Design Ústí Festival is a two-week celebration of contemporary design that undeniably contributes to a better quality of life for all of us. The festival’s main aim is to present current topics resonating in the design world through lectures, workshops, and panel discussions, and to highlight the important role of the creative industries in the Ústí region and its surroundings. Although the Ústí Region has long been structurally affected, its character has traditionally been shaped and developed through design and creative industries, which continue to seek new opportunities through innovative technologies.

The festival also includes an exhibition titled The Garden of Virtues and Vices, which features designers connected to the Faculty of Art and Design at Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem and to the city of Ústí nad Labem.

What paths can we take to make design as accessible as possible to a broad range of people with diverse needs? In addition to the topic of universal design, the inaugural edition of Design Ústí will open discussions on how to apply design thinking in everyday practice using creative techniques for developing new products and services. It will also explore how design can be exhibited, protected, and defended through intellectual property rights. The program will include an evening talk show featuring influential designers active in Ústí nad Labem, and the presentation of inspiring projects and initiatives behind the transformation of the Ústí region, in collaboration with the Innovation Center of the Ústí Region (ICUK).

The exhibition of contemporary design, The Garden of Virtues and Vices, presents students, graduates, and designers connected to the Faculty of Art and Design at Jan Evangelista Purkyně University and to the city of Ústí nad Labem. The gallery space of the House of Arts in Ústí nad Labem has been transformed into a vibrant and colorful garden, full of diverse approaches to design, which may provoke a range of questions in each visitor. Can we clearly define the boundary between art and design? To what extent does gallery architecture influence the presentation of design? And what exactly is a virtue—and what is a vice?

The exhibition opens up several pressing topics. The role of emotion and, in particular, human desire—still often considered taboo—is explored in the work of Anna Marešová, Michaela Spružinová, Lukáš Franz, and Design Studio Llev. In recent years, design for people with special needs has gained importance in society—a field addressed by Petra Kmošťáková, Filip Krampla, and Věra Vystrčilová. At the center of the space stands a site-specific installation titled Metamorphoses of Development by students from FUD UJEP, which emphasizes interdisciplinarity, collaboration, and mutual inspiration. Other exhibited works reflect current trends in various sectors.

The Design Ústí Festival is the result of an intensive process of finding ways to bring the world of design closer to the general public in the Ústí region. For two weeks, the House of Arts in Ústí nad Labem will become an experimental environment enabling interaction between representatives of creative industries, prominent designers, and local residents from the region.