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What is the BDI?
The BDI (Birmingham Design Initiative) is made up of 22 professionals from the business, education and design related sectors. Their goal is to raise awareness of the importance and value of outstanding environmental / product design in the West Midlands. This is the 10th time the BDI Awards have been held since 1989, and commemorative plaques dating back more than a decade still take pride of place in design practices across the region.

Why ‘Industry & Genius?’
For the second time running, the BDI has teamed up with Birmingham City Council to promote industry and genius recognising the collaborations between local industry and the home grown geniuses who provide the design inspiration.

Evidence of such collaborations are abundant, from the design and build of new architecture and public art within the city, to the conceptualisation of bespoke instruments for use within the dental industry, as well as innovative use of technology within digital design that inspires new products and services.

The overall Industry & Genius collaborative award - first introduced in the 2005 awards programme – is expected to once again be fiercely contested. This award is specifically aimed at recognising the teamwork and achievements of Birmingham-based designers working with manufacturers and other industry sectors located within the region.

To reflect the region’s ever changing design industry, new categories have been included in the 2007 Awards for the first time, being Luxury Products, Industrial Design and Digital Design.

The Awards
There are 12 award categories spanning Places and Products. The outright winner of each category will receive a commemorative plaque at the November awards ceremony, and two overall winners from the Places & Product category groups, as well as the winner of the collaborative Industry & Genius Award, will be rewarded with the main prizes for the evening.