About Us
NYCxDESIGN
Design is core to New York City’s identity and creative DNA. NYCxDESIGN promotes New York City as a design destination and serves as a supportive network to its powerful multi-disciplined design sector. Our internationally renowned Annual Design Festival, established in 2013, showcases the immense talent and diversity of the city’s designers, makers, and manufacturers, along with cutting-edge design businesses and districts, and world-class cultural and academic design institutions. The Festival attracts 300,000+ national and international visitors to the city, generating significant economic activity across the boroughs with hundreds of events about design and innovation, creativity, culture, inclusivity, sustainability, and resiliency. As a non-profit organization, NYCxDESIGN also runs an impactful year-round program increasing diversity, equitable opportunity, and inclusion within the city’s design professions. We educate the city’s young adults about design and inspire them to become the city’s designers of tomorrow.
The Festival
For over a decade, the NYCxDESIGN Festival has attracted thousands of national and international visitors to New York City to celebrate creative accomplishments, share new ideas, and inspire through design.
Each May, the Festival returns to showcase the immense talent and diversity of the city’s designers, makers, and manufacturers, along with cutting-edge design businesses and districts, and world-class cultural and academic design institutions.
The Festival encompasses renowned trade shows including ICFF, WantedDesign, and Lightfair, as well as immersive public design experiences like Design Pavilion, and hundreds of additional design events across the five boroughs of New York City. These once-a-year events make for the perfect opportunity for the creative industry to unite.
The 2023 11th Anniversary edition of NYCxDESIGN Festival continued to solidified New York City as a leading global capital of design and design destination. With over 1,000 participating local designers and well over 240 events, the festival showcased a diverse range of design on display across the boroughs, and all design disciplines. The New York Times described the 2023 NYCxDESIGN 11th edition as “a strong array of group shows across boroughs” and pointed out “eye-turning moments, by design” in its Sunday issue. Dwell stated “something about this year’s NYCxDESIGN felt different — the good kind of different … after all, (NYC is) one of the best design cities in the world”.
NYCxDESIGN produced Festival programming includes:
- NYCxDESIGN Opening Party: Hundreds of members of the global design community gather to celebrate the start of New York City’s official celebration of design.
- Sponsored Programs: NYCxDESIGN partners with local businesses, budding and established designers, and cultural institutions to develop custom programming during the Festival. Previous examples include “The Responsibility of Design” discussion series in partnership with the Kohler Experience Center by Best Plumbing Supply, and the “From Studio to Museum” panel discussion and installation in collaboration with Vitra, Lutfi Janania, and the Museum of Arts and Design.
- STAYxDESIGN: Design-minded hotel partners that offer exclusive discounted rates for Festival visitors
- DRINKSxDESIGN: Design-centric restaurant partners that offer bespoke, design-inspired cocktails available exclusively during the Festival.
- Curated Itineraries: Curated event tracks developed by the NYCxDESIGN team and design leaders–showcasing the breadth of talent, districts, and innovation that make New York City’s design community like no other.
- Open Studio Crawls: A series of guided walking tours led by NYCxDESIGN, offering a behind-the-scenes look at how design is made right here in New York City.
- Self-Guided Journeys: Spanning neighborhoods across New York City’s five boroughs, Self-Guided Journeys offers a virtual inside look inside design studios, historic buildings, restaurants, and more.
Frequently Asked Questions
We invite the local and international design communities to host design events as part of the NYCxDESIGN Festival. From exhibitions to open studios, panels and virtual events, we look forward to receiving ideas that celebrate and showcase NYC’s vibrant design community and beyond.
To participate in the NYCxDESIGN Festival, there is a $100 fee for virtual events and $200 fee for outdoor/live events. Organizers that are looking for heightened exposure for their events can purchase NYCxDESIGN promotional packages. More details on these offerings can be found here.
NYCxDESIGN welcomes all residents and visitors (domestic and international) to experience the Festival. Most events are free to enter. Ticketed events are managed by host/organizing venues. Before attending, check the listing and details for each event you’re interested in.
The Festival is not one, centralized event, rather is the umbrella for hundreds of events that take place across the five boroughs of New York City. Through its decentralized nature, the Festival represents the expansiveness of NYC’s design community.
