Dezeen announces Virtual Design Festival, the world's first online design festival, taking place from Wednesday 15 April onwards.

With much of the world in lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, the global architecture and design community is, along with many other sectors, facing unprecedented challenges.

Virtual Design Festival (www.virtualdesignfestival.com) is a platform that will bring the architecture and design world together to celebrate the culture and commerce of our industry, and explore how it can adapt and respond to extraordinary circumstances.

We will host a rolling programme of online talks, lectures, movies, product launches and more. It will complement and support fairs and festivals around the world that have had to be postponed or cancelled and it will provide a platform for design businesses, so they can, in turn, support their supply chains.

We are inviting individuals, companies and organisations to get in touch to explore how we can help each other. We would like to team up with other architecture and design publications as well.

While we cannot pretend that these are normal times, we can at least explore alternative ways of sharing design, helping others, coming together as a global community and doing business.

How Virtual Design Festival will work

From 15 April onwards, we will host a rolling programme of online talks, lectures, movies, product launches and more. Some of these activities will replace those that we would have hosted at fairs and festivals around the world, but we also want to explore new and innovative formats, specially tailored for the digital sphere and for our locked-down world.

We are particularly interested in hearing from technology companies and developers who could help us develop innovative formats to help connect the global architecture and design community and help them work more effectively in the current situation.

As with all our content, everything will be free for all readers around the world, with no need to register or sign up.

Want to get involved? Email us at [email protected].

We will be announcing further details of Virtual Design Festival and how people can get involved soon. Meanwhile here are a few ideas of how we can work with you…

Special events

We're looking to partner with brands, organisations, individuals etc to create eye-catching content that will bring people together.

It could be a day of content themed around a particular topic, a series of talks, a live performance, a movie premiere… let us know your ideas and we'll let you know how we can make it happen. Or get in touch to discuss some of the ideas we have – we're looking for partners and sponsors!

Brands

Are you a brand that is interested in collaborating on a talk, discussion, video or other bespoke content ideas? Perhaps you want to explore interesting ways to launch products and services or talk about existing ones. Or maybe you're a technology company that wants to speak to the global architecture and design community. Or an architecture firm with bold ideas.

We'll work with you to come up with a unique way of telling your story. Our in-house video studio is able to operate remotely to create high-quality content that will resonate with our audience.

Community and cultural organisations

Are you an NGO or a non-profit? Are you doing work that benefits the community or the planet? Are you helping to fight coronavirus? This stage is for you and it's free. All you need is an idea for how you can share your good work in a digital format that we can embed or share.

Products

Are you a brand, designer or architect with new products or services you want to launch? Our products marketplace allows you to showcase your work, with all enquiries going directly to you.

Architecture and design events

Are you a real-world event such as a design week or a festival? Have you already partnered with us through Dezeen Events Guide? (If not you're still welcome!) Do you have content that could take place online instead of physically? Be our partner and curate your own digital programme!

It could be pre-recorded video or live content that's streamed via Facebook, YouTube, Instagram or another channel. It could be a talk, a show, a studio tour… It could be a few minutes of content, a few hours, or a full day. As part of a partnership, we'll include your programme as part of Virtual Design Festival.

Schools and students

Unable to put on a graduation show this year? How about doing a digital show in partnership with Virtual Design Festival? We are developing a simple and affordable format for schools, courses and students to showcase their work.

Young designers and architects

Are you ready to show your work? Our platform for young designers offers a low-cost way to promote yourself.

Want to get involved? Email us at [email protected]. If you have a suggestion or a question, please use the comments section below.