DXD: Nobody needs permission to design! Check this out

25 February 2015

Nairobi’s disruptive designers are being called to submit their bodies of work in order to compete for the Disruption by Design (DXD) awards that will be held in November 2015.

The call for submissions was announced at the DXD event on the 19th of February at the Zing Bar in the dusitD2 hotel at 14 Riverside.

The event, which was produced by UP Magazine in partnership with Airtel and Ciroc Vodka, inaugurated a new era of design and disruptive thinking in Nairobi.

UP Magazine Director Rand Pearson kicked off the ceremony with a call to recognise how disruptive thinking is changing the way we interact with our city for the better.

“We are here to celebrate the ones who have dared to envision something smart and cool that makes a difference,” he announced in his speech.

Mark Kaigwa, founder of the immensely successful digital consultancy agency Nendo, was the evening’s keynote speaker. In his speech, he touched upon what DXD could mean to Nairobi.

“We are creative, we are designers” he said of the everyday Kenyans who find ingenious ways to improve their lives. “Nobody needs permission to design,” he added, “they take their initiative and design themselves.”

The DXD event was the first of a series of monthly get-togethers which will aim to highlight more Nairobian disruptors.

The call for submissions will end in August and will culminate in a gala event in November in which awards will be handed out to designers from all the different fields.

Check out some of the photos from the event...