Dutch Design Week

It was one year ago when the possibility of moving to the Netherlands finally became real for Marlon and myself. I distinctly remember that it was Dutch Design Week (DDW) then. Back then, I was giddy at the prospect of simply being able to attend DDW and surround myself with so much creativity. Marlon calls this event one of the deal sweeteners that helped us decide to go for it. To think we're not even in the design industry!

So even if we were going to be out of town for most of the week, it was important not to miss it entirely. Thus an entire Sunday was devoted to trekking south to Eindhoven, the home of Dutch Design Week.

It's hard to capture such a huge experience in one blog post. But I thought hard about the five things that stood out the most about my visit to DDW. And here they are, in no particular order, after the jump:

Magnitude and mix. Because of its scale, DDW covers pretty much every area of design you can think of. From concept to process, home furnishings to urban planning, industrial scale production to individual ateliers, you name it. The big boys are definitely there—quite literally, in fact, as you can see from this concept ATV by Mercedes Benz. 

But keeping pace alongside the big names are the quiet ones: the one-man shops like that of Ilias Ernst, who designed this lighting fixture inspired by the pipes and tubes of a gas refinery. And as we all know, it's the quiet ones you have to watch out for.

Devil in the details. Even when we took a break from all this wonderful creativity and design, there were plenty of design details to see and enjoy. For example, check out this inverted lightbulb vase at one of the snack bars in the Klokgebouw, the main exhibition venue. Clever and cute!

Even getting to another venue became a design experience with Mini Design Rides. Who wants to walk when you can get a chauffeur to drive you in a Mini Cooper? Our short ride reminded me of two things: I really miss being driven around in a car, and I really wouldn't mind driving my own Mini!

Kids everywhere. I must admit this both warmed the cockles of my heart and turned me an envious shade of green. It seems taking your kids to DDW is normal in these parts. Instead of taking the kids to a mall or leaving them with yaya, giving kids a design education becomes a real option for parents. Good on those who seize that opportunity. Can you imagine being what this exposure to design, creativity and out-of-the-box thinking at such a tender age can do for inquisitive young minds? 

At DDW, I saw so many children running, playing, exploring and questioning. As the Dutch would say, wat leuk! (What fun!) Kids can learn that drawers don't always have to line up straight and that a spade can also be a chair... and more importantly, that making a living in design is possible (and not completely crazy). I wonder how many kids who grew up going to Dutch Design Week ended up embarking on a career in a creative industry?

Getting to know Etsy. Have you ever bought any handmade goodies from Etsy? I have. I also love browsing through it for inspiration. Recently, I've thought about changing my relationship with this inspiring online marketplace by becoming not just a consumer, but a seller. (Cue lightning and thunder. Yes, that's a rather big pronouncement.) So I was really pleased to attend a short talk by the European director of Etsy and learn about what they are doing for the sellers on the site.

The Etsy booth at DDW was a showcase of talent from some of the site's Dutch sellers. Dropping by the booth allowed me to meet some people from the Etsy community in the Netherlands... and got me excited about joining that community soon.

If you can't make it, buy it. At the DDW shop, I scored the sweet early birthday gift you saw in my previous post. This rubber collar is from the "Out of Office" collection (designed with ordinary office supplies!) by conceptual jewelry designers Hartog & Henneman.

I loved how it looked like handwritten marks made with a Magic Marker/Sharpie/Pentel Pen (choose the felt-tipped pen reference most relevant to you, haha). And it certainly didn't hurt that it went perfectly with that day's monochromatic outfit. Sold!

For a non-design industry person such as myself, this was the best part about all this fabulous design: getting to take some of it home!