Design fans rejoice: London Design Festival is upon us from this Saturday for nine days full of events, exhibitions and general designer love. The festival is huge and extremely varied: there's a massive chess board installation in Trafalgar Square and prizes in the shape of designer chairs to be won. There are open studios, installations, talks, workshops, tours and exhibitions by the well established big names. Everything is scattered between a dozen or more venues so you'll need to keep your wits about you and an A-Z close to hand to 'do' it all.
The London Design Festival website is the first port of call and all the offers, competitions and 'official' (ie. sponsored or specially endorsed) info is up there; order the festival guide from the website and design your own itinerary with the 'add to itinerary' option online. But if you want someone else to do the planning and plotting for you, there's the icon design trail compiled by icon magazine. Get your free copy with the magazine (October issue), or at participating London Design Festival venues or use the one on the web. The maps show what is on in a particular area (and there's a pre-design overhaul tube map at the back) but the great joy of the guide is the icon party trail: how to squeeze every last free drink, goodie bag and celebrity spot out of the festival in one handy booklet.
London Design Festival, Saturday 19 to Sunday 27 September. For more information, go to the London Design Festival website.
