Keep an Eye Young Designer Grant
The Keep an Eye Foundation has partnered with the Dutch Design Foundation to help young and talented designersrealise their ambitions. Promising designers are often bursting with ideas, but the step from concept to realisation is a big challenge. With this special prize, the Keep an Eye Foundation wants to ensure that innovative and creative ideas do not remain just on paper, but actually grow into tangible and useful projects.
The prize offers young designers the chance to further develop and elaborate their plans on different levels. This may mean support in applying for a patent or patent to protect their unique idea, but also in further developing their concepts so that they become concrete and feasible. In addition, the fund offers assistance in the production and further refinement of designs and prototypes, and even in finding ways to successfully market the design. In this way, young designers can not only hone their artistic and technical skills, but also learn how to position their work commercially and realise it sustainably.
One of the key components of this collaboration is that the winning designers will have a special opportunity to present their work on a large and influential stage. The selected alumni will have the unique opportunity to showcase their designs during the prestigious Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven. This annual event is Northern Europe’s largest design week and attracts tens of thousands of visitors, including designers, companies, investors and art lovers. This allows young talents to bring their work to the attention of a broad and international audience, which can give their career a huge boost.
Besides visibility, this award also provides valuable guidance and support. Winners not only receive funding to further develop their project, but are also put in touch with experts and professionals from the design world. This helps them not only improve their design skills, but also think strategically about production, presentation and building a network within the creative industry.
This collaboration between the Keep an Eye Foundation and the Dutch Design Foundation marks an important step in supporting young design talent. This initiative not only helps them realise their dreams, but also ensures that innovative and sustainable designs actually find a place within the world of design and technology. Thanks to this support, young designers can turn their ideas into impactful and successful projects, which not only advance their own careers but also contribute to an innovative future.
Dutch Design Foundation Masterclass
These (online) master classes, organised by the Dutch Design Foundation, revolve around two central pillars: Inspirerand Matchmaker. This unique programme is designed to support young and emerging designers in developing their professional skills and preparing them optimally for future presentation moments, such as Dutch Design Week.
Within the Keep an Eye Academy, participants gain valuable knowledge and insights that help them present their work in the best possible way and take their career to the next level. Through a series of inspiring master classes by experienced designers and other professionals from the creative industry, participants are prepared to present their work convincingly and effectively.
An important part of the programme is the contribution of a keynote speaker, an expert from the field who not only motivates, but also offers concrete tools to get the best out of themselves and their work. This speaker shares his or her experiences, gives valuable tips and helps participants gain insight into how to improve their presentation skills and present their work in a professional manner to a wide audience.
Besides inspiration and knowledge transfer, the Keep an Eye Academy also focuses on creating valuable connections. Thanks to the Matchmaker principle, participants are put in touch with professionals, potential cooperation partners and other talents within the design world. This offers them not only new insights, but also the chance to expand their network and strengthen their position within the design world.
Through this combination of inspiration, education and networking, the Keep an Eye Academy helps young designers to participate confidently and well-prepared in events such as Dutch Design Week. This programme contributes to their professional development and ensures they have the right tools and strategies to present their creative work in the best possible way.
Keep an Eye Graphic Design workshops
The art of communicating through images – that is graphic design. At a time when we are inundated daily with vast amounts of information, it is crucial to have good ‘translators ’ who can present this complex data and important messages in a clear, accessible and meaningful way to a wide audience. Graphic designers play a key role in this, being able to make an impact with strong visual communication and convey complex topics in an understandable way.
To encourage young and starting designers and bring them together to exchange ideas, Keep an Eye has partnered with Graphic Matters. This leading festival, which takes place once every two years in Breda, focuses entirely on graphic design and the power of visual language. But even outside this festival period, the Graphic Matters team remains active throughout the country by organising inspiring activities, workshops and events to highlight the importance of graphic communication.
Thanks to the collaboration with Keep an Eye, it will be possible to organise special workshops every year in which a selection of promising young designers will have the chance to further develop their visual language. Under the guidance of an experienced expert in the field, these talents will receive support and guidance in strengthening their design skills, honing their conceptual thinking and experimenting with new techniques and forms of visual communication.
The results of these workshops will not only be visible to the participants themselves, but will also be presented to a wider audience. This may take place during the Graphic Matters festival in Breda or through other channels, such as exhibitions, publications or online platforms. This way, the young designers get a stage to show their work, receive valuable feedback and further expand their network within the design world.
With this initiative, Keep an Eye contributes to the development and support of new graphic talent, encouraging the next generation of designers to create powerful and effective visual stories that connect to the challenges of our time.
Blind Walls Gallery Open Call
With the Open Call, Blind Walls Gallery is offering eight talented makers the chance to create their own mural under the guidance of experienced experts. This unique course allows them to further develop their skills, experiment with large-scale painting techniques and delve into the conceptual process behind muralism. From this group, one winner will eventually be selected, who will have the special opportunity to create a public mural over the summer.
This is not just any opportunity: it is a paid commission in which the winning design will actually be executed in Breda’s public space . Moreover, the winning mural will be included in the collection of Blind Walls Gallery, giving the artist a place among renowned international professionals. This provides a huge boost to their career and gives them a chance to show their work on a wide and professional stage.
Increasingly, impressive, large murals are appearing in Dutch cities. While some label this art form as graffiti and others as street art, Blind Walls Gallery opts for the term ‘muralism’. This art form goes beyond simply applying paint to a wall: it involves a complex design process, in which concept development, composition and technique play a major role.
Besides creating artworks, Blind Walls Gallery focuses strongly on talent development. The annual Open Callplays an important role in this, as it not only discovers and encourages new talents, but also promotes knowledge exchange and cooperation within the community. Moreover, this call makes muralism more accessible to makers without a background in graffiti or street art, giving a wider range of artists the chance to delve into this discipline.
Another important aspect of this project is the impact on diversity within the mural scene. Through an approach that is accessible and inclusive, the Open Call contributes to a better gender balance within this traditionally male-dominated art form. This not only encourages new talent, but also ensures an innovative and diverse future for muralism in the Netherlands.
With this initiative, Blind Walls Gallery remains an important platform for the development of muralists and is committed to allowing muralism to grow and flourish as a fully-fledged art form in the urban environment.
