On March 24^th (last week) Copenhagen Twestival took place. Of course it wasn’t just Copenhagen Twestival, it was Twestival all over the world.

Twestivals (stick Twitter and festival together and what have you got?) are held globally each year, in cities and towns all over the place. Although organized via Twitter, they are of course open to anyone and everyone. They are strictly non-profit events and each year the proceeds go towards non-profit organisations which make an impact in the community. This year, in Copenhagen, the profits went to The Children’s Cancer Foundation (Børnecancerfonden). The aim was to send 25 children off to a summer camp, where they can hang out, play, and spend time with other children like them, giving them the opportunity to just be kids for a while.

The powers that be at Designit are nice chaps, and of course were more than happy to provide some sponsorship for the event, as did others such as 1508, 23, Klean, Bezzerwizzer and more. A few of us at Designit went along to spend our cold hard cash on the lottery tickets (where tickets to Roskilde Festival were up for grabs!), and perhaps on a beer or three,

Twestival took place at KB18, a new club in the Meatpacking District (Kødbyen) that has just opened (the 24^th was actually their first ever night!), and who very kindly allowed Twestival to use the location for free (always a bit hard to find that!). People swarmed in, and we all topped out at about 220 people. A good number, if you ask me!

After a brief welcome, and an inspiring introduction to The Children’s Cancer Foundation by the director, Marianne Nielsen, the music began. Over the course of the evening we heard a set from 2tru, Panamah, DJ Hvad (formerly known as Kid Kishore/Trentemøller/Albertslund Terror Korps), The Freudian Slip, and a set from Waqar. Great stuff!

It was a super night. It was so fantastic to see so many there and supporting the cause. All in all, just under 70,000 kroner was raised. 70,000! It’s just magic.

We’re already looking forward to next year, and have no doubt that it’ll be bigger and better than ever before.

Marianne Nielsen from The Children’s Cancer Foundation.

DJ Hvad doing his thing.

One of the prize sponsors – Bezzerwizzer – and the lucky winner!

A magnificent LEGO ‘fail whale’ – that’s what I wanted to win.

Today is all about Norway – Olso, to be exact. Two new lovely people join our ranks, ready to wow us, dazzle us, and generally make a big impression.

Maria Hartmann is our new Interaction Design Manager, and holds an MSc in IT Product Design from the Mads Clausen Institute at the University of Southern Denmark. She also holds a BA in Product and Furniture Design from Kingston University in Jamaica, I mean, London. She likes to be cold by the looks of things, and enjoys snowboarding, cross-country skiing, and finding junk at flea markets.

Mike Jones also joins us as an Interaction Design Manager, and also holds an MSc IT in Product Design from the Mads Clausen Institute at the University of Southern Denmark. However, he holds a BS in Product Design from Stanford University in California. Mike enjoys snowboarding (this is getting weird), and playing frisbee. I’m not sure how he feels about flea markets.

That’s it for now. We’re still hiring though, so be sure to check out our jobs page!

The strength of good strategic design is at last being recognised. Currently, the hunt for a national design strategy aimed at innovation and growth in Denmark is well underway.

“Design has evolved from being able to create beautiful and functional products to be a process that can drive the evolution of services, products, business models, organizations and ways of thinking. Therefore, design is an important part of Denmark’s future.”said Eskild Hansen, head of European Design Centre at Cisco, one of the participants at a summit held by the Social Liberals.

Denmark has a strong history of design that has evolved from design and aesthetics to a strong strategic power through which companies are able to innovate and grow. It’s this strategic design power that has recently sparked a debate in the political world and within the design industry.

The Danish Design Association (The DDA) have, as a result, invited all parties concerned to a meeting on April 26^th 2011 in the hope of coming to an agreement, and to make a start on the road to a stimulating and bold design strategy that will fully benefit all of Denmark, on national and international levels.

The concern is that by effectively working against each other, the potential power and strength of a national design policy could be hampered. The DDA believe that by working together, and including the knowledge, experience and strategic thinking of professionals both from within the industry, and outside the industry, a true visionary design strategy can be created.

Two political parties (the Social Liberals (Radikale Venstre)) and the current government of the Liberals and Conservatives (Venstre and Conservative) are working on their own national design strategies.

The Liberals recently unveiled their ‘Design the Future’ (Design Fremtiden) which focuses on four areas; design education, internationalisation of Danish design, public Design challenges, and growth in the creative industries.

The government have formed a ‘Vision Committee Design 2020’ comprising of six members, selected based on their personal qualities, professional activities and knowledge of the design area. The committee will recommend strategies and to strengthen conditions for design until 2020.

Denmark was the first country in the world with a design policy in 1996, and the time has come to reformulate this in order to keep Denmark as a leading design nation. It’s an exciting time for Danish design, and needless to say, we’ll be keeping a close eye on the matter.

We went to an innovation conference today. It was fun. It was held at The Danish Technological Institute and was aimed at just about anyone interested in innovation.

We were one of the businesses the institute asked to come along and present ourselves and all that we do to the attendees. So we did! Our little stand gathered a lot of attention, and it was great to meet so many interested in Designit. From people asking what they could do to work at Designit, to people who had heard about our super innovation calendar and wanted one, to people who wanted to hear more about how we work – we covered all the bases.

Here is our desk looking very smart;

Our wall – or fortress – of calendars, built by Ida Marie;

I was convinced that someone (me) would knock it over but no-one (I) I didn’t, amazingly.

We were lucky to be nestled in a corner, which meant that we were pretty eye-catching with all our yellow and black! Super stuff.

“How does it work?”

Our calendars got everywhere! Look;

And our invitations to our tablet event got in bags;

And we got busy.

Woohoo! A great afternoon.

We’ve just been lucky enough to have had an afternoon with Ambassador Mr. Clark K.H. Chen, Representative to the Taipei Representative Office in Denmark, Mr. Mark Tseng,Director of the Economic Division, and Ms. Carrie Wu, the Assistant Director of the Economic Division.

Ida Marie (our Business Development Coordinator) and Martin Delfer (one of Designit’s co-founders, and our Head of Sales) met Mr Chen when the Danish Design Association hosted a study trip for Taiwanese companies to come and get a hands-on experience of Danish design. It turns out that Danish design is held in very high regard in Taiwan, so it was logical to extend an invitation to Mr. Chen to come and visit our office in Copenhagen to get a taste of Danish strategic design.

They were more than happy to come and get an inside peek at our creative zoo, and to learn more about strategic design in Denmark. We had a great afternoon, with lunch, cakes, a tour of the office and a thorough introduction to strategic design.

Here is the obligatory official picture;

Here’s Sofie explaining our innovation calendar;

Martin explains the social side to Designit. Alcohol was….mentioned. This is the area where we all hang out and let off steam on Fridays.

And that was it. A cosy day was had by all.

On Thursday 31^st March, Designit will be holding another Thursday Briefing (gå-hjem-møde), this time focusing on the tablet.

The tablet, as some of you may already know, represents an entirely new mobile platform, and therefore presents entirely new possibilities for consumers and businesses alike.

2011 will be the year of the tablet in Denmark. As demand goes up, and production price goes down, by the end of the year it’s estimated that every fifth household in Denmark will own a tablet. The question; is your business ready?

Come and hear Mads Vad Kristensen, Director of Digital Development at Berlingske Media, discuss Berlingske’s digital strategies and why tablets and other mobile platforms are Berlingske Media’s future.

Our very own Troels Nørlem (Communications Strategist), David Fellah (CEO) and Hans-Henrik Sørensen (Director of Interaction Design) will then take the stage to discuss three different perspectives on tablets; future trends in mobile platforms, how tablets will revolutionise B2B and B2C sales, and finally, NUI (Natural User Interface).

Lasting just 90 minutes, it’ll be an intensive, in-depth look at tablets, and how they will revolutionise business strategy as we know it. Take a look at the programme below;

16:00 Welcome
David Fellah, CEO, Cofounding Partner, Designit.

16:05 Berlingske Media
Mads Vad Kristensen, Digital Direktør for Berlingske Media.
Why are tablets Berlingske Media’s future?

16:35 New needs, new platforms, new potential…
Troels Nørlem, Senior Communications Strategist, Designit.
Why should we take tablets seriously? How will they fit into the ecosystem with smartphones and laptops? How do they affect users behaviours and expectations?

16:55 Tablets will change sales forever…
David Fellah, CEO, Cofounding Partner, Designit.
Why are tablets the sales tool of the future, and how will tablets revolutionise B2B and B2C sales?

17:15 New methods of interaction
Hans Henrik Sørensen, Director of Digital Design, Cofounding Partner, Designit.
What possibilities does NUI – intuitive access to services and functions – bring? A glance into the future of interaction (gesture, voice, 3D), and NUI as a conversation agent.

17:30 Tapas & wine

So there you have it. It will  be in Danish, but I’ll be tweeting from the event in English, and doing a re-cap in English too, so be sure to follow us on Twitter, or follow the feed on LinkedIn.

If you’d like to know more and/or sign up, please check out the event at our Thursday Briefing page.

We just can’t get enough! Say hello to more new faces at Designit…

Mads Heje Pedersen joins us in Copenhagen as our new Product Designer. Mads holds an MA in Industrial Design from The Danish Design School, and decided to come to Designit as he sees us (quite rightly so!) as the most progressive design agency in the country (we already like him). He enjoys making electronic music, as well as building stuff. What stuff exactly, we’re yet to see.

Esben Rose will be making waves in the Aarhus team, as an Interactive Designer. Esben has actually worked at Designit before, but after a few years, he realised his leaving us was momentary madness, and we’re glad to have him back. He’s a drummer, a gamer, and also likes sunshine.

Claus Bertelsen will be joining the zoo in Aarhus to help with the big move they have to make next month (they’ve outgrown the original office so have found a new home down near the harbour – more on that later!). Claus will help with People and Business Support. They’re going to need him!