The Milan Breakfasts 2011

International design professionals and educators and audience members debated three urgent issues: consumer trust, open design and designing for social change. Saskia van Stein of the Design Academy Eindhoven and Tim Vermeulen of Premsela acted as moderators.

Trust This Breakfast
Premsela's Tim Vermeulen talked with Scott Burnham, Lilet Breddels of Volume magazine, the designers Joost Grootens and Alberto Meda, and Design Academy Eindhoven student Tamar Shafrir on 14 April about how design could win back the public's trust. See the Trust Design page for more on the subject.

Open Design
All the tools, information and production methods are there for the using, but whether anyone can truly be a designer is a matter for debate. Professor Paul Atkinson and the designers Gijs Bakker, Joost Grootens, Yves Béhar and Martí Guixé discussed open design on 15 April.

Design Matters
Responsible design is quickly becoming a matter of course. But what about the other pressing issues 90 per cent of the world population is dealing with today? Design matters! Maria Teresa Leal of the design cooperative Coopa-Roca, the designers Jan Boelen, Cheick Diallo and Ilse Crawford, and Premsela director Els van der Plas talked about designing for social change on 16 April.

Networking reception
The Netherlands Consulate-General in Milan held its 2011 networking reception for the press, its international business contacts, and Dutch Salone participants on 12 April in partnership with Premsela and others. The design duo Scholten & Baijings gave a presentation on their new publication and exhibition at Premsela's invitation. Scholten & Baijings also designed a special Milan goodie bag for us.