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With Limitations Open Call

For our third show, Design Everything is extremely excited to share that we have been invited by Aram to curate a four-week-long exhibition in their gallery space, running from 11th September to 10th October, that will coincide with this year’s London Design Festival. This is likely to be the biggest showcasing of emerging designers’ work during the festival, and represents an exciting opportunity to showcase your work at a major central London design gallery.

Brief
Inspired by our growing UK-based community, the show, entitled ‘With Limitations’, invites visitors into the world of the contemporary, emerging designer by creating a fictitious flat inside the gallery space. This flat will be entirely populated with pieces made by emerging creatives (selected through this open call) which each embody a form of restriction in their conception or production. Shining a spotlight on how limitations – whether they relate to space, money, time or access to materials and equipment – influence and inspire design outcomes, and therefore tell a story of the current state of the industry we as emerging designers find ourselves entering.

We hope that this topic is a means by which you can communicate the lived realities of being an emerging designer, for instance having to use ad-hoc workshop spaces, inventively making use of limited materials and tools or see the potential in everyday objects for prototyping.

We aspire for the show to represent a broad cross-section of the design world, and therefore welcome applications from practitioners working in a wide range of materials and mediums. Aram gallery was conceived as a space to showcase ‘experimental and new design’ and, in a similar vein, we are also most interested in the works ability to communicate a sense of radicalism, responsiveness and resourcefulness, over it’s professionalism in execution.

To apply to have your piece included, please complete the application form here.

Application Notes
The application is open to all UK emerging designers (defined as being in the first 10 years of your design practice) regardless of your background or level of experience. We strongly welcome applications from underrepresented and disadvantaged communities, as well as those from current students. There is no application or participation fee, however, please note the following when applying:

• Applications close at 11.59pm on the 1st July, 2026.
  
• All selected pieces need to be delivered to Aram (110 Drury Lane, Covent Garden, London WC2B 5SG) on Friday 21st or Saturday 22nd August and collected by 24th October. Whilst we can aid in the facilitation of this, please note the ultimate responsibility for delivery and collection lies with the exhibitor.
  
• The exhibition’s concept necessitates that all objects can be used by members of the public. Please therefore only submit work that you are comfortable may take on wear. Design Everything or Aram will not be held responsible for damage or breakages of any kind that occur during the course of the show.
  
• You may submit multiple times but a maximum of two archetypes will be selected per designer. Joint-submissions are welcomed.
  
• The gallery space at Aram is non-commercial, and we are therefore not allowed to publicly promote the prices of objects. We will, however, make sure all of the designer’s contact details are clearly communicated for you to facilitate your own private enquiries.
  
• We welcome all forms of image submissions (for instance, CAD renders, models, photographs or detailed sketches). However, please note all ideas need to be fully resolved, e.g. specifying materials and finishes, with the submitted visual being extremely close to, if not identical to the delivered piece. Rough concept sketches cannot be accepted.
  
• The exhibition will showcase a wide variety of object archetypes (see list, below). We envisage receiving a higher number of submissions for the most common of these, and so to maximise your chances and to showcase the largest breadth of emerging talent, please consider all archetypes listed.

The judging will be completed by Design Everything alongside representatives from Aram, who have over sixty years of experience selecting designs for their store. We aim to notify all applicants of their outcome of their submission by the 24th July. Failure to comply with any of the above points will result in a rejected application.

If you have any questions about the brief or exhibition, please email designeverythinguk@gmail.com

Best of luck!

Live-Making
In addition to the open call we will select up to six participating designers to host live demonstrations during the week commencing 14th September, where visitors can see and engage with the designer’s process. This does not need to be the full production of the object but can demonstrate a specific part of the process.

If you are interested in taking part please complete all answers in this section of the application form. A £150 payment is available per day.

Object List
(This is not a comprehensive list, other archetypes are welcomed.)

FAQs

Is it only for UK designers?

Whilst the open call is open to anybody, regardless of whether you currently reside in the UK, the exhibition’s core aim is to showcase the realities of being an emerging designer in relation to the UK. 

If you’re an international applicant, please include a limitation in relation to the UK. This could be about travel, postage, customs, nationality or eligibility for funding etc. and how this influences your design outcome.

Can I make something that is not furniture?

Yes, we are accepting all types of objects and items related to the home which includes artworks, sculptures, ceramics, textiles, rugs and clothes. 

What if I’m not emerging?

Emerging is a hard thing to define but we generally say if you’re in your first 5 years of being full-time or  first 10 years of being part-time creating and promoting your own work, then we will consider your application. 

What do you mean by limitation?

We’re particularly interested in how the constraints of domestic spaces and everyday resources shape your design process. We’d love to hear how your living and working environment has influenced the piece you’ve created.

Specifically, we’re curious about:

• Where you’re working from – a bedroom, kitchen table, shared studio, or elsewhere
• The limitations you’re navigating – no workshop, a limited budget, basic tools, or a tight space
• How these have shaped your design – any creative workarounds, unexpected materials, or unconventional methods you’ve discovered along the way

We want to hear the stories behind each piece and the genuine realities of being an emerging designer who makes it work with whatever is close at hand.

Please read the brief conditions carefully and let us know if you have any more questions!