Lithuanian studio andstudio is trading the studio desk for the vineyard. Their new initiative, Wine Design Exchange, sends the team to live and work at a winery for a full week, building a complete brand from strategy to packaging, alongside the people who actually make the wine. Applications are open now, and they’re looking for wineries willing to take the leap.
On 23 July 2026, ECB President Christine Lagarde presented the ten design proposals shortlisted for the next series of euro banknotes — the first full redesign of the currency since its introduction in 2002. Among the finalists is the Berlin-based Neue Gestaltung, multiple-time award winner at the European Design Awards. The redesign process began with … A familiar name among the finalists for the new euro banknotes: Neue Gestaltung
For the first time, the International Council of Design (ICoD) brings its Regional Meeting to Balkan Europe, opening up a focused discussion on how design decisions are formed, who shapes them, and what defines their impact. Hosted within the European Design Festival 2026 in Sofia, the meeting introduces a structured framework for examining decision-making in … Confessions of a Designer: ICoD’s First Regional Meeting in Balkan Europe
From 24–26 April 2026, the international festival SHAPESHIFT returns to Toplocentrala Cultural Centre in Sofia for its fourth edition, bringing together designers, artists, researchers, and technologists to explore how emerging technologies are reshaping creative practice and contemporary culture. Positioned at the intersection of technology, science, and art, SHAPESHIFT has quickly established itself as a platform … The SHAPESHIFT Festival explores “The Human Algorithm.”
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) has begun developing a new series of banknotes, aiming to ensure that Swiss currency continues to meet the highest standards of functionality, durability and security over the long term. Following a design competition, the SNB selected Concept J, created by Emphase*, a Swiss studio included in the European Design Awards … Switzerland’s Next Banknote Series by Emphase
The European Design Awards launch the Agencies League, a new data-driven platform ranking Europe’s most awarded design studios. Based on five years of results and all-time achievements, it celebrates sustained excellence across disciplines and countries, offering a living archive of European creative leadership.
The European Design Awards unveil a new category structure for 2026, shaped by extensive consultation with the design community. The updated framework introduces clearer definitions, new categories, and better support for multidisciplinary work, reflecting how design is practised today.
CLEVER°FRANKE is a studio shaped by systems — yet deeply human in its thinking. Their work doesn’t aim to simplify complexity, but to make it legible, engaging and purposeful. For them, data is not the end but the starting point: a raw material for visual storytelling, emotional resonance and strategic clarity.
A conversation with ICoD President Melike Taşcıoğlu Vaughan on ethics, responsibility, and the evolving role of design institutions in shaping the future.
This June, the European Design Festival arrives in Ljubljana with a clear intent: to shift the lens, to explore what happens when we step away from the centre — conceptually, geographically, and creatively. Under the theme Ex-Centric Design, the Festival offers a packed, city-wide programme where the unconventional becomes the main attraction. Designers, studios, students, … European Design Festival 2025: Ex-Centric Design