On 14 September this year, the Design Year was declared open in Estonia, initiated and organised by the Design Innovation Centre of the Estonian Academy of Arts (EAA), in co-operation with the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design and the Estonian Designers' Association. The academic year 2006/2007, full of various events aimed at raising the general awareness of design, celebrates the 40th anniversary of design education in Estonia.
Only a few months have passed since the start of the design year, and quite a few things have already been accomplished to increase people's awareness of design. Various undertakings have involved all relevant unions, organisations and enterprises from the field of design, creative and traditional industries, and from enterprise and public administration. Interesting and instructive events will thus take place all year round. Information about past and future undertakings can be found at www.disainiaasta.ee.

Why the Design Year?
The impetus for organising a Design Year came from a poll carried out by the Design Innovation Centre over the course of two years. The Centre tried to find out the reasons why Estonian enterprises involved in product development were not using design enthusiastically. The main reason turned out to be low awareness of design, although interest in it was there. A positive aspect is that Estonian design is on a pretty high level: students and active designers are winning awards both at home and abroad, exhibitions and conferences have been organised, and relevant literature has been published. However, there is no large-scale production that seriously uses design, and the majority of people do not, in fact, know what design is. The goal of the Design Year is, therefore, to bring together design-related people and institutions, and attract the attention of the public.

Design comes to visit!
Within the framework of the Design Year, various events will take place in all county centres, under the title 'Design comes to visit'. The overview exhibition of Estonian design offers an insight into what is going on in art. The display shows examples of dynamic associations and possibilities of design: for instance, of the co-operation between producer and designer, of ideas waiting to be realised, and of the past of Estonian design. Along with travelling exhibitions, seminars, called ABC Design, for entrepreneurs take place in the counties, introducing the uses of design in advancing business activities.

Design in urban space
Design is also introduced through the Tallinn design map, which directs people to Estonian design in the capital city. The map shows public interiors, places to eat, shops and exhibition venues, which all help to increase understanding of the significance of design in creating comfortable living environments.
The series of exhibitions Design in urban space provides additional information about the objects around us every day, emphasising the essence and value of design. Marking the mundane objects in urban space - dustbins, benches, bus shelters etc - and offering additional information about every object, users are invited to think about the creative process of items and appreciate them in our surroundings.
During the design festival, museums, galleries, shops and restaurants connected with design were open almost all night, and a hop-on-hop-off bus took people from one place to another. The design night on the last night in October, 'Watch out - design!', was a test project for the new annual festival starting in 2007, Arts&Lights in Tallinn.
Arts&Lights in Tallinn unites fine arts and culture with urban space for a period of several days, focusing on culture and contemporary lifestyle. The 2007 festival culminates with a new design night, when museums, galleries, shops, hotels and eating places are open later than usual. Special events and product introductions are organised, and ways to spend time culturally are promoted. Light architects provide the urban environment with more light and also surprises.

Design town
Tallinn has quite a few stylish shops, galleries and eating places, but it lacks a design centre, and thus someone seriously keen on design finds it difficult to get oriented in the network of streets in order to track down an icon or a quality item of Estonian design. To make the search easier, the festival arranges the display and sale of Estonian design in a specific area. At Design Night 2007 the venue will be a tower at 3 Laboratooriumi Street and the Culture Factory in Põhja Avenue. Various installations and fashion shows are planned as well. Visitors to Tallinn have no need to worry about finding their bearings around town. A special festival bus will be available for them. In addition, the organisers want to arrange nocturnal boat traffic in co-operation with shipping companies, to make sure that all visitors will arrive in the capital city on time.
Another remarkable Design Year event is an exhibition of the Estonian National Museum at the Museum of Applied Art and Design, 'We eat, we drink, we clear the table. Eating culture in Soviet Estonia', introducing items, photographs and texts of the time. The display offers a vivid picture of the wealthy and exciting heritage of Soviet Estonia's culture of food and eating habits. In December, the gallery of the Estonian Academy of Arts organises its annual Christmas sale of design and art, and whoever happens to be in Brussels this year can enjoy the exhibition-sale of Estonian design, as Tallinn is the guest of honour at the Christmas fair.

The chickens will be counted in August
As the undertakings of the Design Year take into consideration the interests of various target groups, the organisers are certain that everybody will find something useful. Summaries of the Design Year will be published in August 2007 - when the academic year and part of the summer holidays are already over. Plans for future activities will be determined then too. We hope that the first Design Year in Estonia is a worthy initiation to the future Design Era!

Katrin Mesilane (1966) is an international business manager interested in design, currently working as media head of the Design Year.