Application Deadline
Rolling deadline, with final applications due September 4, 2026 at 11:59pm ET. Apply now.

DesignTO Youth
‘design is everything’

‘design is everything’ is the eighth edition of DesignTO Youth,

a program that provides youth (ages 18-29) with access to creative disciplines and professionals. This year’s program explores the idea of design as a living practice rooted in curiosity, self-determination, and social responsibility.

Design is a way of seeing, thinking, and questioning to reshape the world around us. In practice, it is how we close the gap between the world as it is and the world as we believe it could be. This year’s program is built around the belief that if given the language, tools, and a cause, anyone can make more intentional choices around how they live, what they create, and who they become. Guided by a dynamic roster of creative practitioners, participants will move through three phases of discovery:

• Foundation: Understanding what design is and how it operates in the world.
• Application: What it is like to design with real communities and how to do that with care.
• Design as a way of being: Exploring what it means to live and sustain a creative life on your own terms.

Program Breakdown

Module 1: design is everything

Our first module will move beyond aesthetics to consider design as a way of thinking. We will explore how big thinkers across disciplines have used design to change the world.

Module 2: design is a different question? 

Designers possess the ability to reframe contexts. They look at situations critically, assessing opportunities and test-fitting solutions. This discussion will explore how designers work within real, imperfect conditions rather than idealized ones, and how constraints can be generative.

Module 3: design is an act of care

Design is most powerful when it is in service to something larger than itself. This week explores the relationship between making, culture, and community, and what it looks like to build a practice around public engagement, collaboration, and collective work.

Module 4: design is for everybody  

Meaningful solutions to life’s complexities often come from those who are most directly impacted by them. For this week, our speaker will expand on the ethical considerations that should arise when designers work with, and not just for, communities.

Module 5: design is for you

Through the stories of practitioners who built their own paths (self-taught, self-directed, and community-driven), participants will learn that you do not need institutional validation to begin thinking and working like a designer. The focus will be on agency, resourcefulness, and a reminder that you do not need permission to begin.

Module 6: design is worldbuilding

The program closes by turning the design lens inward. This week explores what it means to hold multiple creative identities: artist, designer, maker, entrepreneur, and how to build a life that has room for all of them.

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The program will culminate in a showcase during the 2027 DesignTO Festival. Working together, participants will develop and present original design responses that are grounded in real relationships and lived experience.

DesignTO, in partnership with JAYU, invites you to apply for our FREE program.

Showcase Opportunity

Participants in the ‘design is everything’ program are invited to apply to develop presentations (individually or in groups) for a public showcase featured as part of the DesignTO Festival, January 22 – 31, 2027. This showcase will be held in Toronto.

NOTE: Participation in the youth program does not guarantee you a spot in the showcase. Only a selection of showcase applicants will be selected. All youth in the program are invited and encouraged to apply.

Program Details

We invite applications from youth artists, designers, and creatives aged 18 to 29 working in all mediums and formats. No prior experience is necessary.

6 workshop sessions will take place on Tuesdays: September 29, October 6, 13, 20, 27, and November 3, 2026 from 5:30-7:30pm. They are 2 hours each week. Online.

Participants selected for the showcase will continue to attend additional meetings through November and December to develop their presentations, and present at the one-day event in January 2027.

Eligibility:

• No prior art or design experience is necessary.
• Must be between the ages of 18-29 at the time of application.
• Must be a resident of Ontario.
• Must self-identify as a member of an equity-seeking group.
• Must commit to attending each online session for the full 2 hours each week. There are 6 sessions total on Tuesdays from September 29 to November 3.

Benefits: 

• 6 online sessions with fantastic guest artists and designers.
• Meet new people in an accessible, inclusive online environment.
• Get access to apply for paid opportunities, including being hired with JAYU as a junior mentor for future iAM workshops and added to their artist roster upon completion of the program.
• Get access to an opportunity to apply to participate in a one-day showcase during the DesignTO Festival in January 2027.

All submissions should include the following:

• Your contact info (name, email, phone number, mailing address), and website URL (if available); and
• Why you’re interested in participating in this residency program (required, max. 150 words)

Deadlines

All submissions are due Friday, September 4, 2026 by 11:59pm ET.

NOTE: Your application does not confirm your spot in the program. Applicants will be admitted on a first-come-first-serve basis. There is a limited number of spots available so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible. All successful applicants will receive an email confirmation accepting them into the program.