2026-27 DesignTO Youth Call for Submissions
DesignTO
Friday, September 4, 2026 11:59 PM
to 11:59 PM
Description
DesignTO, in partnership with JAYU, invites you to apply for our free program.
‘design is everything’ is the eighth edition of DesignTO Youth, a program that provides youth (ages 18-29) with access to creative disciplines and professionals. This year’s program explores the idea of design as a living practice rooted in curiosity, self-determination, and social responsibility.
Design is a way of seeing, thinking, and questioning to reshape the world around us. In practice, it is how we close the gap between the world as it is and the world as we believe it could be. This year’s program is built around the belief that if given the language, tools, and a cause, anyone can make more intentional choices around how they live, what they create, and who they become.
Guided by a dynamic roster of creative practitioners, participants will move through three phases of discovery:
- Foundation: Understanding what design is and how it operates in the world
- Application: What it is like to design with real communities and how to do that with care
- Design as a way of being: Exploring what it means to live and sustain a creative life on your own terms
The program will culminate in a showcase during the 2027 DesignTO Festival. Working together, participants will develop and present original design responses that are grounded in real relationships and lived experience.
All submissions are due Friday, September 4, 2026 by 11:59pm ET.
Register online