Designer Day 2026: Rethinking Design – Continuing the Dialogue After the German Design Award
Designer Day 2026 – Continuing the Dialogue After the German Design Award
On 6 February 2026, the German Design Award 2026 brings together the international design community in Frankfurt for the celebratory awards ceremony. The following day, we continue the exchange: Designer Day 2026 on 7 February at Ambiente Frankfurt invites participants to explore the central questions of design. The event brings together leading voices, young talents, and key topics in contemporary design. Panels, talks, and keynote presentations will examine what makes design relevant today and tomorrow – from regional roots to global practice and societal impact.
Designer Day is deliberately linked to the award show. The speakers and contributors are designers, jurors, and discussion partners from the awards. They bring their experiences, perspectives, and discourses and opening them to a wide professional audience.
Topics at the heart of the event include the role of regional identity in a global practice, design as a cultural force, service design as a tool for complex systems, and co-design as a democratic approach. International design personalities such as Sebastian Herkner, Naoto Fukasawa, and Katty Schiebeck will discuss material, light, reduction, and atmosphere – and how design creates impact.
Designer Day takes place as part of Ambiente 2026 and is organised in close cooperation with Messe Frankfurt. It serves as a platform for exchange, orientation, and networking – and as an invitation to not only celebrate design but to rethink it.
From 16:00, Lutz Dietzold (CEO, German Design Council) and Julia Uherek (Vice President Consumer Goods Fairs, Messe Frankfurt) will welcome participants to a networking session – the perfect conclusion to two days centred on design.
Thematic Highlights
- 12:00 - 12:45 · Region as Catalyst – Sebastian Herkner & Barbara Lersch
Diskussion über die Bedeutung regionaler Identität für internationale Strahlkraft und kulturelle, soziale und räumliche Transformation. - 12:45 - 13:30 · Culture Makes the Difference – Laura Straßer & Studio Yellowdot
Blick auf Design als kulturelle Praxis, die zwischen Handwerk und Industrie agiert und globale Wirksamkeit entfaltet. - 14:00 - 14:30 · Service Design Changes Everything – Prof. Birgit Mager
Impulse zu Service Design als Werkzeug für komplexe Systeme, das Nutzerbedürfnisse integriert und Veränderung anstößt. - 14:30 - 15:15 · Co-Design as a Democratic Practice – German Design Award Newcomer of the Year 2026, Lene ter Haar, Katrin Krupka & Stéphanie Scheerens
Panel über die Bedingungen, die junge Talente brauchen, und die Rolle von Co-Design, Interdisziplinarität und Verantwortung. - 15:15 - 16:00 · Designing Atmosphere – Katty Schiebeck & Naoto Fukasawa
Einblicke in Material, Licht und Reduktion sowie die Gestaltung zeitloser Räume, die Wahrnehmung und Atmosphäre prägen.
