news & events

Nearly 100 designers and supporters attended the launch of the Portsmouth Branch of the South Coast Design Forum (SCDF) at The Spinnaker Tower last week. Supported by Portsmouth City Council, the University of Portsmouth and the Portsmouth and South East Hants Partnership the branch has 40 members and meets regularly on the 2nd Thursday of the month at The Kings Tavern, Southsea.

Members and guests were welcomed by Portsmouth Branch chairman, Carl Leroy-Smith who said the purpose of the evening was to reach out to local designers and engage with commissioners of design and local decision makers.

Carl introduced Evelyn Thurlby chair of the creative industries task group of main sponsor for the evening Hampshire Economic Partnership. Evelyn welcomed the expansion of SCDF into Hampshire to support efforts to improve the economic prosperity of the area. HEP supports groups like CIBAS and Cafe Culture in Winchester and made a plea for more creative practioners to join the task group.

Lorraine Farrelly deputy head of the school of architecture at University of Portsmouth spoke of the way good design can make a difference to an area and welcomed the opportunity to work with SCDF in improving communication between architects, designers and the community.

Keynote speaker for the evening Wayne Hemingway founder of fashion chain Red or Dead and chair of SCDF told designers ‘their time had come’. He reminded the audience that Gordon Brown recognised that some time ago: with the creative industries now second only to the service industries in economic value to the UK and truancy levels amongst art & design students the lowest in schools because the subject is ‘interesting’, the moment is there to be seized. In a wide ranging talk drawing on his own experiences in the design world he entertained and inspired everyone and finished by saying that Portsmouth was on an upward curve and it was up to the creatives in the city to ‘make the place fly’.

There was a novel twist to the evening when all guests were given a portable cardboard chair designed and manufactured by University of Portsmouth student James Chu which was featured on Meridian News the previous evening.