D+ I Competition

Industry cannot compete in today’s global market without building a competitive edge that sets it apart from all others. Egyptian industry can no longer depend on trade restrictions to maintain its market share, nor can it compete with the cheaper Asian manufacturers in the current open trade structures. The only way they can build an advantage is to invest in innovation and in what Egypt has an abundance of: human creative capital.

D+I Competition is more than just a design competition. It is an attempt to attract the creative powers of Egyptian designers and through linking them to industry a new source of productive energy can be released. It is an attempt to exhibit the creative energies of young designers in a format that industry can appreciate and link with. The D+I competition is an initiative of the Egyptian Furniture Export Council (EFEC) and the Chamber of Woodworking and Furniture Industry (CWWFI) under the umbrella of +20 Egypt Design.

All designers below the age of 35 are invited to participate with their product ideas in this exhibition of creativity. All product ideas addressing the functional needs of people at home or work are eligible for participation. These can be furniture items, textiles, marble, or lighting elements. The objective is to connect these ideas and their creators with those who are in the business of manufacturing and selling products so as to emerge with a mutually beneficial formula that will also impact the broader market.

Designers will compete with their product design ideas for the opportunity to have them prototyped by reputable manufacturers and to be exhibited in the high profile Furnex Fair next November 2012 to manufacturers who might findgood business potentials in them and hence buy the idea to manufacture it and sell it. Furthermore, the EFEC and the CWWFI are intent on sponsoring the presentation of the best of these ideas in the SaloneSatellite, the young designers section of the Milan International Furniture Fair.