The 2020 creative festival (and other events) round up

12th February 2020
by Lara Hanlon

With the new year well underway, you might be wondering what events are worth adding to your calendar. Take a browse and chalk them down…

LEAF

March 5–8

https://www.leaf061.com/

Limerick’s Electronic Arts Festival (LEAF) will celebrate the intersection of art and technology during their 4-day program. Venues across Limerick city are set to be reimagined and repurposed with artist studios, workshops, installations, and live music performances. Event details have not been released just yet but if you want a taste of 2019’s playlist to set the mood, you can check it out here.

OFFSET 2020

April 3–5

https://www.iloveoffset.com/

A staple for the creative community in Ireland, OFFSET is back again this April at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre. As always, the lineup (so far) includes makers from the world of film, advertising, illustration, animation, and graphic design. Pentagram features yet again with two speakers announced: Sascha Lobe, Partner at the London office, and Rory Simms, Associate Partner in New York. Not to mention title sequence designer Lisa Bolan, who is sure to please the film and Netflix fanatics...

Fontstand

May 15–16

https://fontstand.com/conference-2020/

TU Dublin School of Creative Arts, Typography Ireland and Fontstand have teamed up to bring the 2020 conference to Dublin this coming May. The lineup looks impressively diverse – with speakers hailing from France, Netherlands, Denmark, Russia, Ireland, UK, and the US, and Spain, with expertise that span across education, film, branding, and of course, type design.

Design West Summer School

June 20–July 3

http://designwest.eu/

A two-week summer design school that takes place smack bang in the middle of Connemara – Design West sounds like the best thing since sliced bread. Attendees need to apply for a position with applications open until May 22, 2020, for post-graduate students and professionals. Classes will cover typography, graphic design, image-making, and bookmaking, with research and inspiration provided by the wilderness of the Connemara landscape! The course coordinator, Conor Clarke of Design Factory, will be joined by design leaders from Pentagram, Unthink, Or Studio, among others to share their expertise and deliver this unique programme.

UXDX

October 8–9

https://uxdxconf.com/

With more and more designers entering the tech industry, understanding engineering workflows, business strategy, and interdisciplinary collaboration has never been so important to the designers’ workflow. These are just some of the topics frequently covered by speakers and attendees of UXDX – a conference that proclaims itself as “the conference that bridges the gap between UX, UI, Dev, and Product”. The 2-day programme will incorporate both Keynote talks and hands-on workshops. 2019 speakers included Michael Gough – VP of Product Design at Uber, Yvonne So – Principal UX designer at Intuit, and Stephen McCarthy – Head of Design at Government Digital Service UK. The 2020 lineup is yet to be announced but it’s definitely one to bookmark.

Design Leaders Conference

October 22

https://www.designleadersconference.com/

Yet to be officially announced, the Design Leaders Conference will return to The LightHouse Smithfield this October. This is a great one-day event for studio owners, directors, and aspiring leaders to network and learn about the inner workings of an organization, client success, and design team culture. It’s also one of the few design conferences in Ireland that continuously highlights the business side of design – an area that is fundamental to the success and sustainability of the design industry.