Insights from Birmingham Design Festival 2024

Last week, the Birmingham Design team stepped away from their screens and immersed themselves in the inspirational atmosphere of the Birmingham Design Festival 2024.

In its sixth year, the Birmingham Design Festival united creatives from around the globe to ignite inspiration within the city's creative community. The festival encompassed a diverse array of workshops, talks, and networking spaces, all centred around this year's theme: 'Process'.

The team attended talks given by Elizabeth Goodspeed, Dan Forster, Paul McNeil, Hamish Muir, Felix Pfäffli, and Marie Boulanger. We discovered the importance of personal projects, the power of utilizing archives and repurposing old designs, how type designers think, and that while great ideas may initially seem nonsensical, they are worth exploring.

Sue Graham, Creative Director

‘It’s great to be reminded of some of the fundamentals of design and what can make us brilliant designers and colleagues – Let the light in, Reshape the negative, Build connections, Sweat the details, Take up and give space.’

Matthew Wyatt, Senior Designer

'Elizabeth Goodspeed’s talk resonated with me. Don’t just look at Pinterest for today’s design trends. Look into the past. There are some fantastic design archives to draw more rounded inspiration from that will give you more jumping-off points to explore further.'

Ben Marples, Senior Designer

'A consistent theme throughout the day was the power and importance of sharing your work. This could be for collaboration – sharing with peers to gain feedback and develop ideas. Or it could be to find your audience – all it takes is for your work to resonate with the right person for new and exciting opportunities to open up.'

Amy Neece, Senior Designer

'BDF presented another year of fresh perspectives, knowledge and outlooks. Intention is the essence of design. Remain authentic. Ask Stupid questions because when they work it’s magic. Sometimes the silliest solution is the best one.'

Jess Hughes, Designer

'Marie Boulingers talk 'Kerning, spacing, leading the way' highlighted the importance of creating personal work, particularly with her stamp project she embarked on during lockdown, and how it can enable other creatives to resonate with your work, opening the door for collaboration, inspiration and development.'