D-Day – The 1st Design Fair

On June 12th, Zagreb will host D-Day, the first design fair in Croatia, during which some 130 young designers from Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, and Macedonia, will present their work to the public. The backbone of the event will be the design fair, but visitors can expect a diverse program packed full with surprises, including night-time projections and stories about design.

On June 12th Zagreb will be host to the 1st D-Day Design Fair. The event will take place in the abandoned complex of the former slaughterhouse on Heinzelova Street, which lately has been more frequently used as a venue for creative and unusual cultural events.
In its first edition, D-Day, a large design fair, will be host some 130 exhibitors – young designers under 30 from Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia and Macedonia.
Since young designers are proud of their creativity, this fair, which is organized by members of the Croatian Designers Association in cooperation with the Peppermint Agency, will not be of a classic profile. It will last an unbroken 24 hours, from noon on June 12th, until noon of the next day. Therefore, visitors will have an opportunity to enjoy formal, as well as informal, “designer” company for a whole day and night.
The fair’s backbone will be the presentation of works by young designers: their concepts, prototypes, self-initiated or commissioned work, completed or “in progress” projects, etc. According to the organizers, this exhibition will present the public with a high level of quality and originality from young artists in the world of design, proving that Croatia and her neighbouring countries are on a par with world famous designer destinations.
Visitors will have an opportunity to experience the creative atmosphere for the 24 whole hours of D-Day’s duration, which also includes a diverse concurrent program. The daytime program will feature music events performed by versatile artists who also make other kinds of art. There will also be three independent exhibitions by the currently most talented designers from the region, while the “night owls” will have an opportunity to enjoy film projections and presentations of predominantly documentary films about design and related subjects.
This event will most certainly serve to place Zagreb on the world map of design, next to numerous other famous cities worldwide. Furthermore, next year’s edition is sure to feature even more exhibitors and the region for participating countries should be expanded to include the entire south-eastern Europe.