Young Design Generation
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Since its second edition Lisbon Design Week invites emerging designers and creatives to submit their work for the opportunity to participate in a curated group exhibition celebrating the creativity and diversity of Portugal's Young Design Generation. Since 2026, this project is done in partnership with MUDE-Museu do Design.
The graphic identity for this edition of Young Design Generation aims to anticipate the spirit of the exhibition through a visual language that suggests diversity and experimentation. The different layers present in the exhibition are translated in an abstract way, evoking questioning and encouraging exploration.
Based on the exhibited pieces, a custom typography is developed to create variations of the initials YDG. The letterforms incorporate subtle references to the objects without representing them directly. This system generates multiple graphic possibilities, adaptable to various formats such as posters, billboards, and social media.
The vector drawing of the letters refers to a project‑based logic, close to technical drawing, evoking the design process behind the pieces.
Participation has now closed. Thank you for all the great submissions. The names of our finalists are now revealed below!
Anita Cen
Baptiste da Silva
Beatriz dos Anjos + Madalena Barros
Bernardo Fernandes
Bruno Dray
Carolina Hermenegildo
Carolina Moreira
Daniel Elkayam
Daniel Sampaio
Gil Monteverde
Inês Santos
José Vieira + Tomás Cruz
Mariana Silva + Margarida Silva + Mariana Gouveia + Afonso Quintela
Íris Ribeiro
Marta Braga + Constança Gonçalves
Marta Magalhães
Moisés Oliveira
Pedro Matos + Mariana Esteves + Bernard Gerber
Sunniva Toppe Tolaas
Tiago Canário
The Lisbon Design Week (LDW), in partnership with MUDE — Museu do Design and with the support of novobanco, announces the call for entries for the 3rd edition of the Young Design Generation (YDG) exhibition, to be held at MUDE — Museu do Design, Rua Augusta 24, 1100-053 Lisbon, from May 27 to July 27, 2026.
YDG is an initiative dedicated to promoting critical reflection on emerging design practices in Portugal, spotlighting young designers whose work actively contributes to transforming the discipline through new ideas, innovative processes, experimental approaches, and critical engagement with contemporary issues.
The exhibition is co-produced by Lisbon Design Week and MUDE — Museu do Design, with the support of novobanco. It is part of Lisbon Design Week programme and is open to a wide and diverse audience that attends Lisbon’s major cultural events during the last week of May, notably ARCOlisboa and Creativity Week (CCP). The exhibition brings together students, creatives, designers, industry professionals, collectors, national and international specialist press, as well as key figures from the fields of art, craft, design, and architecture.
The authors of the selected works will be invited to guided tours, events, and editorial activities at Lisbon Design Week, offering a clear platform for visibility, learning, and professional growth within the creative ecosystem.
For this edition, the jury will select 20 works to form the YDG 2026 Capsule Collection, which will be presented in an exhibition at the museum. One of the pieces will be proposed by the jury for incorporation into MUDE — Museu do Design as part of the museum's strategy to increase the representation of contemporary creation and the work of new generations in its Collection. Additionally, one designer will be invited to join a mentorship programme coordinated by members of the Lisbon Design Week Advisory Board, as a pilot initiative focused on the professional guidance and development of emerging designers.
YDG 2026 boosts reflection on the role of design and designers in shaping relationships, contrasts, and forms of coexistence in the contemporary world — a territory where identities, materials, technologies, and ideas meet, overlap, and transform.
The exhibition aims to gather contributions from young designers based on their individual and collective experiences, dynamic tension between tradition and innovation, integrating them into a collective narrative that reveals the diversity of approaches, languages, and critical perspectives of Portugal's new generation of designers — a country historically shaped by encounters, circulation, and exchange among people, cultures, and artefacts.
Opening Lisbon Design Week and MUDE - Design Museum to young designers invites emerging voices to join the conversation on key themes in contemporary international design, including:
Submissions are accepted for works that embody transversal concepts related to these key themes and bring new perspectives, whether experimental or applied, individual or collaborative, material or conceptual.
Works may take the form of a product, components, objects, communication media, still and motion images: including one-off pieces, products, or high-fidelity (HI-FI) prototypes, presented at full scale.
Please note that the proposals must be finalized prototypes, not products ready for production, and not cardboard prototypes.
The Open Call is open to young creatives and students in the artistic and creative sectors, of Portuguese nationality or residents in Portugal, applying individually or as a team. Participants must be under 35 years old at the time of submission (March 10, 2026).
The selection process takes place in two phases:
First Phase
Selection of the shortlist (up to 50 works), based on all the Participation Forms submitted by March 10, 2026.
Second stage
Selection of the 20 works to be included in the exhibition, based on additional digital and/or physical documentation submitted by April 10, 2026.
Director and Programmer at MUDE – Museum of Design. PhD in Architecture (IST-UL) and Adjunct Associate Professor at Instituto Superior Técnico.
Communications and Brand Director at novobanco, responsible for the novobanco cultura strategy, with a background in economic journalism and corporate communications.
President of the Research and Studies Centre in Fine Arts (CIEBA), PhD in Design (Polimi), Associate Professor at FBAUL, and Design thinking, Researcher.
Member of LDW Advisory Board, internationally renowned designer, founder of Sam Baron & Co, based in Lisbon, recipient of “Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres”.
Member of the LDW Advisory Board, designer and architect responsible for integrating, coordinating, and expanding the design area at Aires Mateus e Associados.
Member of the LDW Advisory Board, leading designer in the Portuguese and international design culture, founder of Proto Design, Experimenta Design, In’nova, and Branca Lisboa.
Partner and designer at MarakaBranka studio in Monção, with work spanning illustration, graphic design, and motion design.
Proposals will be evaluated transparently and equitably according to:
Assesses the extent to which the work addresses key contemporary issues, considering social, cultural, environmental, and technological contexts, with special attention to Portugal. It will consider the work relevance, the clarity of the critical position, and its contribution to the exhibition's collective narrative.
Evaluates integration of design processes, affordance, conceptual strength, and quality of project thinking and methodology. Projects that cross disciplines, explore hybrid processes, and demonstrate informed and conscious design approaches are valued.
Assesses the extent to which the work demonstrates forward-thinking vision, responsible innovation, and alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Also evaluates execution quality, precision, attention to detail, and ability to translate ideas into concrete solutions, even in experimental or speculative contexts.
Intellectual property rights remain with the authors. By participating, authors grant Lisbon Design Week, MUDE — Museu do Design, novobanco, and partner institutions permission to exhibit, communicate, and promote the works within the framework of the Young Design Generation exhibition across various platforms and media, with clear and prominent author attribution.
By submitting a work, authors declare under honour that it is original and that they hold all necessary rights over the elements presented. Any identification of plagiarism or infringement of intellectual property rights will result in exclusion.
The invitation for inclusion of works in the MUDE permanent collection and participation in the LDW Advisory Board mentoring program will be subject to specific conditions and will be formalised by agreement between the parties involved.
Adonis Evangelista
Ana Carolina
Beatriz Brandão
Diogo Couto
Ebrahim Elmoly
Fábio Teixeira
Inês Ayer
Inês Freitas & Miguel Duarte
Isabella Perillo
João Leão
Joaquim Januário
Laura Cipriano
Lia Raquel Marques
MACHEIA – Iany Gayo, Lucrezia Papillo
Maria Arsénio
Mara Soares
Marta Krippahl
MASSLAB – Matteo Stefanuto
Riddhi Varma
Ruben Silva
Alessa Dresel, Sebastian Krimmer
Ana Rita Pires
Elena Sofia Calabrò, Charles Cossement
Emma Hall
Fábio Teixeira
Guilherme Giantini
MACHEIA – Iany Gayo, Lucrezia Papillo
Íris Ribeiro
Joana Teixeira
Luisa Hentsch
Lucas Gioux
Melanie Abrantes
Maria Carnall
Mariana Ralo
Mónica Oliveira
Rodrigo Duarte
Rosana Sousa
Sofia De=Francesco
