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Blick Projects

A selection of our different creative projects, programmes and events

Current Projects

Nurture Creative Incubation Program

Nurture Support for Emerging Creatives

An 8-month program providing bespoke meaningful business support within a nurturing creative environment to help 4 emerging freelance or self employed creatives to successfully establish their creative practice and to...

The Sustainable Pop Up Design Musuem

Pop Up Design Museum

As part of our work with The Design Salon we have been helping to curate the 3rd Pop Up Design Museum on the 12th & 13th November at The Europa...

Designing Your Life through Doodles and Drawings to Improve Your Health and Wellbeing

Design your life to improve your health and wellbeing through doodling, drawing and collaging in this interactive visual journaling workshop. In this workshop illustrator Kylie Chan will share her own...

Our Time is Now

A video podcast series sharing the stories of 5 Belfast creatives. Exploring how they have built their businesses, overcome challenges and navigated the shifts and changes throughout their creative journeys....

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Womenfolk Peer Mentoring

Monthly get-togethers for creative women to meet and connect with other like-minded women.

Flock NI

Flock NI is the new trading arm of Blick. Flock is a company that delivers multidisciplinary creative projects. Flock brings together the creative talent involved with Blick to work on creative...

Belfast Design Week

Belfast Design Week celebrates design in all its forms in an annual week-long series of events encompassing talks, workshops, pop-ups, exhibitions and interactive elements focusing on design.

Womenfolk

Womenfolk is a project celebrating creative women entrepreneurs in Northern Ireland. The project aims to encourage more women to start up their own creative businesses through showcasing the profiles of...

Share 6

At Share 6, 6 creative speakers share their stories over 60 minutes on a theme with an audience Q&A at the end. Previous topics have included “Fashioning the future,” “Made...

Graduate Entrepreneurs in Residence

The Graduate Entrepreneurs in Residence programme is designed to support newly creative graduates to develop their business ideas with the help of free studio space and mentorship. Keep an eye...

Exhibitions at Blick

Exhibitions at Blick include current residents “Our Time is Now”, “Urban Design Callenge”, “Womenfolk”, “Refugees Welcome T-Shirt Design Challenge”, “The Art of the Comic” and “Failures” and aim to support...

Past Projects

Blick Summer 2023 Events

We developed a new summer 2023 program of support for creatives in Belfast. Focusing on informal action-led practical and inspiring workshops and get-togethers, bringing creatives together to meet, connect, and...

Grow Your Own Way

Grow Your Own Way was a collaborative project we developed with Belfast Design Week and VentureFolk combining design and growing to explore the potential for supporting residents to grow their...

Belfast Design Popup Museum Window Design of Oh! Donuts by Alex Synge First47 photo by Joe Laverty Photography

Popup Design Museum

The Popup Design Museum involved a design trail and exhibition as part of Belfast Design Week within shop windows and local independent small businesses and hotels.

Big Design Day Out

The Big Design Day Out was a project we developed for Belfast Design Week with over 50 different city centre design related events and activities for people of all ages...

Urban Design Challenge

The Urban Design Challenge sponsored by Destination CQ was a project we developed to bring together emerging designers to come together to design Urban Design ideas and interventions for the...

The World Turned Upside Down

Rewriting the Narrative was a 4-part audio documentary series exploring the experiences and personal stories of creatives during the Covid-19 crisis. Looking at how the pandemic impacted on the work,...

Womenfolk Industry Expert Videos

We created a series of free industry expert videos in collaboration with Creating A Space for Ulster Bank on topics including managing your finances, design thinking, developing your brand and...

Design Business Bootcamp

The Design Business Bootcamp was a short course with a leading design expert to develop design startups and give them the support and ideas for the next steps of their...

My Block

My Block

My Block celebrates and showcases independent businesses and culture and is supported by Innovate UK.

Design Startup: Build Your Own

Design Startup was a 3 day business start-up program covering three of the key elements of getting your business off the ground – ideation, prototyping and selling your work. This...

Womenfolk Dig Deep

Dig Deep

Dig Deep was a creative enterprise support program that brought young women (18 – 30) from different backgrounds NI & BAME together in a supportive and nurturing environment over a...

Great Creators Podcast

Great Creators Podcast was a series sharing the diverse stories of design and entrepreneurship in Northern Ireland. Featuring start-ups, community-led projects, and established businesses which together make up the rich...

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The Time is Now

The Time is Now was a collaborative project with Creating a Space focusing on honest and meaningful conversation style events for early stage creative entrepreneurs. Keep an eye on our...

Small Town Big Dreams

Small Town Big Dreams is a collaborative project between Blick Shared Studios, Karishma Kusurkar and Graeme Watson. A podcast celebrating Northern Ireland’s creative entrepreneurs and telling their stories. Small Town Big...

The Design Salon

A design collective for people in the design industry in Northern Ireland, to discuss projects and plans that are contemporary, cutting-edge and promote design locally and internationally.

Late Night Design

A chance to see behind the scenes of some of Belfast’s most creative design studios and meet and connect with other design industry professionals

Blick Academy

Blick Academy was an ongoing series of events and workshops for creative industry start-ups, freelancers and small businesses all about sharing skills and knowledge within the creative community to help...

NEST Creative Incubation Programme

The NEST program was a bespoke business support program we developed and managed for Eighty81 Creative Workspace in Derry-Londonderry for creative and digital start-ups. The program included affordable workspace, industry...

The Burning Question

The Burning Question is a panel discussion with design industry leaders. This interactive event seeks to find out the human element behind businesses through the sharing of stories as well...

Eighty81 Club for Creative Startups

Eighty81 Club for Creative Startups was a community for startups, entrepreneurs and small businesses in Derry-Londonderry. It was a series of events including workshops, clinics and case studies with industry...

25 Pop Up

25 is a design-led pop up showcasing and retailing independent design brands with products all priced at £25 or under, making it affordable for everyone. 25 Pop Up has been...

The Faculty

The Faculty was a collaborative project with Seedhead arts offering courses and workshops designed to teach you a new creative skill – be it photography, film-making, street art, flower arranging, stand-up...

We had a lovely few days touring around different creative projects in Belfast last week with Alan and Sarah from @onebite.design who we met in Hong Kong last October when we were visiting for our British Council @the_design_salon and @belfastdesignwk project. It was like being tourists in our own city, and it was great to
see how much Belfast has changed and is continuing to grow and change to reconnect with people we hadn`t had the opportunity to connect with
recently, and to get outsiders` perspectives on the many possibilities the City offers!

Thanks to Alan and Sarah for visiting and inspiring us with their amazing work and to everyone who took the time to chat with them and welcome them to Belfast!

Apr 29

We had a lovely few days touring around different creative projects in Belfast last week with Alan and Sarah from @onebite.design who we met in Hong Kong last October when we were visiting for our British Council @the_design_salon and @belfastdesignwk project. It was like being tourists in our own city, and it was great to
see how much Belfast has changed and is continuing to grow and change to reconnect with people we hadn't had the opportunity to connect with
recently, and to get outsiders' perspectives on the many possibilities the City offers!

Thanks to Alan and Sarah for visiting and inspiring us with their amazing work and to everyone who took the time to chat with them and welcome them to Belfast!

- - CREATIVE TALK NEXT WEDNESDAY WITH ARTIST & ILLUSTRATOR DANNI SIMPSON SHARING HER STORY - -

Come join us for our next creative talk next Wednesday with the talented artist and illustrator, Danni Simpson sharing her creative story! Hear and get inspiration from Danni’s journey, learn about her creative process, and gain insights into the world of art and illustration.

ABOUT DANNI:
Danni Simpson is an Australian Artist who specialises in Commercial murals and Illustrations. Her natural passion and talent for art has allowed her to complete a large number of projects and travel the globe to paint the world. Her style is an urban fusion of detailed floral illustrations where wildlife clashes with architecture and typography, sprinkled through with dashes of art deco and mandala patterns. Beyond her work commercially, Danni has been invited to appear at a number of events across the UK and Ireland such as Electric Picnic, Upfest Street Art Festival and Hit The North. Danni continues to travel the world leaving her mark wherever she goes and hopes to ignite a creative spark in everyone who sees her art.

You can find out more about Danni and her work on her Website: dannisimpsonart.com and on Instagram: @dannisimpsonart

EVENT DETAILS:
Event Date(s): Wed, May 7, 2025
Event Time: 7pm - 8pm
Location: Blick Shared Studios, 46 Hill Street, Belfast, BT1 2LB
Cost: Free

For more info and to book visit our website (link in profile)

#illustrationbelfast #belfastcreatives #blickstudios #creativetalk

Apr 28

Following on from yesterday`s exercise to help you to understand your purpose, here are some questions to help you to refine your creative purpose

Downloadable Word and PDF exercises and more info on the creative resources section of our website link below and in profile!

https://blickstudios.org/resources/understanding-your-why-2/

Apr 26

Your ‘Why’ or purpose is the reason you have formed your creative practice boiled down to a single sentence (or two). It will help you to connect with your customers and audiences and build an authentic and sustainable creative practice/ business.This exercise will help you to understand your purpose and communicate it to the world.

You can find downloadable PDF and Word versions of this exercise on the creative resources section of our website (link below and in profile):
https://blickstudios.org/resources/understanding-your-why-2/

Apr 25

-- BLICK CREATIVE RESOURCES - UNDERSTANDING YOUR WHY --

“People don`t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” Simon Sinek

Our `Why` is the reason our business exists beyond the drive to make money. Our `Why` or brand purpose creates connections with our target customers. Leading with our `Why` and following with the `What` and the `How` helps you connect with your audiences and customers and as your business grows with employees as well.

Finding your `Why` isn’t always simple. It’s more than just making a statement you think your audience will get behind. And it’s far more than co-opting the `Why` you’ve seen work successfully for others. Audiences are smart. They will instantly be able to sense if your `Why` is not authentic. Your `Why` is not the same, but has to align with and drive everything else you’re doing, especially your vision, mission, and values.

Remember:

- Your vision describes where your organization is going in the coming years.

- Your mission focuses on your business operations and the products or services you offer.

- Your values define how your entire organization should go about achieving your mission.

- Your Why shifts focus from internal operations to your external impact.

Over the next few days we will be sharing some resources to help you refine your `Why` for your creative practice or business, you can also find these resources on our website link below and in profile: https://blickstudios.org/resources/understanding-your-why-2/

Apr 24

Our May Creative Talk and the last one until next Autumn is with @dannisimpsonart an Australian Artist who specialises in commercial murals and illustrations.

Her natural passion and talent for art has allowed her to complete a large number of projects and travel the globe to paint the world. Her style is an urban fusion of detailed floral illustrations where wildlife clashes with architecture and typography, sprinkled through with dashes of art deco and mandala patterns.

Beyond her work commercially, Danni has been invited to appear at a number of events across the UK and Ireland such as Electric Picnic, Upfest Street Art Festival and Hit The North. Danni continues to travel the world leaving her mark wherever she goes and hopes to ignite a creative spark in everyone who sees her art.

You can find out more about Danni and her work on her Website: dannisimpsonart.com and on Instagram: @dannisimpsonart

EVENT DETAILS
Event Date(s): Wed 7th May
Event Time: 7pm - 8pm
Location: Blick Shared Studios, 46 Hill Street, Belfast, BT1 2LB
Cost: Free

More details and booking on our website link below and in profile https://blickstudios.org/events/creative-talk-with-artist-illustrator-danni-simpson/

Apr 23

Happy Easter 🐰 🐣 I hope everyone has a good break despite the awful weather! I managed to get a pic of our Great Northern Street Studios looking lovely in the sun yesterday!

Apr 18

Happy Easter 🐰 🐣 I hope everyone has a good break despite the awful weather! I managed to get a pic of our Great Northern Street Studios looking lovely in the sun yesterday!

2 great new 6 week poetry workshops with Blick residents @seasidebooksni coming up this May in our Great Northern Street Studios. You can find booking details on the event page of our website or the Seaside Books website!

Apr 17

2 great new 6 week poetry workshops with Blick residents @seasidebooksni coming up this May in our Great Northern Street Studios. You can find booking details on the event page of our website or the Seaside Books website!

- - CREATIVE TALK - ARTIST & ILLUSTRATOR DANNI SIMPSON - -

Come join us for our next creative talk with the talented artist and illustrator, Danni Simpson @dannisimpsonart, sharing her creative story! Get inspired by Danni’s journey, learn about her creative process, and gain insights into the world of art and illustration.

�ABOUT DANNI:

Danni Simpson is an Australian Artist who specialises in Commercial murals and illustrations. Her natural passion and talent for art has allowed her to complete a large number of projects and travel the globe to paint the world. Her style is an urban fusion of detailed floral illustrations where wildlife clashes with architecture and typography, sprinkled through with dashes of art deco and mandala patterns. Beyond her work commercially, Danni has been invited to appear at a number of events across the UK and Ireland such as Electric Picnic, Upfest Street Art Festival and Hit The North. Danni continues to travel the world leaving her mark wherever she goes and hopes to ignite a creative spark in everyone who sees her art.

You can find out more about Danni and her work on her Website: dannisimpsonart.com and on Instagram: @dannisimpsonart

�EVENT DETAILS:
��Event Date(s): May 7, 2025
Event Time: 7pm - 8pm
Location: Blick Shared Studios, 46 Hill Street, Belfast, BT1 2LB
Cost: Free

�For more info and to book visit our website link below and in profile: �https://blickstudios.org/events/creative-talk-with-artist-illustrator-danni-simpson/

Apr 16

We got a lovely new table for our South Belfast studios from the brilliant Ten Foundations charity shop on the Lisburn Road

Affordable, sustainable, supporting a great charity and close enough to our studios that we could carry it down the road!

Apr 15

We got a lovely new table for our South Belfast studios from the brilliant Ten Foundations charity shop on the Lisburn Road

Affordable, sustainable, supporting a great charity and close enough to our studios that we could carry it down the road!

Thanks to everyone who joined us last Wednesday evening and to Lauren Kelso @laurenkelsoillustrator for a brilliant creative talk and for letting us look through all her beautiful sketchbooks! Our next creative talk is on Wednesday 9th May with artist and illustrator Danni Simpson @dannisimpsonart

EVENT DETAILS: CREATIVE TALK WITH ARTIST AND ILLUSTRATOR DANNI SIMPSON
Event Date(s): May 7, 2025
Event Time: 7pm - 8pm
Location: Blick Shared Studios, 46 Hill Street, Belfast, BT1 2LB
Cost: Free
Booking link below and in profile

https://blickstudios.org/events/creative-talk-with-artist-illustrator-danni-simpson/

Apr 14

We were featured in Ulster Business along with lots of great companies in an article about coworking in Belfast!
https://issuu.com/ulster_business/docs/ulster_business_february_2025

Apr 10

We were featured in Ulster Business along with lots of great companies in an article about coworking in Belfast!
https://issuu.com/ulster_business/docs/ulster_business_february_2025

- - Shared & Private Creative Workspace Coming Available Great Northern Street South Belfast - -

PRIVATE STUDIO SPACE
We have one small 1 person private studio space (approx 8sqm) with sink, fridge, kitchen units and kettle coming available. It is £285 per calendar month all inclusive (rent, rates, utilities, broadband and 24 hour access).

�SHARED STUDIO SPACE
We also have 1 dedicated deskspace in our shared/ coworking space available for £150 per calendar month all inclusive (rent, rates, utilities, broadband and 24 hour access).

ABOUT THE WORKSPACE
– 24 hour access
– Breakout area
– South Belfast location close to the Lisburn Road with lots of shops, coffee shops and bars within walking distance
– Minimum 3 months contract then on a rolling monthly contract
– 1 months rent required as a deposit

Contracts are for a minimum of 3 months then on a rolling monthly contract.

Interested? Get in touch by emailling christine@blickstudios.org or visit our website for more info: https://blickstudios.org/locations/great-northern-street/

Apr 9

- - Shared & Private Creative Workspace Coming Available Great Northern Street South Belfast - -

PRIVATE STUDIO SPACE
We have one small 1 person private studio space (approx 8sqm) with sink, fridge, kitchen units and kettle coming available. It is £285 per calendar month all inclusive (rent, rates, utilities, broadband and 24 hour access).

�SHARED STUDIO SPACE
We also have 1 dedicated deskspace in our shared/ coworking space available for £150 per calendar month all inclusive (rent, rates, utilities, broadband and 24 hour access).

ABOUT THE WORKSPACE
– 24 hour access
– Breakout area
– South Belfast location close to the Lisburn Road with lots of shops, coffee shops and bars within walking distance
– Minimum 3 months contract then on a rolling monthly contract
– 1 months rent required as a deposit

Contracts are for a minimum of 3 months then on a rolling monthly contract.

Interested? Get in touch by emailling christine@blickstudios.org or visit our website for more info: https://blickstudios.org/locations/great-northern-street/

Our beautiful Hill Street Studios breakout space. Perfect for an afternoon coffee break in the sun and the chance to step away from your desk for a bit ☕️

Apr 8

Our beautiful Hill Street Studios breakout space. Perfect for an afternoon coffee break in the sun and the chance to step away from your desk for a bit ☕️

- -LAST CHANCE TO BOOK!! CREATIVE TALK - ILLUSTRATOR LAUREN KELSO - -

Our next creative talk is this Wednesday with award-winning illustrator Lauren Kelso @laurenkelsoillustrator (https://laurenkelso.uk/) sharing her creative story.

Inspired by travel, fashion and the world, Lauren creates a variety of illustration prints, greeting cards and more and has recently opened her own bricks and mortar store and studio!

EVENT DETAILS
DATE: Wednesday 9th April
TIME: 7pm - 8pm
VENUE: Blick Hill St

MORE INFO & FREE TICKETS (link below and in profile) https://blickstudios.org/events/creative-talk-with-illustrator-lauren-kelso/

Apr 7

The second part of our interview with @laurenkelsoillustrator who is sharing her story at our next Creative Talk this Wednesday evening!

Apr 6

The second part of our interview with @laurenkelsoillustrator who is sharing her story at our next Creative Talk this Wednesday evening!

Ahead of her talk for us on Wednesday evening award winning freelance illustrator Lauren Kelso @laurenkelsoillustrator did a short interview for us on her creative journey so far including her recent experience opening her own studio and shop!

Here is part 1 of the interview, you can also read the full interview on our website blog (link in profile)

To hear Lauren`s story in person you can sign up to attend our talk this Wednesday evening from 7-8pm in our Hill Street Studios!

https://blickstudios.org/events/creative-talk-with-illustrator-lauren-kelso/

Apr 5

Our next Blick Creative Talk is this Wednesday with local creative @laurenkelsoillustrator sharing her creative story

Lauren graduated in just 2023 but has already achieved so much and has just recently opened her own bricks-and-mortar shop and studio.

In this creative talk, Lauren will share her experiences and some of the highs and lows she has experienced on her creative business journey.

EVENT DETAILS:

Event Date(s): Wednesday, 9th April
Event Time: 7pm-8pm
Location: Blick Shared Studios, 46 Hill Street, Belfast, BT1 2LB

For more information and to book visit the events page of our website (link in profile and below)

https://blickstudios.org/events/creative-talk-with-illustrator-lauren-kelso/

Apr 4

Last Friday was the first Creative Hubs Meetup of 2025, kindly hosted by @vaultartistsni in their Marlborough House studios in Belfast City Centre!

It was great to have so many different people working in the creative hubs sector in the same room, talking about shared issues and interests and how we can work together to support each other!

Of course we were so busy talking we forgot to get a pic of the whole group together, but here are a few pics of the tour of the studios including Artist @lindamcburney`s studio which has the best view!

Thanks to everyone who came along including
@pssquaredbelfast @millennium_court @courthousebangor @pancake.studios_ @belfastfilmmakingclub
@moneydarragh_hub @gallery545online and @creativeexchange and to Linda and the other artists for showing us their studios, Neal from Vault for hosting and Jane Morrow @namej_janem for presenting her work on creative workspaces!

Apr 4

Last Friday was the first Creative Hubs Meetup of 2025, kindly hosted by @vaultartistsni in their Marlborough House studios in Belfast City Centre!

It was great to have so many different people working in the creative hubs sector in the same room, talking about shared issues and interests and how we can work together to support each other!

Of course we were so busy talking we forgot to get a pic of the whole group together, but here are a few pics of the tour of the studios including Artist @lindamcburney's studio which has the best view!

Thanks to everyone who came along including
@pssquaredbelfast @millennium_court @courthousebangor @pancake.studios_ @belfastfilmmakingclub
@moneydarragh_hub @gallery545online and @creativeexchange and to Linda and the other artists for showing us their studios, Neal from Vault for hosting and Jane Morrow @namej_janem for presenting her work on creative workspaces!

Thanks to everyone who joined us last night for our Adventures in ChatGPT workshop, especially because it was such a lovely sunny evening!

Thanks also to Graeme Watson @graeme_theory and Katya Buryakova @stormy_kate from @homewerk.project for hosting!

Apr 3

Thanks to everyone who joined us last night for our Adventures in ChatGPT workshop, especially because it was such a lovely sunny evening!

Thanks also to Graeme Watson @graeme_theory and Katya Buryakova @stormy_kate from @homewerk.project for hosting!