DEE SEASON 18
Industrial Design Data Design Editorial & Brand Design Light & Media Design Footwear Design Illustration & Graphic Design
Photos: Pancake! Photographie / Jan Hanrion
Published by Design Friends asbl 32, rue du Pont L-6471 Echternach office@designfriends.lu www.designfriends.lu Art Direction & Layout Guido Kröger Editorial Coordination & Editing Heike Fries Proofreading Anabel Witry Printed in Luxembourg Imprimerie Schlimé ISBN 978-2-919829-18-7 © Design Friends asbl Luxembourg 2026
Gain new insights into creativity. Learn from renowned experts. Be inspired. Design Friends asbl is a Luxembourg-based non-profit association bringing together people with an interest in design and its creation. Since our inception in April 2009, we have presented more than 80 design talks, each accompanied by a monographic catalogue. All our talks are free of charge, open to members and non-members alike, and held in English at the Rotondes in Luxembourg. Once a year, we also come together for a screening night.
Photo: Pancake! Photographie / Jan Hanrion
Photo: Jeff Poitiers
Season 18 Boardmembers & Counselors (left to right): Hyder Razvi (Counselor), Anabel Witry (President), Heike Fries (Secretary), Hyunggyu Kim (Boardmember), Olga Silva (Boardmember), Guido Kröger (Treasurer). Not pictured: Vera Heliodoro (Counselor), Silvano Vidale (Counselor).
Design is never created in isolation. It grows through exchange – between people, places, ideas and experiences. For Season 18, we continue to bring international designers into dialogue with Luxembourg, creating opportunities for our guests and our community to meet, exchange and discover new perspectives. Each edition places one guest at the centre. For one evening, the stage is theirs: a moment to present their work, share the thinking behind it and offer an insight into their practice beyond the finished result. This season, we are pleased to welcome Robert, Stefanie, Yorgo, Christopher, Tracey and Naíma to Luxembourg and to Design Friends. But the stage is only the beginning. What makes Design Friends special is what happens around it: the conversations before and after, the unexpected encounters, the questions, the ideas that stay with us and the inspiration passed from one person to another. The talks offer a way to experience design not simply as a presentation, but as an authentic exchange – an opportunity to look behind the work, to meet the person who created it, and to connect with others through shared curiosity. Welcome to another season of Design Friends.
Encounters, connections and shared perspectives.
Photos: © Robert Bronwasser / Thomas Van Schaik
Industrial Design
Wednesday 07.10.2026 18:30-20:00 Rotondes
Robert Bronwasser Smile by Design. Design has the power to shape not only the way we live, but also the way we feel. For Dutch designer Robert Bronwasser, every product is an opportunity to make everyday life a little more enjoyable. His work combines functionality, simplicity and character, with a particular focus on how people interact with the objects around them. From furniture and consumer products to bikes and professional appliances, Bronwasser creates intuitive, approachable designs that bring warmth to everyday experiences. Sustainability, for him, is equally rooted in longevity: making things people value, use, and keep. Smile by Design explores Bronwasser’s belief that good design should do more than solve a problem. Through intelligent details, tactile qualities, and friendly forms, it can improve an ordinary moment - and leave behind something increasingly valuable: a genuine smile.
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Data Design
Wednesday 11.11.2026 18:30-20:00 Rotondes
Stefanie Posavec Designing with Data in a Post-Visualisation era. As data becomes increasingly easy to visualise, Stefanie Posavec asks what happens when designers stop treating it simply as something to turn into charts. For Posavec, data can become a material for participation, empathy, play, and shared experience. As designer, artist and author, London-based Posavec approaches data by transforming information into encounters that can create empathy, conversation, and shared meaning, moving between healthcare, museums, public art, and community engagement. Her handmade approach – developed through projects such as ‘Dear Data’ - reveals data as something personal and experiential rather than merely analytical.
Photos: Eric Oliveira/ Domestika 2022/ Steven Pocock / Stefanie Posavec
Designing with Data in a Post-Visualisation Era explores four ways of working with data beyond the chart: using it to invite participation, build meaning, foster empathy, and create connections. It is an invitation to rethink data not simply as information.
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Editorial & Brand Design Portrait: Emmanuelle Lubaki @yorgoandco / Photos: Yorgo
Wednesday 13.01.2027 18:30-20:00 Rotondes
Yorgo Logotheism. From ancient symbols and heraldic emblems to today's most recognisable brand marks, logotypes have always been a powerful way of communicating identity. French-Greek designer Yorgo Tloupas has spent his career exploring that language. His practice moves across visual identity, typography, editorial design, advertising, packaging, signage, books, and digital experiences, with branding at its centre. He has created identities for international brands and cultural institutions, while his work in magazines - from ‘Crash’ and ‘Les Inrockuptibles’ to ‘Vanity Fair France’ and ‘GQ France’ – has given him an equally deep understanding of visual communication in editorial culture. Logotheism traces the evolution of the logo and explores why a simple sign can become such a powerful expression of identity, culture, and meaning.
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Wednesday 24.02.2027 18:30-20:30 Café de la Place, 8 place du Parc, Bonnevoie
Identity: A Czech Graphic Design Love Story. As part of the extensive ‘Identity’ project, which celebrates more than a century of Czech graphic design, the film combines historical insight with humor. It explores the profound influence graphic design has had on Czech society and national identity. The Story: World-renowned auctioneer Nicholas Lowry travels from New York across the Czech Republic to explore the country’s identity through graphic design, art, culture, and traditions. He discovers the work of influential Czech artists and designers and meets contemporary creatives who continue to shape the field today. In a short interview, Design Friends caught up with producer Michal Gregorini to explore the creative journey behind the visual and narrative world of the film. DF: What surprised you most about Czech graphic design while making the film? MG: Whilst working on the ‘Identity’ project, we were surprised by many things, such as how few women were active in the field during the 20th century. Fortunately, this has changed, and today we have many brilliant female designers in the Czechia. DF: If you had to describe Czech graphic design in three adjectives what would they be? MG: Playful, intelligent and with an eye for detail. DF: Is there something you would call a specifically ‘Czech’ approach to graphic design? MG: I think it’s humour or irony. Czech designers aren’t afraid of these forms of expression and have managed to incorporate them into some serious projects as well. DF: Is there a Czech graphic design work you wish more people know about? MG: Czech type design is excellent, and yet it is not very well known around the world. I think there are few countries where, relative to the size of the population, as many people earn a living from type design as in the Czechia…
© 2026 Graphic: Identita / Poster: Libor Kleček (Mowshe)
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Screening
Light & Media Design Portrait: Olivier Rimbon Foeller
Wednesday 10.03.2027 18:30-20:00 Rotondes
Christopher Bauder Intersections of Light, Art, and Design. Light can reveal a space, transform it, disappear into it, or become the space itself. For Berlin-based artist and designer Christopher Bauder, light is not simply a medium of illumination but a material with which to shape movement, atmosphere, perception, and emotion. From monumental public installations such as ‘Lichtgrenze’ to performances and kinetic light works, Bauder has developed a practice at the intersection of light, objects, space, and sound. His work translates bits and bytes into physical experiences, turning technology into immersive environments that can be experienced collectively. Intersections of Light, Art, and Design explores what happens when light is treated simultaneously as material, technology, subject, and experience – and how these intersections can turn an empty space into something unforgettable.
Photos: Ralph Larmann
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Footwear Design
Wednesday 28.04.2027 18:30-20:00 Rotondes
Tracey Neuls Original, Timeless & Handcrafted. For Canadian footwear designer Tracey Neuls, a shoe is more than a fashion object. For twenty-five years, she has explored the relationship between the shoe, the body, and movement, using proportion, balance, and negative space to create a distinctive design language. Her design process begins with close observation and her inspiration often comes from the ordinary: a shadow, a curve, a material junction, or the way someone walks. These seemingly ordinary details lead to shoes that challenge familiar ideas of form while remaining closely connected to the experience of the wearer. Original, Timeless & Handcrafted is not as a chronological journey, but a reflection on how one way of seeing can evolve over time – and how the smallest observations can lead to an unmistakably personal design language.
Photos: © Tracey Neuls
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Illustration & Graphic Design
Wednesday 09.06.2027 18:30-20:00 Rotondes
Naíma Almeida Overlap, Overlap, Overlap. What happens when graphic design leaves the page and becomes physical? Brazilian visual artist Naíma Almeida works at the intersection of craft, design and digital art, using colour, geometry, and layering to transform graphic languages into three-dimensional worlds.
Photos: © Naíma Almeida
Overlap, Overlap, Overlap explores Almeida’s fascination with layering and interconnection, and how the same visual language can move freely between materials, disciplines, and dimensions.
Photo: leo Giantomasi
Inspired by real and imagined forms in nature, Almeida builds vibrant compositions through repetition, contrasting colours, and intricate layers. She moves seamlessly between radically different processes: from painstakingly assembling felt compositions by hand, piece by piece, to creating augmented-reality experiences and large-scale public installations.
s r a e y 18
Officially an adult. Unofficially changing Luxembourg for years. Some journeys deserve time. Since 2009, Design Friends has inspired creativity, connected designers and helped shape Luxembourg's design culture. We've been proud to stand alongside them from day one. PAPERJAM Proud partner since the beginning.
№ 271
Octobre 2026
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Unlocking Research Intelligence Research is valuable – but only if it can be used and reused efficiently. Our expert Sabeth Wiese explains how organizations can make better use of their insights through systematic knowledge management and AI-powered repositories. You work with research results and insights on a daily basis. What do you find particularly fascinating about this work? Sabeth Wiese: What I love about design is being immersed in new products and ways of life. As a business graduate, I’m interested in how decisions are made, and research helps with that. It’s great when our reports help clients make decisions and trigger ‘aha’ moments. What are the challenges of creating results that trigger these aha moments? Sabeth: An ‘aha’ moment doesn’t just mean finding insights interesting, but realizing: What can I do with this now? It’s about identifying opportunities and risks and planning the next step. How this happens depends on the research type and client needs. In UX testing, designers and product owners are usually present. A to-do list often forms in their minds during the test. As researchers, we verify or challenge those thoughts. It’s fast and solution-focused, fitting agile projects. However, overarching insights such as user life situations can fall by the wayside. Exploratory research like need segmentation is different: it’s about the bigger picture. We present complex insights in a clear way. That’s especially helpful for strategy and product development and easier to reuse across projects. 172 №
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What do teams need to work effectively with insights – whether they are using them for new projects or reusing them? Sabeth: Reports should be easy to grasp, with key insights and practical relevance. Appealing and “snackable” content sticks better, especially if it’s unusual or humorous. To enable reuse, insights should live in a repository that is both accessible and secure. Whether results are reused depends on many factors: people’s preference for new research, team structures, smart systems that surface existing data, incentives, and the ability to assess what’s still relevant. Let’s look at solutions: What can be done and what role does technology play? Sabeth: Start with a repository that can grow with the organization. Better to start small and expand step by step. AI provides a better interface for accessing data: faster, more pleasant, and more likely to be used. But it must be applied carefully because of data protection, biases, and cost matter. Beyond tech, you need strong culture, processes, incentives, and skills. If you collect data, also document the associated processes to identify best practices and optimize – keywords here are design and research ops. If we look at the challenges again: What should you pay attention to for the implementation to work? Sabeth: Three major hurdles: Out of perfectionism, no repository at all because the budget for the optimal solution is lacking – better to start small. A repository exists, but nobody uses it because it’s not integrated. Strengthen skills with workshops, increase visibility by celebrating successes, and find promoters.
Research & User Centricity Strategy & Service Design Project & Design Management
Communication & Brand Content & Quality UX & CX Design
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Sabeth Wiese Insights & Research Consultant at Sensity
A repository is used, but the data is out of date – dangerous with AI, which is often opaque. Our clients approach repositories very differently – there is no one perfect solution. We support improving data reuse.
“Strengthen skills with workshops, increase visibility by celebrating successes, and find promoters.” You mentioned earlier that there are psychological factors involved. Would a smart interface increase the fun factor of using existing data? Or is that wishful thinking? Sabeth: AI makes working with existing data more pleasant. Hardly any question is researched twice with the same focus, so old reports require careful reading. AI could access underlying data directly and tailor results more closely to my use case. Eureka moments come faster – and feel more rewarding. What advantages do you see when companies systematically collect data and make it accessible to everyone? Sabeth: Advantages exist on many levels. Efficiency increases, knowledge transfer between touchpoints improves, consistency grows, and the persuasiveness of a brand strengthens. Reusing data speeds things up – no need to conduct new interviews or studies first – and makes trends easier to identify. In the current climate, companies could save research costs or use freed-up budget to dive deeper into interesting areas. Used well, insights strengthen customer focus, raise innovation success, improve quality, and ultimately contribute to competitiveness.
Thank you! Design Friends thanks all Season 17 members and partners for their support. Partners binsfeld, CK Charles Kieffer Group, EGB Interior Design, PAPERJAM, Sensity. Gold Members Carolina Albrecht Lazo, Valerio D'Alimonte, Nina Bezirgani, Nadine Clemens, Koen Clostermans, Julie Conrad, Viktor Dick, Mauro Doro, Runa Egilsdottir, Claudia Eustergerling, Claire Flammang, Heike Fries, Franz d'Huart, Vera Heliodoro, Anne Kröger-Kieffer, Guido Kröger, Francoise Kuth, Elodie Lenoir, Steph Meyers, André Michaux, Michel Petit, Carlo Polfer, Hyder Razvi, Jean-Paul Reuland, David Rosner, Miriam Rosner, Daniel Sahr, Paul Schwebach, Olga Silva, Tom Simon, Martine Wagener, Patrick Wirtz, Anabel Witry. Corporate Members Bakform, Bureau Moderne, kaell architecte, Lycée des Arts et Métiers, Studio Polenta, Witry & Witry. Service Partners Imprimerie Schlimé, Fiscogest, Novotel. With the support of Ministère de la Culture. In collaboration with Rotondes.
If you love design, become a member! For the past 18 years, we have provided free access to all our lectures for everyone – whether they are a member or not. Keeping this program free and accessible is at the heart of our mission. However, this is only possible with the support of our members. Help us sustain the program: your membership directly contributes to the organisation of our events and the creation of our catalogues. It is a simple way to support the program you enjoy – at a very accessible price. Student Membership is available for €15, Standard for €30, and Gold for €100. In return to your support, you will receive six catalogues (personally signed by the speaker for Gold Members), free entry to the screening, and our sincere gratitude. Support the program and become a Design Friend: www.designfriends.lu/membership
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