Designing a design conference in an emerging design science community: Danish experiences from the International Conference on Design (DESIGN)

The International Conference on Design, “DESIGN” is an important reoccurring event in the lives and careers of many design researchers and practitioners, worldwide. The conference has acted as a catalyst for many conversations, discussions, presentations and working meetings about the nature, contents and intent of design, as a vital activity in the continuous development of the synthetic world. This article provides a balance on the DESIGN conference and its contribution to the research community that today is gathered within the Design Society. We compare and contrast DESIGN against the Design Society’s flagship conference, ICED, and other conferences and meetings affiliated with the Design Society. And we reflect on the way in which the DESIGN conference has acted as a conduit and a testbed for the design research discussions and results that have emerged from our own university, the Technical University of Denmark.