Open Call Self-taught Designer

This open call is specifically for starting designers and makers who have not completed a higher professional or university degree in the arts in the Netherlands or abroad. You may submit an application if you are a designer/maker and have developed independently or if you have completed a senior secondary vocational design course.

To submit an application, you have to be a starter. This means that you started a design practice no more than four years ago within the areas of design, architecture or digital culture or a cross-over between them, for example in the area of fashion design, animation, comic/graphic novel, game design, or more on the borders of the areas in the disciplines of street art, art direction and styling or city making.

Review the Open Call Self-taught Designer for all conditions. Are you unsure whether you are eligible for a grant? Contact the fund via zelflerendontwerper@stimuleringsfonds.nl.

You can use the € 25,000 development grant to professionalise your own starting design practice, through guidance from a mentor or a coach, for example, or by taking workshops to learn new skills or improve them, or by making and presenting new work. The period in which you implement your plan starts on 1 September 2025 and runs up to 1 November 2026.

You cannot use the grant for standard operating costs or acquiring property, materials or equipment that will also have a value outside the context of the development plan.

You can apply for the live pitch day of the Open Call Self-taught Designer by submitting an application. Your application consists of your CV, portfolio, and either a motivation video or a motivation letter. From the applications, we will invite two designers/makers per province to a pitch day, during which you will give a live presentation about your ideas on how to professionalise your practice in the coming year. An independent committee will assess the pitches and select ten designers/makers who will then develop their written development plan with help from the Creative Industries Fund NL. Based on this plan, they will be eligible for a grant of €25,000.

To prepare, it's important to inform yourself by reading the following documents:

Open Call Self-taught Designer

The Open Call Self-taught Designer contains detailed information about conditions, application process and assessment criteria.

Open Call Grant Scheme

The Open Call Grant Scheme describes the general terms and conditions, grounds for refusal, publication method, submission method, assessment, awarding and grant obligations.

Important to know: You apply for the open call through the application platform of the Creative Industries Fund NL. Validating a new user account can take up to one working day. This means you can create a new account until Thursday 24 April 2025.

Your application consists of several documents (motivation video or motivation letter, CV and portfolio). The committee evaluates both these documents and your pitch. The assessment is based on the Open Call Self-learning Designer.

The assessment criteria are:

• The applicant's artistic and reflective capacity.
• The intended development direction of the applicant.

• The way new connections are made and outcomes are shared

Am I eligible for a grant if I am enrolled in education?

No, you cannot receive a grant if you are enrolled in a full-time or part-time course at an NVAO accredited institution or recognised MBO education during the grant period.

Is registration with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KvK) required?

No, registration with the KvK is not required when applying for the pitch day. Only if you are selected to develop your development plan you will need to provide a digitally certified KvK extract, no more than one year old.

Can I use the grant for an artistic project?

The Open Call Self-taught Designer focuses on the development of the artistic and professional practice of emerging designers and makers. If you only want to apply for funding for a stand-alone artistic project, you can go to the other schemes of the Creative Industries Fund NL: Design, Architecture, Digital Culture or Creative Industries Kick-start.

How does the selection process work for the live pitch day?

The Creative Industries Fund NL invites two designers/makers per province to the pitch day. If more than two applications from the same province are submitted, the time of submission will be decisive. Only the first two complete applications that meet the conditions and link up with the open call’s objective will be invited to the pitch day. If fewer than two applications per province qualify for an invitation, the remaining spots will be assigned to the other applications that are eligible. This is based on the time of submission, regardless of the province from which these applications came.

Open Call Self-taught Designer
Open Call Grant Scheme