BURGEONING designers have taken central stage at a special exhibition showcasing some of the region’s top creative talent.

Lighting, jewellery, soft furnishings and print went on sale to the public at this year’s Design Mart at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art.

A three-day selling show kicked-off Design Event, the North East’s biggest design festival, which celebrates product, graphics, illustration and architecture.

Event organisers commissioned eight designers based in the North of England to develop a new product or range of products using new materials or processes.

The participating designers include Ayme Fitzgerald, Neil Conley, Nous Vous, Claire Baker, Wonderstuff Studio, David Irwin, Reluctant Hero and The Cloud Commission.

The resulting products are available to buy at the Baltic exhibition throughout the weekend.

Altogether 22 handpicked designers showcased their innovative products at the mart.

Art lovers flocked to see the first day of the event yesterday, which included a gravity-defying melted-look fish bowl, giant chain jewellery, a book shelf in the style of a tree branch, and Byker inspired mugs.

Design Event acting director Kala Preston said: “We are thrilled with the success of this year’s festival, the sheer volume of public support we have seen at all of this year’s events so far has been overwhelming.

“It just goes to show how important design and culture is to our region, and how proud we are of the home-grown talent we have right here.”

Visitors to the gallery yesterday were particularly fascinated with the interactive Noma Bar exhibition, where they were able to use Noma’s striking print machine, specially crafted in the shape of a giant black dog, to create and take home their own colourful Noma Bar print designs.

The event has extended its representation of talent by selecting designers from across the whole of the North of England. It also now offers its first online shopping experience, www.britishbydesign.org, and showcases a new exclusive exhibition Design Event Presents.

A preview evening was also held in which four awards were presented. The winners were David Irwin, for the Best Interior Product for his Mining Lamp, Tatsuya Akita, for the Best Retail Product for his desk accessory range and again with the same range in the category of Most Forward Thinking Product, and Hannah Wales took the award for Most Innovative use of Material for her Sili Mugs.

Further festival events are still going on in and around Newcastle and Gateshead. For information on where to go, see www.design-event.co.uk