Cheltenham Design Festival’s third instalment marries a well-curated programme with a laudable commitment to accessible ticket prices.
All too often, design events rely on big name headliners to draw in the crowds without giving much thought to curating what those hotshots talk about. Not so Cheltenham Design Festival. This year the two-day programme features the likes of Ken Garland, Kenneth Grange and Erik Kessels, but its theme of design’s ability to drive change has been keenly implemented – with Kessels exploring new methods of storytelling and Garland applying ideas from economist E.F. Schumacher’s 1973 book Small is Beautiful to graphic design – rather than the speakers simply summarising their extensive portfolios.
With two simultaneous talks programmes and a series of D&AD-run workshops, there’s a lot to see. Morag Myerscough will speak on how design can create a feeling of belonging, Hat-Trick’s Jim Sutherland aims to explore ways of injecting joy into your career and BERG’s Jack Schulze will consider how new technologies and materials are set to change the design landscape. There are some interesting wildcards too, not least Chris Bee from the European Space Agency who will discuss its Rosetta spacecraft and how design is helping to realise its eleven-year mission to land on a comet.
Other highlights include D&AD president Laura Jordan Bamback on advertising’s unfavourable reputation, former Magpie Studio creative director Jamie Ellul on design and travel, and a panel event about Britain’s creative future featuring Ed Vaizey, Christopher Frayling and Alastair Parvin, chaired by Fi Glover. Cheltenham Design Festival
Parabola Arts Centre, Cheltenham
4 April - 5 April 2014
cheltenhamdesignfestival.com