Truth be told: Extinction Rebellion, MinaLima, Superunion & more in Birmingham Design Festival 2019

With over 50 free talks alongside a host of free exhibitions, screenings, pop-ups and more venues around the city the second Birmingham Design Festival is totally a celebration of the local, national and international design industry. The festival kicks off today and and till the 8th of June "Truth", this year's theme is to be told.

"In an age which has seen truth questioned and deception utilised in many areas, we’re more passionate than ever about truth... About finding honest insights and sharing them, about confronting difficult subjects head-on, and shining a light on topics which might be uncomfortable" said Festival coordinator and co-founder, Luke Tonge. "We hope by setting truth as our central theme for BDF2019 we’ll be playing a small part in helping our corner of the creative industries become more transparent, helpful and genuine – a responsibility we all feel."

Exciting names from this year's eclectic programme of world-class designers include MinaLima, the duo behind the graphic universe of the Harry Potter film series, Founder of Johnson Banks Michael Johnson, Katherina Tudball of Superunion London who created BBC Two’s new identity, Paul Barnes of Commercial Type, Director & Designer at Aardman Animations Gavin Strange, and Extinction Rebellion's headline-grabbing design activists Clare Farrell, Miles Glyn and Clive Russell.

Each day of the festival will see an evening headline event –Thursday evening will cover the theme Designing Community featuring Chris Do (The Futur), Wes O’Haire (Blacks Who Design), Perrin Drum (AIGA) and Milan Moffat (SuperHi); Friday will see MinaLima (The Wizarding World of Harry Potter), Erica Dorn (Isle of Dogs), Mike McGee (Framestore) and Gavin Strange (Aardman) discuss Design for Film & TV; and Saturday night's Building Bigger Brands will invite Laura Pol (TBWA\Media Arts Lab, Apple), Jennifer Daniel (Google), Andre Jay Meissner (Adobe XD) and Richard Small (Sony Design) to delve deeply into the festival theme of "Truth".

BDF2019's diverse range of workshops includes paper sculpture with paper artist Sam Pierpoint, UX design and prototyping with Birmingham agency 383 and foil stamping with Foilco. There are also free portfolio reviews and design masterclasses perfect for recent graduates and those starting out in their careers.

We hope by setting truth as our central theme for BDF2019 we’ll be playing a small part in helping our corner of the creative industries become more transparent, helpful and genuine – a responsibility we all feel.

With two free graphics exhibitions, a day devoted to video game design, featuring ustwo games and Liam Wong, graffiti art walks
around the city and a showcase of Birmingham-made designs and products at the Quartermasters Market, there is something for all interests in a multitude of design disciplines.

"With over 80 hours of free talks and workshops, 3 headline events which are just £15 each, and a variety of exhibitions, masterclasses and screenings, we wanted to make this festival accessible for people of all incomes to learn from the best in the industry and experience what Birmingham's design sector has to offer" notes Dan Alcorn, coordinator of the Festival.  Birmingham Design Festival 2019 takes place across multiple venues across the south-east side of the city centre in Digbeth, one of the city’s most creative quarters, and is curated into three Design Districts (Graphic, Digital & Product).

So have you booked your ticket yet or not? Check more truths about design and type here. 

All images via Birmingham Design Festival