design space http://www.createdinbirmingham.com Fri, 17 Aug 2018 17:05:12 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://www.createdinbirmingham.com/wp-content/uploads/cropped-CiB-Google-copy-32x32.jpg design space http://www.createdinbirmingham.com 32 32 Design Space: Bringing New Talent to Birmingham http://www.createdinbirmingham.com/2011/03/01/design-space-bringing-new-talent-to-birmingham/ http://www.createdinbirmingham.com/2011/03/01/design-space-bringing-new-talent-to-birmingham/#comments Tue, 01 Mar 2011 17:04:41 +0000 http://www.createdinbirmingham.com/?p=9158 [Read more...]]]>

Design Space is a programme supported by the Birmingham City Council and the European Regional Development Fund that gives a select group of emerging jewellery artists free studio space and business classes for one year: in exchange, the participants must commit to work at least 30 hours a week developing their own design led business.

This year Design Space supports eighteen designer-makers, with participants from the United Kingdom, Taiwan, and the United States. The programme is highly sought after, and the eighteen participants were chosen from a large pool of applicants who were interviewed over the summer. In the years Design Space has been running, it has helped many new designer-makers establish themselves in Birmingham. Many of the jewellers who have relocated to Birmingham for Design Space would not have come here if it wasn’t for this scheme. Lynsey Pluck says, “I relocated to Birmingham from West Sussex solely because of the place I was offered on Design Space. Through this opportunity I have discovered the advantages of being based in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter and am making plans to continue living and working here.”

While free studio space in the Jewellery Quarter offers a huge jumpstart for the new jewellers, Design Space also offers a plethora of other benefits. Participants gain admission to the School of Jewellery’s studios and equipment, and this year’s participants are also being given 30 hours of access to the Jewellery Industry Innovation Centre (JIIC) to help them develop a new range of products using state-of-the-art equipment. Business courses and professional practice classes are held once a week and participants are also given one-to-one tutorials with mentors who are well-established in the jewellery field and free summer short courses at the School of Jewellery to further their training.

Since beginning the programme in September, there have been several opportunities for group exhibitions: Design Space currently shows work at the exciting new We are Birmingham shop. During the Christmas season they took part in Brilliantly Birmingham’s Open Studio event and Angel Craft Fair in Islington. In April all 18 members will be exhibiting brand new collections at the British Craft Trade Fair in Harrogate (stand #295).

You can see photos of pieces produced at Design Space, as well as links to individual makers’ websites, by visiting http://designspacejewellers.blogspot.com/

Visiting the Design Space studio is highly recommended: enjoy a cup of tea while getting a rare behind-the-scenes look at every stage of jewellery production. The display cabinets in the front room showcase the jewellery collections of all eighteen participants, while the adjacent studio gives you a unique opportunity to see these highly skilled makers at work. To arrange a visit, please contact Katherine Campbell-Legg or Kerry O’Connor: 0121 551 9071 or design_space@hotmail.co.uk

If you are interested in being a part of Design Space, please see Birmingham City Council’s website for information on applying. The programme runs for 12 calendar months, from October to September every year.

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By Miriam Rowe

American jeweller Miriam Rowe now lives in Birmingham and runs her business from the Jewellery Quarter because of Design Space. Take a look at her work at http://www.miriamrowe.com

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Frost http://www.createdinbirmingham.com/2008/12/07/frost/ http://www.createdinbirmingham.com/2008/12/07/frost/#comments Sun, 07 Dec 2008 09:45:56 +0000 http://www.createdinbirmingham.com/?p=2379 [Read more...]]]>

Frost is:

A touring exhibition by Design Space incubates, a council led scheme that gives designer makers workshops facilities and support in setting up their own business

The exhibition includes 18 new designers, each and every one creating exquisite collections

The next dates are:

  • 8-14 December – ‘David Louis Project’ at Artfull Expression – 23-24 Warstone Lane, Birmingham, B18 6JQ
  • 13-20 December – Open Studios at Design Space – Unit 2, 25-33 Hylton Street, Birmingham, B18 6HJ

There’s a Design Space blog for documenting all this too, which is worth a look.

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Birmingham arts funding http://www.createdinbirmingham.com/2008/12/02/birmingham-arts-funding/ http://www.createdinbirmingham.com/2008/12/02/birmingham-arts-funding/#comments Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:06:54 +0000 http://www.createdinbirmingham.com/?p=2348 [Read more...]]]> At the kratesitwards (as some are calling them) on Saturday, Coun Neville Summerfield bigged up some of the support initiatives for creative types in Birmingham:

  • Creative Birmingham – pulling together key public agencies investing in the creative industries
  • Design Space – accommodates and finances new design agencies in the Jewellery Quarter
  • SRB6 Creative Industries – offers a range of business support to new businesses in the north-west of the city
  • Enterprise City – provides coaching and mentoring services to new and expanding businesses
  • Business Support for Creative Industries Programme – £9m flagship initiative.  Created 800 jobs, safeguarded 400 jobs, helped start 250 businesses and supported 1,200 businesses in total.  Generated over £15m in new sales

As far as I can tell, SRB6 has ended, enrolment in Enterprise City is closed (the scheme ends in March 09) and I can’t find any info about Creative Birmingham at all.

D’log tried looking into the schemes mentioned when Coun Summerfield responded to the issue of support for the creative sector last month. He had problems finding any useful information too.

The thing is, maybe there are lots of helpful support schemes out there but how many eligible people/companies know about them and where’s the information being made available? I guess the place to go would be Creative Launchpad (currently residing online here) or Business Link but it’s a shame the info doesn’t seem to be collected together somewhere useful.

Actually, I’ve just found West Midlands Finance, which describes itself as “comprehensive, continually updated finance information for West Midlands SMEs”. Feel free to register and have a root about but the need to register has put me right off – what’s the need exactly? Humph.

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