ABOUT THE PROJECT
The Nordic Young Designers Network (NYDN) brings design students from the Nordic countries; design and art academies; student organisations; design professionals; and design enthusiasts together on the platform Graduates.Design. The project is an initiative of ADORNO and is supported by Nordic Culture Point.
Graduates.design showcases graduation projects produced in 2021 – both bachelor’s and master’s – by designers who graduated from academies in the Nordic region and makes them accessible to an international audience. The aim of the project is to increase public interest in the work of emerging designers and provide the platform’s designer members an opportunity to create a valuable network for their professional life. The focus of the project is design and craft objects for interiors, including furniture, lighting, and decoration.
WHY IS IT RELEVANT?
Graduation projects are often used as a stepping stone for designers to start their professional careers at companies or at their own studios. Through the Nordic Young Designers Network, graduation projects are promoted to an international audience, increasing the possibilities of emerging talents to connect with the industry or create meaningful connections with other designers that can lead to further collaborations.
The project encourages dialogue and debate about the future of design and craft across the Nordics, and it also showcases the talent that the Nordic academies are forming to a global audience.
WHO IS PART OF THE NETWORK?
The collaboration includes graduate students, Nordic art and design academies, and Adorno International Design Collaboration.
For 2021, the following Nordic design schools are participating in the network:
In the future, the project will expand the network, inviting more academies and Nordic design associations.
A PLATFORM BY ADORNO
ADORNO is a digital gallery for the best of collectible design and craft from around the globe. Selected by a network of on-the-ground curators in major design cities, ADORNO’S collections provide a unique insight into the world’s diverse creative communities – and celebrate the work of the designers shaping them.
Each collection showcases only unique or limited-edition contemporary works, spanning the fields of furniture, textiles, ceramics, sculpture and design-art. The curatorial approach varies from collection to collection – just as design culture varies from community to community – but every object featured is contemporary in style, experimental in approach, and exceptional in material quality.
The designers featured include both established names and emerging talents at the cusp of their careers, ensuring each collection is a snapshot of the people, techniques, styles and thinking that define the modern making culture of each region. With each collection launch, ADORNO adds a new chapter to the global design story.
In its essence the infrastructure of ADORNO includes the e-commerce platform, an international legal set up, and a global cost efficient shipping solution that enables autonomous collaboration between curators and designers to promote their work, and transact with a growing segment of international buyers. Besides running the online platform, ADORNO exhibits at major design events worldwide.