Barcelona Design Week offers more than 70 activities for businesses, professionals and citizens

Barcelona (ACN).– The 10^th edition of Barcelona Design Week started Monday with a programme of more than 70 activities, under the slogan 'Design is here!' ('el Disseny és aquí'). The event is a call for companies, designers and other agents of the business, innovation and creativity fields, and it is also open to the wider public, with event locations scattered throughout Barcelona. Among the new features is 'Design is Future Congresstival,' midway between the conference and the festival, which delves into the world of innovation through design. Barcelona Design Week also marks the beginning of the 5^th Barcelona Design Festival, which is being held from 8 June to 5 July. The festival has been organised by the Barcelona Design Centre (BCD) and the Foundation for the Promotion of the Arts and Design (FAD), with the support of Barcelona's City Council.

Among Barcelona Design Week's offerings are lectures, exhibitions, workshops, presentations and networking activities. Some of the highlights include the inaugural 'Design Intech' conference with Jackie Xu of design company Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and graphic designer John Maeda; the exhibition 'Timeless Massimo Vignelli,' which pays tribute to the works of the highly influential designer Massimo Vignelli, famous for developing the signs for the New York subway system, among other projects; the presentation of the Food Design project; Ecodesign Day: the Fixer movement; and the first 'Design is Future Congresstival.'

In addition to the main schedule of activities is OFF BDW, a programme of more than 50 side events organised by multidisciplinary organisations, companies and establishments that open BDW to the city.

Unlike previous editions, in which Barcelona Design Week has had a guest country, this year's version will feature 10 international Design Weeks. The Creative Directors of Design Weeks held in 10 other countries are taking part in various events and sharing their experiences with the public.

One of the main novelties at Barcelona Design Week this year is the creation of a new event focused on innovation through design. Using a format that combines the concepts of 'congress' and 'festival,' the 'Design is Future Congresstival' will explore new approaches of design from the perspective of the profession, business and society.

Moreover, exposure of BDW 2015 is led by one of the most important figures in contemporary design. 'Timeless Massimo Vignelli,' a project curated by creative studio Husmee, is a collective tribute to the work of Vignelli and includes a selection of posters made by world-renowned graphic designers alongside products designed by Vignelli. The exhibition will be at Barcelona Design Hub (DHUB) from 8 June  to 31 August.

Coinciding with Barcelona Design Week is the 5^th iteration of the Barcelona Design Festival, which runs from 8 June  to 5 July. The festival is promoting citizen, professional and business design, the goal of which is to make Catalan companies and professionals known and help them compete on a global scale. The epicentre of activity will be led by FADfest, organised by FAD, which will be from 29 June to 5 July.

Barcelona Design Week, organised by BCD since 2006, hosted more than 11,000 attendees from 28 countries last year who participated in more than 70 activities and generated more than 260 contacts between professionals and businesses. In its nine years, Barcelona Design Week has become a reference point for the design business in Barcelona and has become one of the most important Design Weeks in the world.