Clerkenwell Design Week 2018 About To Kick Off

In a mere two weeks’ time, we will see the ninth edition of Clerkenwell Design Week (CDW) take place from May 22-24th 2018. As the annual focus for London’s leading design district, the festival programme has been created to reflect the unique nature of this vibrant London hub which is home to a plethora of creative businesses, design consultancies, showrooms and architectural practices.

2018 will again play host to hundreds of design-led fringe events, showroom presentations, workshops, talks and public-facing installations. Activities will run over three days and follow a distinct trail north to south from Spa Fields down to Farringdon.

New Graphics For CDW 2018 has commissioned Made Up studio to create a brand new identity, especially for the Festival. Made Up’s work is rooted in drawing, geometric shapes, isometric grids, interconnected forms, and a surreal three-dimensional aesthetic, and covers work for advertising, editorial, branding, and exhibitions.” Made Up is the illustration and type studio of Charles Williams, who says of his design for CDW: “The idea for the CDW identity is to represent the various strands of the creative community coming together in one place – an abstract representation of Clerkenwell Design Week. We strived to create something architectural in feel, but without being too explicitly focused on any one strand of design”

Integral to the festival are the local resident design showrooms, many of whom partner with CDW, providing an array of stimulating events from talks and workshops to major installations. Over 90 participating companies commit to CDW, including high-end furniture, lighting, kitchen and bathroom brands alongside specialist manufacturers. Showrooms already signed include: Moroso, Arper, Hansgrohe UK, Muuto, Kvadrat, Humanscale, Isomi, Flokk, Naughtone and Morgan.

CDW’s exhibitions are hosted in distinctive spaces around the area linked by a route running through the centre of EC1. There are seven exhibitions, each with a different curatorial focus, ranging from cutting-edge international design to emerging talent, lighting, luxury interiors and the best of British design. Key brands already signed to exhibit include: Tacchini, Benchmark, Bert, Frank, iGuzzini, Deadgood, XAL, James Burleigh, Arte, Abstracta, Another Country, Dare and Studio.