San Francisco Design Week Brings Together the Best of Bay Area Creativity and Business

Celebrating architecture, fashion, product design, digital services and everything in between.

San Francisco Design Week (SFDW), an essential week-long regional festival showcasing the dynamic intersection of ideas, design, and business, kicks off with an Opening Night Gala this Thursday, June 20 with the SF Design Week 2019 Awards ceremony, art installations and exhibitions, talks and workshops.

This year’s design awards theme is CommUNITY, with international award-winning submissions in 14 categories. Over 30 award winners and honorable mentions will be announced this year, revealed at the Annual Awards Ceremony at the Opening Night Gala. The accompanying exhibition of award winners will be on display at the Hub for public viewing June 20 and 21.

SFDW Design Awards is an international design competition seeking to encourage thought leadership by supporting designers whose works can contribute towards a positive future for society. The Design Awards celebrates exemplary work in all fields of design, including architecture, interior design, industrial design, communication design, and user experience design. Winning projects are selected by a jury comprised of distinguished professionals, who reviewed submissions from an exceptionally competitive pool of international applicants.

Here are some highlights from the week:

Professional painting service Paintzen, with the support of one of its San Francisco-based artists, will be executing a live painting demonstration to inspire visitors to paint their own spaces Paintzen’s live mural installation will demonstrate the process of creating a decorative mural, from early concept to the final paint stroke. June 20, 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. The reveal of the final mural approximately 9 p.m.

Over 100 international designers from 17 different countries are participating in a curated exhibition and silent auction at Pier 27 San Francisco, exploring the theme “CommUNITY”. Organized by @wearemucho San Francisco, acclaimed international designers will celebrate the San Francisco Design Week 2019 CommUNITY theme by showcasing original artifacts they have been produced specifically for this event, which will include posters, typefaces, products, sculptures, digital art and more.

An exhibition of all submissions will be featured during the Opening Night Party of San Francisco Design Week on June 20th and bidding will continue through June 21st. All proceeds will benefit San Francisco Design Week to enable its mission to bring together the local Bay Area and international design community. The original works are also sold online. To view all the inspired art works, buy tickets and find out more about the auction visit: https://communitysfdw.com

Swiss Designer Adrien Rovero unveils the installation which features 120 vibrant blue “Dolos” modules that are playful inflatable two-sided seats, creating a community gathering space for conversation. The designer wanted to create playful and unconventional seating that is not a stool, chair or bench. The result of the Dolos is something in-between these seating options. The modules are two-sided inflatables that are light and easy to manipulate into different seating configurations. The installation reflects a human landscape while providing an unexpected experience. The designer partnered with global product development company PCH and SFDW on this venture. He is also giving a step-by-step talk with PCH engineers on how to bring your concepts to manufacture. At the Hub on June 20th, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Artist Masako Miki, is debuting her art installation at SF Design Week: Mori no Yokai (shapeshifters of forest), 2019, Wool on foam, wood, vinyl. The artist recreates a new environment for the sculptures Miki exhibited at Berkeley Art Museum Pacific Film Archive early this year. The art installation is courtesy of the artist and CULT Aimee Friberg Exhibitions. Installation takes place at the Hub/Pier 27 on June 19, and unveiling takes place on June 20 at the Opening Night Gala.

Art by Masako Miki

San Francisco-based artist Marpicreates interactive designs and builds vast digital ecosystems that encompass both environments and creatures. His work provides windows into the same universe, where sound, gestures, and other inputs provide the basis for new forms of life. Marpi works with a small network of creative collaborators—designers, technologists, musicians and others—to create exhibits.

For a full calendar of events, visit sfdesignweek.org.