West Michigan Design Week: A city celebrates the power of design

A huge part of our city’s success is a direct result of its heritage, but none of this would be possible if it weren’t for great design woven into the fabric of who we are today. 

Starting this weekend, we will once again as a community celebrate the impact of design with world renowned speakers, interactive workshops, and special tours at the Fourth annual West Michigan Design Week that runs from Saturday, March 25 through Saturday,  April 1 at various locations in the city.

Highlights this year include keynote speakers Jason Mayden, a sneaker designer at Nike, columnist for Hypebeast Magazine, and CEO of Super Heroic; and John Maeda, head of design at Automattic (WordPress), author, and the 16th president of Rhode Island School of Design.

Mayden may have worked to create performative designs for athletes like Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, Derek Jeter, and Michael Jordan, but at his Super Heroic the designer gets to focus his energy on providing quality play-performance footwear, apparel, and technology for elementary school-aged children.

With a background as an MIT-trained engineer, Maeda has produced award-winning creations, as well as assisted leaders, inventors, and designers to ideate beyond perceived boundaries, thus opening up new possibilities by design.

A few highlights of West Michigan Design Week’s more than 15 events include:

• An intensive design thinking workshop led by IBM Design 
• A discussion with Native American designers and why their voices matter within design
• Architectural tours at the new airport viewing park
• Design and development talks presented by designers from Automattic (WordPress)

“We expect over 2,500 attendees to join us at over 15 events planned throughout the week,” says Sara Klele, AIGA West Michigan Programming Director. “Design Week has become a mainstay for the design community in West Michigan. And as the design community here in West Michigan continues to grow in size and impact, it’s increasingly important for our organization to connect that group with the public.”

Klele wants to reminds us that Design Week is open to everyone,  “not just traditional designers.”

The event is produced by AIGA West Michigan (the professional association for design) in collaboration with American Institute of Architects – Grand Rapids (AIA) and Interaction Design Association – Grand Rapids (IxDA).

A full list of events and sponsors can be found at the Design Week website, www.wmdesignweek.com