Young Balkan Designers (YBD) is a regional talent platform founded in
2011 with the aim to identify, promote and develop the creative potential of
the Balkan region in the field of design. The initiative also aims at
unifying the regional design scene, bringing it closer to the
the international audience, strengthening its potential by providing
additional education and practice, while at the same time contributing
to the restoration of multi-cultural cooperation in the Balkan region.

The theme for 2022 – “Life Hacks for Health & Wellbeing” calls for design
projects, objects, concepts, services, scenarios, and inventions which
create a “shortcut” between sustainable living and wellbeing, provoking
conversation on alternative re-imagining healthier everyday worlds: at
home, at school or work, in public, in our intimate community
spaces, urban and rural environments, in our physical and digital
realms.


The competition is open from 8 December 2021 till 20 January 2022 to
teams and individuals up to 35 years of age, from the following
countries: Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia,
Greece, Hungary, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Slovenia, Serbia and
Turkey. Applicants may be individuals or groups of creators. Each
Applicants may submit more than one entry. The competition challenges
young designers to emerge positively from the pandemic and come up with
unconventional, witty interventions and “fixes” which contribute to
life-promoting environments and use nature-based solutions to address
physical health, but also enhance the experiences of human-nature
interactions, social connections, belonging, and a multitude of other
positive emotions through the engagement of all senses, addressing neglected
needs, or introducing quite surprising and
unexpected functionalities, etc.

We encourage young creators to surpass limitations and dependency on
massive, industrial production and lead the way towards self-sustenance
and easily personalized solutions, increase of inclusion and equality by
creating a choice & flexibility for different needs and supporting
members of families, teams, communities, and social networks to develop
and maintain healthy lifestyles and come together to help each other.
The proposed projects should not necessarily have the ambition to “leave
a mark” but, instead attempt to minimize their carbon footprint and
embody thoughts on the circularity of the materials used, implementation of
local skills and resources, involvement of local actors in
problem-solving and production, creating a positive environment,
economic, cultural, and social impact.

Designers can apply innovative solutions for products – furniture,
lighting, interior elements, everyday objects, urban gardening
inventions, didactic toys and tools, aid products, shelters, home
accessories, textile and fashion garments, stationary; etc. urban
services; digital solutions; innovative design and production scenarios
that offer economically and socially sustainable solutions to local
problems, both in urban and rural environments, etc.

The international Jury that will evaluate the innovation and of design
solutions submitted to the competition consists of Marcus Fairs, founder
and editor-in-chief of one of the world’s most relevant design portals
Dezeen.com from Great Britain, Ana Kras, multiple talented artists and
designer from Serbia who works and lives in the USA, Vasso Asfi & Loukas
Angelou, design tandem StudioLav from Greece who successfully builds a
a career in the UK, Jovana Zhang Bogdanovic, co-founder of the
award-winning design team Pinwu in China that combines traditional
crafts with modern experimental design, Denis Leo Hegic, designer and
curator, founder of Supermarket Lab / Unblock Art Fair / Museum of Now,
Germany.

The selected winners of the Young Balkan Designers 2022 competition will
participate in the international talent exhibition “Salone Satellite” at
the world’s most prominent design event – the International Furniture
Fair in Milan 2022, which will be held from 5 to 10 April 2022. After
its world premiere, the awarded works will be presented to the regional
audience in Belgrade in October 2022, at the Mikser Festival, one of the
Balkan’s most relevant regional festivals of creativity and social
innovation.

Competition link: https://ybd.mikser.rs/
Application form: https://ybd.mikser.rs/form/