IDS Toronto brings people together to experience the power of design. IDS Toronto is Canada’s largest design show bringing together the industry’s foremost minds and luminaries. Our Conference symposium is a unique opportunity to bring your case studies, teachings, predictions and never-before-seen approaches to an engaged audience of creative professionals looking to learn, source and be inspired.
Transformative change for both people and the planet is occurring at a rapid pace right now. More than ever, design thinking and insightful expertise is needed to push new realities forward by reimagining and reforming how we live, work, and create. IDS Toronto 2023 takes place January 19 – 22, 2023 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
The IDS conference and keynote program examines design through a broad, multidisciplinary lens. From the future of work and home to the impacts of AI, sustainable innovations, new social structures, and of course, unprecedented world shifts such as COVID-19. Our mandate is to explore design solutions to the most pressing issues of our time.
Critical Topic themes explored at the IDS Conference this year are:
Building the Design Business:
Topics to range from how to build a brand; how to get work published; succession planning; best social media practices; introducing design as a profession to the next generation; the value of good design; managing client expectations; supply chain solutions.
Climate Change & Social Responsibility:
Sessions to touch upon the circular economy; life-centric design practices; proactive climate-resiliency; deconstruction; designing for mental health and wellness; addressing urban bias; inclusivity and sharing resources with emerging designers; making space for grassroots.
Innovation and Technology Trends:
Technology as a sustainable solution; AI/Automation (robotics); AR and VR (the future of visualization); the creation of healthy, tech-driven architecture and interiors; affordable housing; trends in innovation.
Big Ideas:
Carbon-neutral buildings; co-living; post-pandemic office culture; design-driven and context-appropriate condo developments; co-creation (next level collaboration); democratization of collectible design; re-defining ‘good design’; and the 15-minute city (a broader model).