NORTHERN DESIGN FESTIVAL 2026
13-15TH MAY
KANTEENA, LANCASTER
Head on up to Kanteena for three full days of talks, workshops and networking events (and lots of good vibes). Everyone with a curiosity for creativity is welcome!
Our amazing lineup includes the likes of Claire Blyth, Emma Barratt, Bryan Edmonson, Sana Iqbal, Dan Mather and many many more!
This year's theme is HERITAGE.
Heritage is about where we come from and how that shapes what we create. It encompasses the skills, stories, and traditions passed down through generations, as well as the cultures and experiences that make each of us unique. Our backgrounds and journeys influence how we think, make, and share ideas, shaping who we are as creatives today. By keeping these connections alive, learning from the past while creating for the future, we celebrate what makes creativity truly our own.
What To Expect
TICKETS ARE LIVE! Join us for three days packed with inspiring panels, hands-on workshops, and unbeatable networking opportunities—all completely free!
Get your free festival ticket! →What's On
Northern Design Festival Registration
Let the excitement begin… join us from 1pm to grab your wristband and merch, and get ready for three jam-packed days of creativity, energy, and unforgettable fun!
TicketsMy Life In Design Live with Emma Barratt
Kicking off the festival, we have a live podcast ran by Red Setter's Managing Director Claire Blyth, who will be chatting with Emma Barratt, the Global Executive Creative Director of Wolff Olins.
TicketsF37, Letters of origin: How calligraphic heritage shapes modern type design decisions
F37 Type Designers Shaqa and Ryan explore how our heritage and background influence the choices we make as type designer; from letterforms to stylistic details—and how identity can be read in the shapes we create.
TicketsFoiling Masterclass: Foilco x F37 (Separate Tickets)
Kellogg's, Legacy in Motion: Designing the Future of Heritage Brands
As custodians of iconic brands, we inherit more than logos and colour palettes — we inherit values, rituals, memories, and cultural meaning. Mar's Senior Brand Design Manager Lisa Llewellyn explores how legacy brands like Kellogg’s and Pringles remain culturally relevant by staying in motion: evolving with families, food culture, and visual language. It highlights the tension between preserving what people love and designing for changing worlds — from health expectations to digital behaviours — and shows how heritage becomes a living asset, not a historical artefact.
Tickets"One thing led to another”, 30 years designed by SEA
What happens when you dig deeper? Seeking to be curious about the past. Heritage is not necessarily history - it is inspiration. Learning from the past means every designer needs a copy of Pioneers in Modern Typography or Thoughts on Design (Paul Rand) before you can go out and seek your own path in our diverse industry. Bryan Edmonson, Founder and Creative Director of SEA, will be discussing this year's theme of Heritage and how the past has informed the work of SEA as they celebrate 30 years with a few stories.
TicketsOpening Night
Join us for a night full of creativity, fun and good laughs to open the third edition of the Northern Design Festival! The graphic design team from the University of Cumbria will also be hosting a letterpress workshop- time to get inky and crafty!
TicketsCreative Co-Working
Want to join us at NDF but still have work to finish? Head upstairs to our coworking space—perfect for getting things done in a relaxed setting (with a bar, of course 😉).
TicketsThe Breakfast Club
Come along in the morning before the brilliant events of Day 2 begin for coffee, chats and laughs with the NDF team!
TicketsScreen Printing Masterclass "Process & Place", Dan Mather (Separate Tickets)
Join Designer and Printmaker Dan Mather to experience an exciting hands-on process of screenprinting your own A3 poster! Each participant will leave with their own unique print. This energetic workshop explores our creative processes and the places we come from. Participants will experiment with bold graphics, layered inks and simple typographic forms to create their own screenprinted posters. Along the way, the session celebrates the connection between heritage, making and design. No experience required — just come ready to get inky and make something.
TicketsPassing Down (and Breaking) the Rules of Running a Studio
Creativity as a business is rarely discussed. You’re expected to get the degree go into an agency and maybe start your own thing. But no-one talks about the ways you can make money as a creative person. This panel discussion, hosted by Mel Yates of Trumpet Creative, looks to explore why this might be the case, as offer solutions for those who are in the business of creativity. Breaking the hush hush heritage of running your own studio and being real, raw and honest with what goes into it. Panellists: Mel Yates (Founder and Creative Director of Trumpet Creative); Tom Crompton (Founder of The3Key); Kate Bermingham (Business Development Director, Into the Light); David O'Hearns (Managing Director, Dawn); Khadija Kapacee (Founder and Managing Director, EDIT)
TicketsPeople Powered Press: "People, Power and Print" Adventures in Giant Letterpress
An attempt to create a ‘northern typeface’ that quickly grew into something much bigger- spanning a giant People Powered Press, a community non-profit, large-scale street murals, and even a few D&AD pencils. Oli Bentley (Split / People Powered Press) shares the story of scaling letterpress in his practice, and the unexpected consequences along the way.
TicketsReclaiming Stories, Redefining Heritage
Heritage is the preservation of craft, tradition and history, but how do we select what's worth celebrating and what's assigned to the history books? In this panel we'll explore the untold stories of communities and how design can bring them to light. We'll question Euro-centric design heritage in a global society, and how we can use creativity to unearth hidden stories. We'll discuss how heritage is being weaponised by the far-right, and how community-driven campaigns can create common values. Panelists: Sana Iqbal (Creative Director and Strategist, Studio Sana); Jane Bowyer (Designer and Director, A Studio Called Jane); Halah and Heidi El-Kholy (Creatives, Salt and Sister Studio); Eliza Williams (Editor, Creative Review)
TicketsBaxter and Bailey: The Design Laundry
The Design Laundry is a place where creative mistakes, mishaps and downright disasters are aired and shared. Matt Baxter and Dom Bailey, the Founders of Baxter & Bailey, have collected 100s of stories from creative practitioners all over the world. They will be unloading them in the Design Laundry, to see how past mistakes can influence future success.
TicketsBOOM BOX! Karaoke with Creative Boom
Join us for a night of karaoke and chat to end the brilliant day 2! Katy Cowan, Founder and Editor of Creative Boom, will be hosting BOOM BOX karaoke- be there or be square!
TicketsCreative Co-Working
Want to join us at NDF but still have work to finish? Head upstairs to our coworking space—perfect for getting things done in a relaxed setting (with a bar, of course 😉).
TicketsThe First Diamond Designer: How our heritage shapes the future
Darren Evans, Founder of The Engine Room, reflects on the journey every designer carries—one that took years for him to fully understand. In this talk, he traces that path through his work, the pivots along the way, and a slow but liberating realisation: learning to love the problem more than the solution. A simple idea—one that took a career to truly grasp.
TicketsStep One with Short Supply
Step One is built around a simple prompt: what’s an idea you’ve always wanted to try, but haven’t yet? The format is designed to open up honest conversation around creative ambition, hesitation and action. Mollie and Rebekah from Short Supply will be hosting this workshop on Day 3!
TicketsLetterpress Printing Masterclass: Split & the People Powered Press
Come and make a free letterpress print to take away with the team from Split and the People Powered Press, using a traditional proofing press and heritage woodtype.
TicketsCreative Coworking
Want to join us at NDF but still have work to finish? Head upstairs to our coworking space—perfect for getting things done in a relaxed setting (with a bar, of course 😉).
TicketsAll-Day Art Fair
Join us on day 3 to celebrate all things art and design, with our own Art Fair with local independent artists!
TicketsThe Festival in Your Words
“As a self taught designer, struggling to find community was a big barrier - NDF provided a non judgmental space to both meet other visiting designers and hear their perspective, whilst also providing space to experiment and learn about the craft itself”
- Anonymous
"This was a fantastic initiative by these young folk and just the right sort of energy we need up here in the North. As a Preston based creative studio we often travel to Manchester and London for larger events so having another creative pull to add to our pot here in Lancashire is surly a good thing."
- Andy Walmsley - Founder & Creative Director, Wash Studio
"Being a post-grad from a London-based uni, I didn’t know other designers who lived up north and related to the struggles creatives face here. Also, I wanted to work on more collaborative live projects. 5 months later, I have achieved tenfold my original goals by having a stronger sense of community and working on fun stuff collaboratively thanks to NDF."
- Anonymous