Design export conference "Design Exposed" on 23 May

Time: 23 May 10.00 – 17.00
Location: Baltika Moelava, Baltika Kvartal, 24 Veerenni
Fee: 30 €, 15 € for students (coffee and lunch included)
Language: English

Today, one third of all income in the field of design comes from export. However, the total export value is only 4 million euros (according to statistics from 2011). In the IT-sector, essentially similar to design, half of the income is earned from export and export turnover (not export income) amounts to 160 million euros.
What is holding Estonian design export back? Generally, local companies and bureaus are small and lack the clout to break into foreign markets. In addition, the necessary network of partners, clients, buyers and re-sellers does not exist and takes years to build up. The major obstacle is the lack of resources and experience.

How can we support designers under those conditions? How should we enter the market and with what? How should we build contact networks? How can we encourage designers to work together and to do so in the international arena? What have the experiences of other countries been like in supporting design export? What could the designers do themselves?

Organisations involved in design export from Finland and Germany have been invited to share their experiences, among them the representatives of Design Forum Finland and Hamburg Design Centre. Lingerie designer Kriss Soonik will share her experiences from the point of view of an exporting designer – despite the fact that she has been exporting her collections to more than 15 countries, she only entered the Estonian market two years ago.

The day culminates in a panel discussion – "How could Estonian design be introduced globally?"

The Estonian Design Centre celebrates its fifth anniversary through the conference "Design Exposed".

Exhibition "DESIGN EXPOSED!" will be opened at the Design and Architecture Gallery from May 22. The exhibition collects the works of Estonian designers which have previously been shown only in Germany and Great Britain together with a selection of the best design talent from Hamburg.

Programme:

9.45              Gathering

10.00 – 10.15 Opening words: Jane Oblikas (Estonian Design Centre) and Eva Leemet (Creative Estonia)

10.15 – 10.55 Laila Alanen, Design Forum Finland. Entering the Japanese Design Market - Experiences from Hirameki Project

10.55 – 11.30 Babette Peters, designxport hamburg, Germany. The mission, vision and values of designxport hamburg

11.30 – 11.50 Coffee break

11.50 – 12.30 Johannes Savolainen, Royal Majestics, Finland. Royal Majestics - A Finnish story

12.30 – 13.00 Kriss Soonik, Kriss Soonik Loungerie, Estonia. Kriss Soonik Loungerie export story: go bold or go home

13.00 – 13.45 Lunch

13. 45 – 14.15 Christian Schüten, BFGF Design Studios, Germany. Cradle to cradle concept, ecoeffective production

14.15 – 14.45 Sirli Nõmm, Estonian Design Centre, Estonia. FreshEst – Present and future export projects of the Estonian Design Centre

14.45 – 16.00 Panel discussion „How could Estonian design be introduced globally?" moderator Dan Mikkin / Brand Manual