I am delighted to announce that the 2016 confessions of a design geek bursary is now open for applications. For the fourth consecutive year confessions of a design geek is partnering with Home London to offer one new designer the opportunity of a lifetime, worth over £10,000. “It kick started my career when I won nearly two years ago,” said 2014 winner Fanny Shorter. It was and still is an amazing thing to be part of.”
Thanks to a wonderful bunch of partners and mentors, the 2016 winner will receive:
- A complimentary stand at Home London 17 – 19 January 2016
- A product showcase at the Barbican Centre
- 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
- Quarterly mentoring for one year with established artist and designer and founder of HAM, Jo Ham
- One hour face-to-face or Skype mentoring sessions with: October Communications‘ Daniel Nelson re e-commerce, Decorum’s Justyna Sowa re social media, The Design Trust‘s Patricia van den Akker re business coaching, Seen PR’s David Gorrod re PR, and the Barbican’s Adam Thow re working with buyers.
- One year’s free membership of The Design Trust Business Club
- Six months’ free membership of Press Loft, plus a 20{ff546b69e23b1524d799f96c6ba7a638e1f677053b0a2a1568b05315fd5f8fc7} discount thereafter
- A pre-show mentoring workshop with Daniel, David, Patricia, Keith, Mark, Adam and Jo hosted at West Elm, alongside shortlisted designers.
- £100 to spend on moo.com on business cards, leaflets or whatever you need to make the most of Home London
- Coverage on Home London website, confessions of a design geek and West Elm’s ‘Front + Main‘ blog
Home London expects 20,000 buyers to visit in its fifth year, making this is fantastic opportunity to get your products in front of the right people and get 2016 off to the best possible start.
“Winning the bursary has been a wonderful adventure,” says 2015 winner Alicja Patanowska. “I’ve met a number of industry professionals, and without their help, I wouldn’t have been able to establish my brand so well and raise the standards in all the aspects of my business activity. Their know-how and advice has given me some new exciting business opportunities. As a result, my Plantation collection is now thriving.”
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 Clarion show before
- be available 15 – 19th January 2016
and your products must be…
- design-led interiors or kitchenware 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 2016 application” with the following things:
- a PowerPoint / PDF 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 Sunday 01 November 2015
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 Monday 09 November. Then it’s up to confessions of a design geek readers to vote for a winner – to be announced on Monday 30 November, giving the winner plenty of time to take advantage of everything the bursary offers before appearing at their first trade show, Home London, 17 – 19 January 2016.
We’ll be on Stand 19c at Home London from today until Tuesday 15 September 2015 to officially launch the bursary and to showcase a selection of work by bursary alumni Alicja Patanowska, Fanny Shorter, Nancy Straughan, Thorody and Annabel Perrin, so do visit us there to find out more. (You’ll need to register here.) And please help spread the word on social media using #coadgbursary.
With huge and heartfelt thanks to all the people who have make this bursary possible: Ian and Kirstie at Clarion, Adam at the Barbican Centre, Jess at West Elm, Yeshen Venema, Blair at Press Loft, David at Seen PR, Jo at HAM, Justyna at Decorum, Daniel at October Communications, and Patricia at The Design Trust.
Images from top to bottom: 2015 winner Alicja Patanowska, 2014 winner Fanny Shorter and 2013 winner Jessica Hogarth.
The winning designer 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 for any optional extras. The winning designer will need to be present during the pop-up shop (dates TBC) at West Elm and handle sales themselves. The winner’s mentoring with Jo Ham will take place quartely for 12 months: face to face in London or 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.
