2020 Detroit Month of Design

February 18, 2020 - April 13, 2020

This September marks the tenth anniversary of Detroit Month of Design, a milestone for the city of Detroit. Design Core Detroit is looking to Detroit’s design community to propose ideas and has announced a call for applications for the 2020 edition of the citywide Design festival. Design Core Detroit aims to inspire and propel Detroit into another great decade of innovation, celebrating Detroit as the nation’s only UNESCO-designated City of Design.

In 2020, Design Core Detroit is inviting participation in the following ways:

— Host an Event or Design Experience
Design Core Detroit is looking to infuse the month of September with diverse experiences that inspire and are calling all designers, curators and innovators to submit ideas for an independent happening. Independently hosted events include tours, workshops, talks, open studios and exhibitions that are funded and produced by the event organizer. Up to 35 happenings will be selected by a jury of professionals to be included in the printed and digital Detroit Month of Design program guide.

We are looking for traditional and nontraditional ways to engage our audience and push the boundaries of what an event can be. This includes street activations, parties, creative marketing, installations and more.

— Design in the City 
Design Core Detroit is inviting fashion and accessory designers to apply for Design in the City, a program made possible with support from the Gucci Changemakers Impact Fund. Design in the City is a competition for emerging fashion and accessory designers to receive a stipend of $2,000 to create an installation that will debut during Detroit Month of Design September 1st – 30th. The program will pair six designers, with an emphasis on women and designers of color, with neighborhood retail spaces to host their installations. Selected designers will also receive ongoing technical assistance from industry experts.

— Interactive Design Competition 
Up to five winning teams will receive a $2,000 – $5,000 stipend to go towards the costs of building materials, delivery, set-up and take away of an interactive installation debuting during the Detroit Month of Design. The goal of this competition is to highlight the relevance that interaction and product designers play in society. Concentrating on the design, development, and use of interactive technologies for families, cities and government. We are looking for installations that encourage interactions between people, things or technology.

— Commerce Design Award 
Commerce Design: Detroit is aimed at raising awareness of, and access to, professional design services for neighborhood small businesses, and celebrating the impact of commercial design projects on the communities in which these businesses reside. The award program will recognize permanent and complete projects that have been completed within the City of Detroit (including Highland Park and Hamtramck) within the last 5 years.

— Commerce Design Refresh Grant 
The design process does not stop when a small business opens its doors. The Commerce Design Refresh Grant is a $20,000 grant offered to a commercial small business owners in Detroit to support the cost of interior design upgrades. Business owners can choose to work with their original designer or connect with a new designer in the Detroit Design Network by pitching a vision for an update or change to their space in this application. One winner will be announced at the Commerce Design Awards Ceremony on Thursday, August 13, 2020. This grant is made possible by Bank of America.

— Venue Host
Great ideas require great spaces. If you are interested in offering your space in-kind for a Detroit Month of Design event or installation, please apply. A member of Design Core’s team will contact you.


applicable to artists working in these mediums:

About Design Core Detroit

CHAMPIONING DESIGN-DRIVEN BUSINESSES
Design Core Detroit champions design-driven businesses and their role in strengthening Detroit’s economy. It offers services to strengthen, grow and attract design businesses, increases market demand for design services, and tells Detroit’s design story locally and globally. Design Core is a department within College for Creative Studies.

Design Core serves design-driven industries that specialize in design or utilize design as a central discipline of their business strategy.  As the steward of Detroit’s UNESCO City of Design designation, Design Core serves as the convener and backbone organization for the Detroit City of Design initiative.