INTRODUCTION
Starting this year, graduate students from Nordic design schools will be invited to present their graduation projects on a dedicated, shared digital platform as part of the Nordic Young Designers Network. The aim of the network is to make these projects globally accessible, to arrange one yearly ‘physical’ exhibition with the best student projects, and thereby increase the public interest in the work of young designers, and, finally, to provide an opportunity for a good start in their professional life.
The platform of this new network will be launched in December 2021 and will present “a round up” of the graduation projects produced and presented during 2021 (both bachelor’s and master’s projects). Each student will have their own showroom on the platform to which they can upload text, images, and videos about their graduation projects. The focus of the Nordic Young Designers Network is design and craft objects for interiors, including furniture, lighting, and decoration.
As part of the network, three Nordic Design Highlights will be awarded by Adorno’s jury selected from each of the participating countries. The aim is to exhibit the projects awarded the prize Nordic Design Highlights 2021 at Three Days of Design in Copenhagen in May 2022.
TIMELINE PLAN
01.12.2021
The graduate students are contacted by email with the assistance of the schools and invited to present their graduation projects on the shared platform.
02.12.2021-15.12.2021
Adorno edits uploads – including texts, images, and videos about the individual graduation projects – and makes the graduation projects for Nordic Young Design Network public on 15.12.2021.
January 2022
The “Young Nordic Design Highlights 2021” are announced. On the day of the announcement, a PR and promotion campaign will be initiated through the channels of Adorno and the Networks own channels.
May 2022
The projects awarded the prize “Nordic Young Design Highlights 2021” are exhibited at 3 Days of Design.
WHY A NEW DESIGN NETWORK?
First of all, the graduation project is the most important project for design students and is often used as a stepping stone to get a first job as a designer. Through the Nordic Young Designers Network, graduation projects can be shared to an audience around the globe. Hence, the chances that each graduation project actually becomes that stepping stone increases.
Secondly, design schools are the cradle of tomorrow’s design industry; this is why it is important to build a shared digital platform for students which will amplify their voices in the continuous dialogue and debate about the future of design and craft across the Nordics and around the world.
Along with the above overall goals, the network pursues the following sub-goals:
1. Facilitating collaboration between design students, student organisations, and schools across the Nordic Region and beyond.
2. Inspiring and assisting students to make better graduation projects and to learn from each other.
3. Assisting design students in improving their digital media skills and capacities, which are becoming increasingly important, especially within the creative industry.
4. Assisting students in creating contacts which will enable them to get their first job as a designer after their design education has been completed.
5. Enabling the Nordic design schools to show the quality of the design students they produce and their design vision to the world.
THE NETWORK'S PLATFORM
The platform will be designed with a mobile-first approach, with a strong CMS section allowing members to upload and manage content. The initial platform will be developed with the following functionalities:
- Each school will have its own section on the platform under which the showrooms of their students are organised.
- Each student will have a showroom in which they can present their graduation projects with texts, images, and videos. The students can upload content by themselves to the platform.
- A chat function is assigned to each showroom through which visitors and students can communicate directly with each other.
- Each project will have its own presentation page, where the story can automatically be shared across social media platforms.
PROMOTION & OPERATION
The aim of the network is for the students, schools, and Adorno to all contribute to the promotion of the network’s activities year by year and project by project through their respective websites, social media channels, and newsletters. The network will also establish its own channels on social media and a newsletter subscription system, with content produced and shared across all channels.
In its initial phase, Adorno’s in-house team will be in charge of coordinating all of the activities for the network as well as the production of content to communicate the network’s graduation projects. However, over time, the goal is for the network to be student-driven under the management of the future board of the Nordic Young Designers Network.
As part of the network’s promotion, Adorno will produce and promote content on its own platforms and channels, including:
23.000 Monthly Unique Visitors
68.000 Monthly Page views
44,1k Followers
255.000 Weekly impressions
5,9k Followers
195.000 Weekly impressions
108.300 Total audience
30.000 Weekly impressions
128.000 subscribers
26% open rate
COLLABORATION
The collaboration of the Nordic Young Designers Network includes graduate students (both at bachelor’s and master’s levels), Nordic design schools, and Adorno International Design Collaboration. The aim is to also invite Nordic design associations such as Design Denmark and its sister organisations in the other Nordic countries.
For 2021, the following Nordic design schools have agreed to participate in the network:
ABOUT 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.
