and possibly accommodation depending on the location of the shoot. The winner’s mentoring with Jo Ham will take place monthly for 12 months: face to face in London on a quarterly basis and the remainder via Skype. All other mentoring is a one hour session with each mentor in London or via Skype, to be arranged at the designer and mentor’s mutual convenience. The mentoring workshop will be a half-day w/c 05 January 2015. Designers are responsible for providing artwork for business cards and postcards.