The Sixth

Charlottesville Design Week

April 8–11, 2025

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

About the CDW

The Charlottesville Design Week is completely volunteer-led and has two simple goals:

  1. Develop a strong design community in central Virginia

  2. Convince the general public that good design is worth a damn

Whether you push pixels, press ink, set type, build environments, or do anything else design-related, you will feel right at home during our growing festival.

Schedule

Tuesday

Opening Event with Paula Scher

6:00PM at Irving Theater

FREE

Kick off the festivities with a special version of Tuesday Design Society's weekly meetup. Paula Scher, one of the world's best designers, is calling in to share her process and answer your questions. A mixer will follow.

Wednesday

Design Marathon

8:30AM–4:30PM at Vault Virginia

FREE

Donate a day of your creative juices to On Our Own, a local non-profit. Participants form several “agencies-for-a-day,” working with a variety of designers, copywriters, and developers to satisfy the beneficiary's brief.

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Marathon Showcase

6:00PM at Vault Virginia

FREE

See the Design Marathon agencies present their work to the non-profit. It's like the best scenes from Mad Men, but live and in person. Not to mention, the selected design will be put to use by the non-profit for years to come.

Thursday

Workshops

9:30AM–5:00PM at multiple venues

$30 each, one included with Forum ticket

Learn a thing or two! We have workshops covering furniture design, motion graphics, creative coding, UX design, and more.

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Open Houses

9:00AM–5:00PM at multiple venues

FREE

A showcase of multiple local design firms opening their doors for attendees to experience their work environments, learn about their projects, and network with fellow design professionals.

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B.Y.O.D. Mixer

6:00PM at Journey Group

FREE

Bring a design (or your portfolio), meet other designers, and mingle in this cross between a mixer and a portfolio review.

Friday

The Forum

9:00AM–4:30PM at Irving Theater

$150

A day-long conference featuring national and international design leaders, examining a cross section of design practices, from industrial design to UX and from motion to branding. Forum tickets include one free workshop ticket.

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Closing Party

5:30–7:30PM at Guajiros Miami Eatery

FREE

Mix and mingle with speakers from the Forum and fellow attendees.

Venues

Vault Virginia

Vault Virginia

300 E Main St

Longtime home of the Charlottesville Design Week and the weekly Tuesday Design Society, Vault Virginia’s elegant and thoughtful design is ideal for individual workers, small businesses, and events of all sizes.

Irving Theater

Irving Theater

225 W Water St

The Irving Theater is a 200 seat, state-of-the-art event space located in the CODE building. The theater is equipped with a 16’ x 9’ backlit LED display, phenomenal for viewing design work.

Virginia Center of the Book

Virginia Center of the Book

233 4th St NW

Boasting the largest publicly available collection of moveable lead and wood type in the state, the Virginia Center of the Book offers courses and workshops on bookbinding, block carving, letterpress printing, and more.

Guajiros Miami Eatery

Guajiros Miami Eatery

114 10th Street NW

Inspired by the flavors of South Florida, Central America, and the food we grew up eating, Guajiros brings the tastes of Miami to Charlottesville.

Journey Group

Journey Group

418 4th St NE

Journey Group is a design partner to the world’s greatest institutions. Their studios have been telling stories rooted in community and craft since 1992, with studios dedicated to brand, web, editorial, and applications.

Infinite Repeats

1740 Broadway St

Infinite Repeats is a print shop based in Charlottesville Virginia, next to Visible Records in the Woolen Mills area, offering silkscreen, etching, and risograph printing.

The Doyle

The Doyle

499 W Main St

Take in breathtaking views of Charlottesville's downtown and the iconic Blue Ridge Mountains from The Doyle's rooftop bar.

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