London is revered around the world for its rich culture and history and it won’t come as a surprise that it is home to a third of the UK’s design businesses as well as the world’s top two art and design universities. Not only that, the capital city generates 29.5% of all design economy GVA, (£27.2 billion in 2019) according to the Design Council’s most recent Design Economy report.

There is no doubt that London’s high concentration of designers - more than any other regional economy in the UK - is a huge factor in its success, but is this to the detriment of the rest of the design community?

Despite the magnetism of the capital and all it has to offer, Londoners Niamh Cartwright and Antonia Arbova - now Master’s and third-year design students respectively - opted to move up north to study design in 2021/22. Lancaster University, based in the northwest of England, was ranked third for design at the time and Cartwright was impressed by the research-led nature of the degree.

“You don’t look at a focussed discipline, you look at design as a whole and how it can tap into societal problems,” she says.

Both Cartwright and Arbova immediately noticed how there were “no longer opportunities at [their] doorstep” and many people naturally assumed that they would move back to London when it came to finding a job. Notably, there was no bridging of the gap between education and industry and the pair carried out a survey which revealed that many people were feeling this.

In Cartwright’s opinion, “the North has community but not opportunity”, while the South has plenty of opportunity but no real close-knit community or camaraderie.

Originally, the plan was to run one panel talk about women in design but after an influx of interest and enthusiasm, but Arbova had the idea to form something bigger.

Planning for The Northern Design Festival began in October 2023 with the creation of Northern Designers CIC, a common interest company spearheaded by executive director Arbova and design director Cartwright. The rest of the team is made up of 25 Lancaster students from a variety of subjects, including zoology, creative writing, politics, and architecture.

To build up traction, Northern Designers CIC held a meet and greet event with agencies and students followed by a panel on International Women’s Day.

The inaugural festival happened earlier this year in May, with 27 speakers, 3 workshops, an exhibition, and over 250 tickets sold. Ultimately, the festival is trying to “build a community of designers and students while demystifying the value of design”, according to Cartwright.

Some topics addressed at this year’s festival were design in the post-pandemic era, sustainable design, future trends, equality, diversity, and inclusion. Workshops were run by the likes of Hull-based manufacturer GF Smith and independent Manchester-based brand design studio Conscious Made.

The Northern Design Festival has already garnered an impressive list of eight sponsors and over 25 partners, including Lancaster-based strategic creative agency Hotfoot Design - which developed the website for the festival - global food conglomerate Kellanova, and co-working space Fraser House, which provided one of the venues for the event.

“We’re really surprised at how much passion we’ve had from local agencies for this festival,” says Cartwright, adding that they were set on making the festival free to attend, which wouldn’t have been possible without their sponsors. She feels that there should be no financial barrier to attending events like this to foster equal opportunities for all.

Design LSC creative director Luigi Carnovale says he was proud to have been invited to partner with Northern Design Festival 2024 and be able to watch the team grow “in confidence and capability”.

“The festival was enjoyed by all who visited. The speakers were insightful and inspiring, and the exhibited works were exceptional,” says Carnovale. “It was clear that the team put their hearts into every aspect of the event, ensuring a memorable experience for everyone.”

Cartwright describes Lancaster as “the perfect place to do this festival and set up a creative community”. Its links to big cities like Liverpool and Manchester are just as important as its proximity to places like Cumbria and Preston, where Cartwright and Arbova found some amazing creative agencies that got involved in the festival.

When speaking with Cartwright about the north-south divide, Preston-based Wash Studio founder and creative director Andy Walmsley observed that there is a north-north divide when it comes to the creative industries. He believes that many people struggle to see beyond Manchester to places like Lancaster, Preston, and Scotland, despite the latter’s design economy growing more than any other region in the UK between 2017 and 2019.

Walmsley says: “This was a fantastic initiative by these young folk and just the right sort of energy we need up here in the North. As a Preston-based creative studio we often travel to Manchester and London for larger events, so having another creative pull to add to our pot here in Lancashire is surely a good thing.”

He explains how there is a definite lack of opportunity for young creatives in the North, “at least above Manchester and the Northern corridor”, suggesting that festivals like this can help to build the region’s credibility and ultimately attract more business and talent.

“It’s a bigger narrative I appreciate, but we have to keep raising our game across all of the creative sectors to enrich our cultural offering and keep people here,” Walmsley adds.

Now the festival is over, Northern Design CIC will look to set up a mentorship scheme to give students outside of London access to the same opportunities and knowledge.

“To us, the festival is always going to be about the impact we want to make”, says Aborva. “Ever since the pandemic our creative communities have gone quiet, we want to change that and make sure that people know there is a community and network they can rely on.”

Cartwright confirms that “the Northern Design Festival is here to stay”, adding “We just want to get bigger and better, get more partners involved, and see the community grow”.