We all know the usual events: marauding cliques of CEOs, Partners and senior managers chugging their champagne and hob-nobbing with their friends/arch-competitors across the industry whom they’ve known for years. Some of them probably studied together, perhaps even escape the city to neighbouring beachside boltholes on the weekends. The same people, the same networks, the same alcohol-fuelled careerism and the same opinions.

Indesign Social Club has been formed for different needs. We realised that Saturday Indesign, for example, was hitting the mark with younger designers only some of the time. So, we went back to find out what people really thought about the events scene in the design industry. Following a series of intensive research exercises — from the formal roundtable gathering to the anecdotal and off-the-record — we came to some exciting new conclusions. And we acted on it too: Indesign Social Club, as well as a revitalised Saturday Indesign, are some of the outcomes.

The focus is on hearing directly from younger, junior, ’emerging’ designers. More accurately, it’s about facilitating new encounters and conversations between them. We decided to create a platform where the usual barriers to access and exclusivity have been removed, leaving room for low-pressure discussions and new meetings.

The first session took place at Savage Design in Sydney. Moving to Melbourne, this second instalment featured a whole new guest list and was hosted by Reece at their impressive Cremorne showroom.

This Social Club gathering was set into motion with a talk by Nightingale Partnerships Manager and, this context, the less-than-appropriately named James Senior. He spoke to the dozens-strong audience about the Nightingale housing philosophy centring on community and the social dimensions of design.

The loose theme for the evening was housing — from the housing affordability crisis to more general ideas about what it means to live and work in the city today, and in the future. Following the Nightingale talk, attendees moved into breakout groups to discuss their own personal experiences of living and working in design in Melbourne as well as more theoretical questions about density and the power of architecture in addressing housing and climate crises.

Related: Travelling to Saturday Indesign with Cox’s Remy Chard

The Nightingale and Reece presence also allowed for an extra layer of understanding to take shape, as both the presentation and breakout groups considered the practicalities of making new housing ideas work at the level of fixtures, fitings and more. The designers in attendance were drawn from a wide range of practices, with Indesign Social Club on course to expand and welcome new attendees alongside regulars. Look out for an announcement about the next one!

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