Design – 25 projects selected

10 November 2022

general impression

Typically, the third round of the year, which falls in summer, is relatively small. This year was different and a remarkably large number of applications were submitted, covering a broad range of themes and research directions. More than half the applications taken into consideration were starting grants. A number of applications could not be considered, for instance because they were not sufficiently in line with the grant scheme, did not transcend regular business practice enough or were too summarily developed to assess. In the case of starting grants, these included applications that did not relate to the first phase of an extensive project, which is a formal criterion for a starting grant.

selection

The available budget of € 300,000 was not sufficient to award a grant to all 36 positively assessed applications. As a result, the advisory committee had to prioritize. The procedure used is described in the Design Grant Scheme. After prioritization, 11 projects were eliminated from the selection. A few notable projects from this round’s selection are:

Haptic Seeing – Studio Boey
The project Haptic Seeing is a subsequent step in Studio Boey’s design method Haptic Design. After concentrating on adults with a visual impairment, Boey Wang is now focusing on children aged 0 to 8 years old who were born blind, and whose world view is based entirely on non-visual sensory experiences, mainly through touch. In collaboration with expertise centre Royal Dutch Visio and universities, among others, Boey Wang aims to study the development of the sense of touch in children born blind. He translates this preliminary research into haptic object sketches that the children can touch, to understand some inaccessible visual ideas such as colour and horizon. In addition, Boey Wang uses the research findings in developing a workshop in which design students learn to think out of the visual box and to relearn their sense of touch.

Variable Font Editor – Studio Pointer*
According to Studio Pointer* (Asya Sukhorukova and Jakob Schlötter) and font designer Céline Hurka, a free tool for sketching, designing and exporting files with variable, moving fonts is lacking. With the project Variable Font Editor, they aim to create and publish software like this under an open-source licence. Hurka will design a set of variable fonts and collaborate with Studio Pointer* to create artworks using the new tool, organize a launch event and invite other designers to work with the tool. During the process, the application will be tested and used by various designers in an educational context.

Mascot Micrographia – Sangah Shin
With Mascot Micrographia, Sangah Shin is starting the development of an archival publication on the visual ecosystem of the mascot. Shin will use the starting grant to explore the visual culture surrounding mascots and experiment with the subversive visual language of cuteness as a form of parody within the proposed design publication. The start-up phase focuses on research and professionalization and consists of mascot research and collecting images. In addition, Shin is working on further visual analysis and experiments to construct the intended visual narratives. The starting grant should provide insight into the first draft of the publication’s content and design, the scope of the ultimate print production and online presentation of research results.

Continue this thread: Karim Adduchi X Tess van Zalinge – Stichting Amsterdam Museum
Stichting Amsterdam Museum argues that the knowledge of many needlework techniques is in danger of being lost, despite the fact that this handicraft has for centuries provided tools to express emotions, connect, heal traumas and make more sustainable. The exhibition Continue this thread: Karim Adduchi X Tess van Zalingeaims to communicate (or recommunicate) the unifying power of needlework and inspire visitors to discover and apply these handicraft techniques. With their designs, co-curators and designers Karim Adduchi and Tess van Zalinge are entering into a dialogue with the Amsterdam Museum’s fashion collection. By means of various ‘co-labs’ in the public programming, the Amsterdam Museum aims to actively involve visitors in the exhibition.

Click here for all the projects selected in Design in 2022.

numbers

Of the 75 subsidy applications taken into consideration, 25 are receiving grants. This brings the percentage of applications receiving grants to 33%. The closing date for the last Design round of 2022 year was 11 October. The closing dates for next year are: 11 January 2023, 5 April 2023, 16 August 2023 and 11 October 2023. The first round of 2023 is already open for applications.