Apply for Designers in Residence 2016

Now in its 9th year, the annual residency programme promotes new and emerging design talent. It’s open to all designers who have graduated from Higher Education within the last five years (in the academic year 2011/12 or more recently) and who have been working professionally (either paid or voluntarily) in some form of design or architecture practice for a minimum of one year.

This year the Design Museum opens the doors to its new home in Kensington. The Designers in Residence of 2016 will join the museum on this journey. Through a focussed and rigorous proposal, the museum asks for designers to submit creative responses to this year’s theme OPEN.

Design is no longer exclusive but a process in which many voices can participate. The spirit of open design offers new and exciting ways to shape and experience the world around us. Design has become more inclusive. Tools that were once the preserve of professionals are now available to amateurs. Through hacking, co-creation, downloadable designs, and sharing of knowledge, more people than ever can take on the role of the designer.

Moreover, designers themselves have learnt to adapt becoming more outward-looking, opening the discipline to a world beyond objects that include services, environments and emerging technologies. Open suggests a willingness to test new methods of working and seek new interactions.

The Design Museum is looking for new ways of thinking, doing and making. Designers in Residence invites designers who demonstrate an openness in their practice. Through the programme the selected designers must offer a unique insight into their process, encouraging museum visitors to engage directly with their work. The Design Museum wants designers who demonstrate originality, be it through technology or through collective modes of working. As a Designer in Residence you will show initiative and awareness of broader debates that touch on design, whether economic, ethical or social issues, whilst setting the agenda for the future of design.

Please submit your completed application form below and attach the required visual material. Incomplete entries will not be considered. The deadline for entries is Tuesday 1 March 2016, 9:00. Entries received after this deadline will not be accepted. Shortlisted applicants are required to attend an interview in London on 17 March 2016. Please check the accompanying call for entries and terms and conditions documents below to ensure you fit the criteria for entry.

Download the application form and upload with your application below. Any queries about the application process or the Designers in Residence programme should be submitted using the online query form.