Record number of visitors at the 360 Design Budapest exhibition
A record number of visitors turned up for the first 360 Design Budapest exhibition organised by the Hungarian Fashion & Design Agency (HFDA) as a professional partner to the Budapest Design Week. The exhibition was offered both offline and online where the focus was on twenty Hungarian and four international designers. Despite the restrictions posed by the virus, the widespread media coverage allowed our national talents to enjoy intense visibility, something that designers need to break into the market. The exhibition is available online and in a virtual format on the event’s website.
It was the first time that that the 360 Design Budapest exhibition had been held between 8 and 10 October 2020 organised by the Hungarian Fashion & Design Agency as a professional partner of the Budapest Design Week.
During the three-day event, visitors not only had the opportunity to have a look at the creations of world-class designers onsite and online, they can also take a virtual tour among the 3D-objects. Owing to this duality, the event was described – in line with new international trends – as “figital” where talented designers could be introduced to the broad public in a safe and sound condition amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Visitors had the chance to have a closer insight into the history of the objects on display: curator and program manager of the event Mr Gáspár Bonta offered several guided tours each day which were attended by a record number of visitors. During the tours, visitors could learn about the curator’s main concept, they gained insight into the traditions of Hungary’s furniture manufacturing, and could also get a first-hand experience of the uniqueness of contemporary Hungarian design.
Visitors were also offered to look at the creations from a wholly new perspective as they could undertake the weekend design tour wearing virtual reality goggles. Those joining the online tour could not only learn more about the world of design but also those taking an active role of shaping this world: almost all the designers featuring at the exhibition visited the event in person, which undoubtedly fostered the relations between designers and customers.
The offline exhibition focused on the works of twenty Hungarian designers including Adamlamp, Codolagni, Error n’more, Hannabi, Ms Sára Kele, KOMONKA, Mr Ábel Lakatos, LumoConcept, Mr Ádám Miklósi, Oleant, Paper Up, Planbureau, Plydesign, Position Collective, RAWfiction, Ms Anna Regős, Sixay, Socowoo, Studio Nomad and Ms Fanni Ungár.
The digital platform not only offers a view of the breath-taking objects designed by contemporary Hungarian talents, but it also introduces the products of four international designers: Master&Master from Czechia, Crafting Plastic! from Slovakia, Phormy from Poland, and Ms Anna Horváth, a Hungarian designer working in Malta. By involving the four international designers from the region and therefore adding a cross-border element to the event, the Hungarian Fashion & Design Agency helped Hungary to make another step closer to taking up a key regional role in their quest to shape the global design industry. 360 Design Budapest proved successful in commercial promotion on both platforms: those attending the offline exhibition can reach the exhibitors’ websites with QR codes, while those joining the event online could explore the background of designers by clicking on the icons next to the objects on display.
“We are extremely proud of attracting such a huge number of people despite the challenges posed by the pandemic. Over 600 people registered to attend 360 Design Budapest, so the event – allowing fifty visitors per hour – was run with full house all three days. The widespread media coverage allowed our national talents to enjoy intense visibility: a total of 30 Hungarian influencers visited the event in person and over 60 press releases have been issued”, said Ms Zsófia Bata-Jakab on behalf of HFDA.
The exhibition entitled 360 Design Budapest will “stay open” to the public until the end of this year.
