Optimo is the innovation centre for the textile, carpentry and furniture sector.

Each year, it organises an exhibition entitled Portfolio in which graduation projects from Flemish design academies are put on display and compete for prizes.

This year’s ninth edition will be held in the Drisag showroom in Herentals.

You can discover work by freshest young designers during the opening and awards ceremony for Portfolio 2011 on Thursday 24 November.

Twelve design programmes from nine different academies entered work for Portfolio 2011. Of these, an advisory board made up of representatives from various sectors selected 41 to take part in the exhibition and competition.

This intention of the initiative is twofold: to provide the commercial sector with an overview of talented, newly graduated designers and to give these designers an opportunity to present themselves and their graduation projects to a commercial audience. Through this, Portfolio has grown into a meeting platform for these two groups, resulting in offers for career opportunities and direct negotiations for the production and commercial launch of particular designs.

Portfolio 2011 is open to all Flemish design programmes, including the Dutch-language programmes in Brussels. The following programmes are represented at Portfolio 2011: product development, product design, industrial design, interior architecture, interior design, furniture design and textile design.

Only students graduating in the academic year 2010-2011 may take part.

In addition to awards of € 750, which are provided by the main sponsors, a first prize of € 1500 is also provided by Optimo.  

PROGRAMME 24 NOVEMBER

In addition to the awards ceremony, the evening will include an interesting programme on the theme ‘Working on/in the office of the future’:

- a tour of the production department of Drisag and the Frame21 building;
- a talk by Michel Mooij of Workspace, entitled ‘The office of the future’;
- the vision of architectural firm B-architecten, by Dirk Engelen of B-architecten;
- opening and awards for Portfolio 2011.  

You will find more information about Portfolio 2011 at www.optimo.be/portfolio.