I had been to different design events before, such as the Paris Design Week, but only as a visitor. It was always very impressive, inspiring, and enjoyable. Exhibiting in Milan was hard to imagine because I had never been there before, but I was really looking forward to this experience. It was also one of the reasons why I chose to study at Lund University, because it is not very common for universities to exhibit there and it is a really good opportunity to do so.
The exhibition spaces seemed difficult to reach and find. Because of this, me and the other students found it hard to imagine how many visitors would come downstairs to see the exhibition. Still, I was very excited to be part of it and to see how everything would come together. I was also quite confident that it would turn out well.
The first step happened at school while preparing the exhibition. We split into groups, and I was part of the marketing team. Our goal was to attract visitors with an interesting visual identity. We tried our best to find time between our projects to work on it, and we managed to do it.
We spent the first few days setting up the exhibition. As expected, it was a long process. Since it was our first time in the space, many changes had to be made. In the end, we achieved a result we were happy with, even if it was difficult to imagine at the beginning.
During our free time between installation sessions, we spent time together visiting the city, discovering the culture, and enjoying the food of Milan. This was really important because it is rare for the whole group to spend so much time together. We got to know each other better and shared many nice moments.
Once the exhibition opened, many people started coming in. I was surprised by how diverse the visitors were. People of all ages came, both from the design world and outside of it. Every student had one or two shifts during the exhibition. We answered questions and presented the projects, especially the interactive ones.
It was very interesting to see which projects connected the most with the public and what questions people asked the most. Some students also had the chance to speak with professionals who were interested in their projects or design process. This was very valuable for our future.
It was my first time at the Milan Design Week both as an exhibitor and as a visitor. Now I really want to go again next year because there is still so much to see. The number of interesting exhibitions seemed endless. Every day I discovered new places I wanted to visit.
I stayed there for one week, including four days during the design week, and I still felt like I could have stayed much longer without seeing everything. I came home feeling very inspired to work on new projects and motivated to continue working so I can be part of events like this again in the future.
