Exhibitions, LEGO rockets and a chance to design your own virtual reality are among the activities at the scond Leicester Design Season, which is now underway.
Design Season 2 celebrates the 4,400 creative businesses based in and around Leicester and the more than 14,100 people who work within them.
There will be more than 60 events marking that.
The city has built a reputation for design in recent decades, with a disproportionately high number of point of sale design specialists in particular.
Many are based around the city’s Cultural Quarter, which is also home to the local authority-run LCB Depot workspaces - which is at the heart of the current events programme.
Design Season 2, which runs until October 25, encompasses a design and designer-led three weeks of collaborations, talks, events, exhibitions, workshops and activities.
A spokeswoman for the organisers said: “Whilst previously quiet about its prominence, Leicester is actually home to the second largest design cluster outside of London.
“Now, throughout October Leicester is celebrating this success through an innovative
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programme, led by the creative sector in the city and county.
“The DS2 programme sees events targeted at both businesses and the general public
covering topics from architecture and virtual reality to fashion and interiors.”
Highlights include:
- Loop Open Exhibition, until October 25 at the LCB Depot, with graphic design and illustration work.
- BRICKLive Outer Space Trail, from October 11 - 20 at various city centre locations. As part of the One Giant Leap Festival, the BRICKLIVE Outer Space Trail is a display of 15 LEGO models, including famous astronauts and reconstructions of the rockets that took us to the moon.
- Design your own virtual reality on Saturday, October 12. A family event at the Phoenix arts centre where guests can create a design on paper, to be turned into a virtual world and viewed through a VR headset.
Don’t miss
- Sustainability in Design, on Thursday, October 17 at Parkside Tiles, at the Topps Tiles head office in Enderby. A panel discussion aimed at architects and designers, hosted by Parkside Architectural Tiles. Attendees can meet at the LCB Depot at 5pm for transport to and from Enderby.
- Overview Effect (Friday and Saturday, October 18 and 19, in the New Market Square. An outdoor show celebrating the ambition and technical achievement of the 1969 moon landing, in the form of a psychedelic and atmospheric outdoor projection set to an original soundtrack. Attendees will experience the view the Apollo 11 astronauts saw on the moon, and appreciate the fragility of the planet we call home.
- Designs for the Grand Egyptian Museum, on Friday, October 18 at the LCB Depot. Leicester’s Hayley Sharpe Design has the honour of being exhibition consultants for the Phase II Galleries as the world awaits the opening of the state-of-the-art Grand Egyptian Museum near the Great Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx of Egypt. This is your opportunity to find out more about the project.
- DS2 Design Trail: Open Studios, Saturday, October 19. An opportunity to see behind the scenes of Leicester’s design businesses as they open their doors to th public. Follow the Design Season trail and meet businesses including Bulb Studios, PPL PRS Ltd, Leicester XR, Fullalove clothing and more. You can follow the trail by downloading the free map via the Cuttlefish Mapps App.
Festival organiser James Burkmar is the workspace manager at Leicester design hub the LCB Depot.
He said: “We have such a wonderful programme that’s been put together for DS2.
“As a season that is led by the business community it’s great to see so many collaborations and unique opportunities.
“With so much talent in the city and county, many of whom are making big waves both nationally and internationally, this 3 week season offers a brilliant snapshot of the exciting and innovative work that’s taking place on our doorstep.
“As well as talks, collaborations, workshops and networking for those involved in the industry we’re also excited to be working on more public facing projects including a trail of LEGO designs across the city in partnership with BID Leicester, a chance for the public to design their own virtual reality at Phoenix and, of course, our studio open day which will offer a unique insight behind the scenes.”
The full programme for DS2 is available to