Belfast Design Week: Share 6

Published: November 1, 2017

Share 6 is an event that Blick Studios is hosting as part of Belfast Design Week. At each Share 6 event, we invite 6 designers to join us and tell their story for 10 minutes, based on a specific theme. This year, the Share 6 theme is Made in Northern Ireland; where we are seeking to explore the creative culture that is currently happening right on our doorstep.

The Share 6 speakers are joining us from many different creative scenes; from physical to digital design, including printmaking, origami and animation.

Our first speaker is Jordan, from Jaunt. Jaunt is a social travel app that allows and encourages users to collaborate throughout their travels, helping those who want more than just a sightseeing tour that is offered by many travel companies. With this app you can get in touch with willing locals without the risk of posting on social media or approaching strangers.

Jaunt is just about to launch their Android app into an early stage beta with the help of an Android scholarship from Google earlier this year.

https://jaunt-app.co.uk/

Our second speaker is Bright Stem founder, Andrew. Andrew suffers from dyslexia and part of his talk will be about how he created Bright Stem as a creative environment that allows him to continue functioning naturally.

Andrews creativity cannot be defined under any specific discipline, due to the way that his mind functions; he can be working on a creative project that at one moment could be a small sculpture but then could end up being the inspiration behind a children’s book. The mind maps that Andrew generates allow him and others to visualise his creative process and the way that his mind jumps from one thing to the next.

Living in Northern Ireland allows Andrew to carry on designing freely and in the best way that suits him, “Sometimes Northern Ireland can feel a little ignored by the wider world, which can be annoying because you want everyone to know how amazing it is here. But I also think that’s the way a lot of creative people like it here because they can just get on with whatever they love doing in a friendly supportive environment.”

https://www.brightstem.com/

The third speaker of Share 6 is Julz from Prints by Julz, an eco-conscious design venture. Julz works from a shared studio, The Belfast Print Workshop, where she designs and creates hand-printed fine art, textiles and t-shirts. The Prints by Julz brand evolved through Julz’s personal quest towards sustainability, and she aims to achieve as little negative impact as possible.

Julz has attended many Share 6 events in the past and considers herself lucky to be in a city that offers so much to creative businesses, “Northern Ireland offers so many opportunities, which keep expanding as time goes on. We are lucky to have amazing artist studios, festivals and creative events and determined creatives. it’s the people behind all these ventures that I find really inspiring and admire their hard work. it motivates me to keep at it, knowing there’s such a vibrant arts community in NI.”

http://printsbyjulz.com/

Grace McGowan from GMMG Design Studio is the fourth speaker joining us at Share 6. Grace is skilled in many different creative subjects including sculpting, sketching and model making; but she specialises in Origami. Soon she will be launching a new range of origami kits that are inspired by and aim to promote positive mental health.

https://www.facebook.com/GMMGDesignStudio/

The fifth speaker of Share 6 is Gareth from Belfast Coffee Map, Northern Ireland’s first and only pocket-sized paper publication featuring 17 of some of our top independent speciality coffee shops; an aromatic guide to our historic and beautiful city. The map not only celebrates Belfast’s burgeoning coffee scene but also its wealth of creative talent and skill, with illustrations by local artist David McMillan bringing it to life.

http://belfastcoffeemap.azurewebsites.net/

And finally, the sixth speaker of Share 6 is Benjamin from Blackstaff Games, who released their award nominated, children’s game DogBiscuit in 2015. This gaming and animation company specialises in original characters and stories and are currently working on a number of upcoming titles which will be announced later this year.

http://blackstaffgames.com/

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