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Design After Dark is an evening celebration of contemporary design in Belfast, delivered as part of @belfastdesignwk and Blick Shared Studios. The programme brings together workshops, talks, installations, studio tours, and exhibitions, offering something for everyone to explore and enjoy.
For our first Design After Dark series, we have curated a series of projects including Design Stories, Design Hothouse Residency, the Belfast Community Plant Library & Food Loves Design.
Join us at @culturenightbelfast on Friday 18th September for our interactive Community Plant Library event at Bankmore Square. More details coming soon!
Event artwork created by our very talented Design Hothouse Residents @rachelcowie_graphics and @beth_schmidt who will share details on the process behind their beautiful artwork in coming weeks.
Design After Dark is kindly sponsored by Belfast City Council
Sep 2
Our latest roundup of funding and opportunities for NI Creatives.
01. Business Innovation Grant
BIG helps support sole traders, micro-businesses and SMEs in Northern Ireland to develop and bring their innovation activities to market with a grant of up to £20,000.
Closing date: 4th September, 12 noon
02.Wear Her Story
Applications are now open for Wear Her Story, a free cross-border creative programme from Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) and Glow NI that will help young women aged 16 to 25 explore fashion, heritage, wellbeing and emerging digital technologies.
Closing date: 11th September
03. Newry, Mourne and Down District Council Offering Visual Artist Residency Opportunity
Newry, Mourne and Down District Council is offering a new residency, based at Down Arts Centre in Downpatrick from September 26 to April 27, 2026.
The opportunity is open to a visual artist to provide dedicated time and space to develop their creative practice while engaging with audiences and communities across the district.
Closing date: 9th September
04. National Lottery Rural Engagement Arts Programme
You can apply for an award of between £500 and £10,000 for a project, which can last up to one year and can take place on any dates between 1 December 2026 and 30 November 2027.
Deadline: 24th September, 12noon
05. InvestNI Leadership and Capability
Develop your strategic leadership capability in order to take your business to new heights.
06. Creative Spark Residency Programme 2027
Creative Spark is pleased to offer three Artist-in-Residence opportunities designed to support artistic development, creative exchange, and engagement with our facilities and local community.
07. Creative Belfast Internship
The Belfast Buildings Trust, in partnership with leading cultural organisations, proudly presents the Creative Belfast Internship Programme- the second instalment of a six-month paid internship designed for young people aged 18-25 to gain meaningful experience within Belfast’s vibrant creative and cultural industries.
Deadline: 11th September 5pm
Full listings including links on our website blog
https://blickstudios.org/blog/
Sep 1
The sixth week of our @belfastdesignwk collab Design Hothouse Residency with @rachelcowie_graphics and @beth__schmidt, this week working on finalising details with Blick resident Alex Synge @thefirst47 for the Design After Dark and Community Plant Library artwork to be ready to launch online in time for @culturenightbelfast on Friday 18th September. Then starting to think about how to exhibit the artwork for Culture Night.
We are excited to officially launch both projects and share Rachel and Beths beautiful artwork online later this week!
Aug 31
September is coming, the season of change. We have dedicated deskspaces available in our beautiful Hill St studios for creatives looking for a productive working space in the centre of Belfast`s Cathedral Quarter.
– £165 per calendar month
– All inclusive prices (rent, rates, utilities, broadband) no VAT
– Minimum 3 months contract then on a rolling monthly contract
– 1 months rent required as a deposit
– Cathedral Quarter location
Email christine@blickstudios.org for more info or to arrange a viewing or visit our website for more info: https://blickstudios.org/locations/hill-street-belfast/
Aug 26
Week 5 of our new Design Hothouse Residency with Rachel and Beth, this week working on refinement and layout, the micro-adjustments that elevate the artwork from amateur to professional with @belfastdesignwk co-founder @karishmasworld on Tuesday at Queen’s University Students Union and starting to think about creating supporting assets and Checking layouts, colour ways and formatting with Blick Resident Molly Long to finish the week on Friday.
Aug 24
As the seasons change and we move onto new projects here is a summary of some of my favourite bits from Belfast Design Week 2026, I also wrote a blog about it which is on our website (link in profile and below)
https://blickstudios.org/blog/bdw26-my-best-bits/
Aug 21
- - Meet The New Design Hothouse Resident: Beth Schmidt - -
In our latest Meet The Resident we get to know the second of our new Design Hothouse residents @beth__schmidt who is currently working as an architectural assistant @studioidir in East Belfast
Tell us a bit about yourself, your background and your creative work?
I work as an architectural assistant at Studio idir in East Belfast, where I contribute to a range of residential and placemaking projects. My work is driven by a passion for community-led design and an interest in re-evaluating food and waste systems, which was a continuous theme throughout my academic work. After graduating from Queen’s University Belfast in 2024, I spent time volunteering for various community-led projects across Europe, engaging in hands-on construction, food preparation, and permaculture farming. This allowed me to create meaningful change on an everyday scale, which I think can be difficult within architectural practice.
Can you tell us why you wanted to take part in the residency
I’m interested in the potential of design in reshaping our cities, which the residency encourages us to explore. The collaborative nature of the project was also important to me – I come from a background of architecture, which is often a very individualistic discipline. Buildings have historically been portrayed as the work and genius of one person, rather than reflecting the vast range of people involved in design and construction processes. I think collaboration enriches design and creates better results, and so I was interested in the opportunity to work with designers from other disciplines throughout the residency.
What would you like to achieve from this residency?
I’d like to explore design within circular economy principles, and create a body of work that is genuinely sustainable and has a positive contribution to the public. I’m also eager to gain experience and insight more generally in delivering the various events, branding, and physical exhibition that the residency links into. Lastly, I’d also like to become more confident in my ability to work within these areas going forward
Aug 19
The fourth week of our Design Hothouse Residency with @rachelcowie_graphics and @beth__schmidt , this week working on reviewing sketches and ideas for custom fonts, layouts, colours and pairing fonts with Blick resident Alex Synge @thefirst47 on Tuesday 11th August. Then a finance and budgeting workshop and second opinion on fonts and artwork direction with Blick Finance and Operations Manager Rosy on Friday.
Aug 18
We have one private 1 - 2 person studio available in our Cotton Court studios from September
– £295 per calendar month all inclusive (rent, rates, utilities, broadband) no VAT
– Minimum 3 months contract then on a rolling monthly contract
– 1 months rent required as a deposit
– Industrial style building full of creative organisations
– Cathedral Quarter location opposite the Merchant hotel
– Email christine@blickstudios.org for more info or to arrange a viewing or visit the Cotton Court page of our website (link below and in profile): https://blickstudios.org/locations/cotton-court-belfast/
Aug 17
Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann right on our doorstep in the Cathedral Quarter last week
Aug 12
- - Meet the new Design Hothouse Resident: Rachel Cowie - -
In our latest Meet The Resident we get to know one of our two new Design Hothouse residents multidisciplinary designer @rachelcowie_graphics
You can also read her interview on the blog on our website link in profile and below:
https://blickstudios.org/blog/meet-the-new-hothouse-resident-rachel-cowie/
Aug 10
Week 3 of our new @belfastdesignwk collab Design Hothouse Residency with @rachelcowie_graphics and @beth__schmidt , this week working on initial ideas and sketches, colour palettes and font pairings and a special inclusive design workshop with Blick resident inclusive designer Lorna McFall
Aug 7
We have one dedicated deskspace available in our Cotton Court shared creative coworking space:
– £130 per dedicated desk per calendar month all inclusive utilities, rates, broadand etc (No VAT)
– 7am – 10.30pm access
– Industrial style building full of creative organisations in the heart of the Cathedral Quarter
– Safe, well-lit Cathedral Quarter location opposite the Merchant hotel
– Minimum 3 months contract then on a rolling monthly contract
– 1 months rent required as a deposit
– Email christine@blickstudios.org for more info or to arrange a viewing or visit the Cotton Court page of our website link in profile or below
https://blickstudios.org/locations/cotton-court-belfast/
Aug 4
Blick Creative Roundup
Our latest roundup of funding and opportunities for NI Creatives.
01. Irish Design Week
Closing date: 10th August
02. Design Researchers in Residence
Closing date: 6th September
03. British Council Connections Through Culture 2026
Closing date: 12th August
04. CoSTAR Screen Lab: Spatial Audio in Virtual Production
Closing date: 19th August
05. QEST Grants
Deadline: 13th August
06. National Lottery Support for Individual Artists Programme – Creative Progression Scheme
Deadline: 20th August
Full listings including links on our website:
https://blickstudios.org/blog/13970/
Aug 3
Design Hothouse Residency Week 2
Productive second week of our new Belfast Design Week collaborative Design Hothouse Residency. Starting with an interpreting the brief workshop on Monday morning with the brilliant David Woods from Bag of Bees Studio which was so good we forgot to take any photos. Then a city walk and exhibition site visit on Tuesday evening. Before finishing on Friday with a session on moodboarding, concept generation and ideation.
https://blickstudios.org/blog/design-hothouse-residency-week-2/
Aug 1
Some of my favourite things from this year`s @belfastdesignwk
https://blickstudios.org/blog/bdw26-my-best-bits/
Jul 31
Islands of Design Popup Exhibition
As part of Irish Design Week 17th – 21st November 2025 with Belfast Design Week we co-organised and co-curated a pop-up exhibition in Belfast School of Art featuring the work of 10 emerging designers working in different design disciplines.
Earlier this year we re-exhibited part of this exhibition in our Great Northern Street Studios just off the Lisburn Road.
Designers featured include:
Lauren Kelso - Illustrator
Matthew Talbot - Mixed Media & Experiential Designer
Kristen Robb - Regenerative Designer
Andrea Villaester - 3D Artist
You can also find more information on the project and the designers featured on our website: https://blickstudios.org/projects/islands-of-design/
Jul 27
Lovely first week of our new @belfastdesignwk collaborative Design Hothouse Residency. Starting with welcoming our new residents Beth Schmidt @beth__schmidt and Rachel Cowie @rachelcowie_graphics and getting to know each other and sharing some initial information on the project . Then a session on working collaboratively identifying strengths and weaknesses, aspirations for the project, personal and shared values, and communications. Before finishing today with a session on discovery and strategy/ research, audience and competitor analysis and customer journey mapping.
Jul 24
- - BLICK CREATIVE RESOURCES - USEFUL AUDIO TOOLS & RESOURCES - -
In October 2025 we collaborated with Homewerk and radio and audio producer Owen McFadden from WhyFi Productions, who drew on his experience of creating award-winning audio for BBC Radio Ulster, Radio 4 and more, to give insights into the basics of recording, editing, and shaping audio into compelling listening. Here are some brilliant audio resources Owen shared with us.
Transform media – Global tips about recording and audio
Epidemic sound – a global music-tech platform that provides a direct-license catalog of over 50,000 music tracks and 200,000 sound effects for content creators and businesses
Sadie software – For decades, SADiE has been a trusted tool for audio professionals, offering precision and reliability in recording, editing, and production.
Reaper software – REAPER is a complete digital audio production application for computers, offering a full multitrack audio and MIDI recording, editing, processing, mixing and mastering toolset.
Adobe Audition – Audition is a comprehensive toolset that includes multitrack, waveform and spectral display for creating, mixing, editing and restoring audio content. This powerful audio workstation is designed to accelerate video production workflows and audio finishing — and deliver a polished mix with pristine sound.
Trint – AI transcription software turning speech to text isn’t breaking news. But Trint is. Convert video, audio and live conversations to text in 30+ languages.
Otter – Full AI-powered transcripts with automated summaries. Archived audio and video imports.
AI chat, and more.
Full list including links on our web resources: https://blickstudios.org/resources/useful-audio-tools-resources/
Jul 22
Very excited to start our new @belfastdesignwk Collab Design Hothouse Residency this week with @beth__schmidt and @rachelcowie_graphics looking forward to seeing what they create over the next couple of months and sharing their progress!
Jul 21
