40x40 Design Events

This page explains the 40x40 Design Events: Exhibition, Conference & Meetings of 40 Designers x 40 Countries..

What is it?
40 Designers, 40 Countries. The 40x40 Exhibition is an initiative by the A’ Design Award & Competition to promote and introduce award winning designers to design oriented audiences worldwide. 40x40 event covers an exhibition, an eventual conference, a dinner with participating designers, potential meeting with local media and companies as well as inclusion in the 40x40 catalog plus international media placement and coverage by A' Design Award partners.

How it Works?
An A’ Design Award winning designer (or artist, architect, company, brand or institution) applies to host a “40x40 Design: [Date, City Name, Country Name]” event. The event aims to bring 40 designers from 40 different countries for the exhibition as well as an eventual conference or symposium. The prospective host should provide the following details during his or her application to host the 40x40: 1. Proposed Event Venue, 2. Proposed Event Time, 3. Local Support Possibilities, 4. Public, Private or Personal Sponsorship Possibilities. 5. Proposed Poster (all 40x40 posters must be square! – please contact support for templates and guidelines). 6. Proposed Exhibition Category (The exhibition and the conference is focused on one of the A’ Design Award Categories) or Exhibition Theme (Multi-disciplinary exhibition and conference with a focus on participating designs sharing a conceptual attribute). 7. Terms of participation (Answers 3 questions – a) who pays travel fees b) who pays item shipment fees c) are there any other payments to pay or earn). 8) Topic of the Conference. 9) Mission statement: 500 words summary of how this event could contribute to your city, country and to disciplines of design, arts, architecture or technology. After a period of time, this application will be considered and if the application is approved, the prospective host will be required to sign a “40x40” contract which promises to organize the event at the given date and venue with the previously indicated terms. Once the contract is signed, the A’ Design Award & Competition announces this new 40x40 design event globally to all award winners, current and past. A’ Design Award provides a digital platform to collect “entries” for the exhibition and conference. Prospective exhibition and conference participants will be able to submit their item or speech proposals to the event as well as to sign an agreement for limited liability to protect the host who will sacrifice time to organize the event. The host will be responsible for intercepting shipments and welcoming any guests, to curate the exhibition, to organize the conference. During exhibition, each designer shall be allocated same amounts of space when possible, and no single participant shall have more than 20% of exhibition space, during the exhibition a video wall or presenter could be useful to provide information on A’ Design Awards and other winners.

Who can Join?
Host or participants to the 40x40 events must be A’ Design Award winners.  In practice, exhibition participants shall be A’ Design Award winners only, however leading local participants could also be considered. Acceptance of each single local participant is subject to approval by A’ Design Award. Conference speakers should also be A’ Design Award winners however conference speakers could also be noteworthy local speakers as approved by the host. The host must always be an A’ Design Award winner, the host could be a designer, artist, architect, institution, media, event organizer, brand or company who has won the A’ Design Awards. The host is expected to have a good network of people as well as a team of supporters in his or her city in order to invite guests, visitors, presenters, media and a good crowd to come and enjoy the exhibition and the eventual conference. Hosts and participants must be both enthusiastic and passionate about the event. During application to the exhibitions or conference, regardless of any sponsorship and coverage possibilities, participants who are eager to cover the fees for their travels to attend the exhibition shall be given priority.

Event Finances
This is a non-commercial initiative in which an award winner voluntarily organizes & hosts the 40x40 event thus there are no fees for organizing or participating, however to sustain the event or side-events there could be some fees required by the organizing hosts from other participants who send-in their works or join the conference, on the other hand, there could be sponsorship opportunities that could cover any fees and in some cases participants could also make revenue for example if during the exhibition their works are sold. The A’ Design Award & Competition contributes to these event by providing strategic advice and consultancy, communication support, PR support, media coverage, IT platform, and mediation as well as eventually sending a delegation for the participation in the opening ceremony or the conference. The host is suggested to contact local companies, brands as well as government or institutions to provide exhibition and conference space as well as to help cover transportation costs of participants’ items. In some countries it could be possible to cover the participants’ travel costs, but in most cases the participants of the 40x40 exhibition are expected to cover their travel costs by themselves. Cost of shipping items to the exhibition venue and their eventual retrieval shall also be covered by the participants in case the host is unable to find sponsors for this event. The host can charge entry fee to the event or exhibition to cover his or her expenses for hosting the event. Exhibition and Conference must be organized within the same period to save costs, it is better to organize the conference after the exhibition is ready, thus it is a good idea to set-up the exhibition earlier, open it to public earlier yet make the exhibition opening ceremony several days after the exhibition actually opens. The exhibition shall last minimum 2 weeks to a maximum of 6 weeks depending on space availability. When it is a “company” that joins the event as a participant, they should contribute somehow by “sponsoring” the event. The sponsorship amount should be nominal. When a “company or institution” hosts and organizes the event, they should contribute more than a regular host by for example sponsoring some extra events or activities.

Benefits
The 40x40 exhibition allows A’ Design Award winners to show and share their work internationally. We aim to organize dozens of 40x40 events each year in all continents to help participants from across the globe to engage and connect with audiences from different countries. It is a great opportunity for any type of award winner (designer, artist, architect, brand, company or institution) to exhibit worldwide by joining thematic exhibitions and conferences. For academic participants, scholars and designers, the 40x40 exhibitions can add value to your CV as the 40x40 events are documented and cataloged international mixed exhibitions. For all other participants, the 40x40 events is a great opportunity to connect with remote yet important local media, companies, distributors or investors as well as design enthusiasts. 40x40 could lead to new prospects, leads, sales, new commissioned work, international collaborations and media appearances. For the host and eventual sponsors, it is a great prestigious exhibition which brings many foreign designers, artists, architects or companies together. Host and the sponsors could benefit from the publicity and media mentions, as well as position themselves as prominent figures and pioneers of design, arts, architecture and innovation. Furthermore, we try to provide some further benefits to organizers such as via professional and digital nomination tickets.

Support Package
A' Design Award & Competition, upon your request, will provide you with graphics of A3 Design Exhibition Poster, 80 cm x 200 cm Design Exhibition Totem and Square Infographic file.

Apply
To start your application, simply contact us as a winner of A’ Design Award. We will ignite the communication to get you started as well as help you by providing ideas for sponsorship, selection of space and much more. We will also help you fill the “application form”. Contact us now.

Event Sizes
The 40x40 event can be organized in 4 different sizes based on the number of participants and their countries: 10x10 : 10 participants from 10 countries, 20x20 : 20 participants from 20 countries, 30x30 : 30 participants from 30 countries,  or 40x40 : 40 participants from 40 countries. Regardless of the number of participants, all events are called "40x40". The core 40x40 event is either a conference or an exhibition, or both, plus there could be networking sessions, convention, or discussion possibilities.

40x40 Pre-Meeting:
The pre-meeting is to meet you personally to organize a 40x40 event, when possible we will try to come to your country (especially if you could sponsor a delegation meeting), alternatively, we invite you to come to Italy any time or more conveniently to make a meeting during Ars Futura Cultura events.  The 40x40 pre-meeting will aim to create the initial connections and relationships with you, and we will discuss possibilities to involve further artists, architects, designers, gallery owners, art lovers, design enthusiasts, collectors, institutions and other people for the exhibition.

40x40 Design Networking: This is a sub-event that brings designers, companies and media together. In its simplest way, it is a cocktail, a dinner or party together with participants, the host and other VIP guests. Advanced versions could include one-to-one meetings, press conference or more. Unlike the convention, this is an invite-only event that aims to bring prominent figures together.

40x40 Design Exhibition: This is one of the suggested main events, which brings for example 40 designers from 40 countries under the same root, as an exhibition. The purpose of the 40x40 Design Exhibitions is to create an opportunity for designers worldwide to connect and engage. All 40x40 Exhibitions are expected to be open, public events where local designers, scholars and media are invited.

40x40 Design Discussion: This is a sub-event that focuses more on design policies and occasionally politics for creating a better world through design, it is a round-table meeting where prominent designers are invited to discuss collaboration possibilities. It could be combined with a press conference. Different than networking and convention models as it focuses on design strategy, economics, sustainability and other issues.

40x40 Design Convention: This is a sub-event that gathers together a large number of individuals to discus or engage in topics covering design, arts, architecture and culture. It can be held at the exhibition space at a designated day and time to help visitors connect with the exhibiting designers, or it could be held after a design conference to help audience talk and discuss with the speakers.

40x40 Design Convention: This is a sub-event that gathers together a large number of individuals to discuss or engage in topics covering design, arts, architecture and culture. It can be held at the exhibition space at a designated day and time to help visitors connect with the exhibiting designers, or it could be held after a design conference to help audience talk and discuss with the speakers.

Apply
To start your application to host a 40x40 event, simply contact us as a winner of A’ Design Award. We will ignite the communication to get you started as well as help you by providing ideas for sponsorship, selection of space and much more. We will also help you fill the “application form”. Contact us now. If you wish to join other 40x40 events, you need to be a winner of A' Design Awards.