DAFES | Design, Art, Fashion, Education & Startups

OPEN CALL: Design-Marketing
DAFES invites students and professionals working in the advertising sphere to participate in the competition! This nomination evaluates creative projects in the following sub-categories:
- TV & Internet video ads;
- Outdoor and indoor ads, print ads;
- Internet banners and posts;
- Brand communication experiences and promotional activities;
- Special projects and branded content.

Requirements:
- Open to all genders, ages, nationalities, or professional levels.
- Both concepts and projects that have been implemented or published between November 1, 2023, and October 12, 2025, are accepted.

Timeline:
Submission deadline: October 12
Voting process: October 13-19
The award ceremony: November 8

Don’t wait until the last minute, apply today via the link!

DAFES AWARDS is an international competition that celebrates creative achievements and supports professional growth in design, art, fashion, education, and startups.

#DAFESAWARDS

Felice Casorati: The Father of Magical Realism

Felice Casorati (1883–1963) is one of Italy’s most influential 20th-century artists and a key figure in Italy’s “Return to Order” movement*, combining Realism with a neo-Renaissance composure.

Casorati’s distinctive style drew inspiration from the Symbolist tradition, the refined elegance of the "Viennese Secession" (particularly the works of Klimt and Kokoschka), and Cézanne’s art.
His artworks, with their geometric elegance, flattened perspectives, and the cold serenity of dreamlike poses, helped define the unique Italian movement of Magical Realism — where everything appears almost too real, to the point of becoming supernatural.

Beyond painting, Casorati was also a sculptor, architect, stage designer, and a dedicated explorer of applied arts.

*An artistic movement that emerged after World War I, as a reaction against avant-garde movements (especially Futurism).

#DAFESLearning

Not Only Behance: Where To Find Inspiration?
If you're looking to go beyond trend-driven inspiration and dive into thoughtful, well-curated design references, these four platforms are for you. Each offers a unique perspective — from typography to web design — and supports your growth as a creative professional.
1. Deziiign.com
2. Another Graphic
3. Typewolf
4. Deck.Gallery

Save this list, and let your next idea be guided by design that truly matters!

#DAFESInspo

AI Chef
Kitchen Cosmo redefines smart cooking, shifting from automation to creative collaboration between a human and AI technologies. Powered by GPT-4o, it generates recipes shaped by the dietary needs, cooking time, and — most importantly — available ingredients, by scanning them via webcam.
There's another interesting feature: the ‘Cooking Mood’ dial, which offers settings like 'Nostalgic', 'Spectacle', and 'Surreal', infusing dishes with emotional nuance and transforming AI into a partner in interpretation and play.

Kitchen Cosmo's design follows the current retro nostalgia trend — inspired by the legendary 1969 Honeywell Kitchen Computer, Cosmo has a red retrofuturistic shell, and is completely screenless and voice-free, designed for a tactile cooking experience.

#DAFESNewsDigest

WEEKEND WATCH: "Bauhaus: The Face of the 20th Century" by Julia Cave (1994)

How did a small, radical German art school change the visual language of the entire century?

Bauhaus was more than a school — it was a revolution in thinking, designing, and living.
This documentary invites us to rediscover the spirit of Bauhaus through rare archival footage, engaging interviews with former students and faculty, and commentary from contemporary experts.
You’ll hear firsthand how this movement broke with academic tradition, united craft and fine art, and laid the groundwork for the modern disciplines we now call graphic design, product design, architecture, and media art.

For students and professionals working across design, contemporary art, education, and digital culture, this film is essential viewing — a lesson in how visionary ideas can shape generations.

#WeekendRecommendation

WEEK NEWS DIGEST
News from the worlds of design, art, and heritage

1. Downton Abbey Auction
Bonhams Auction House announced a unique event — “Downton Abbey: The Auction”, offering iconic props and costumes from the beloved series! A free exhibition will run in London from 18 August to 16 September. Which piece of the Crawleys’ world would you take home?

2. Photoshop gets smarter
The new “Harmonize” feature in Photoshop beta uses Adobe Firefly AI to automatically match the lighting, shadows, and color of an object to any background. A real time saver!

3. Return of Alexander
After a seven-year(!) legal battle, the ancient marble bust of Alexander, which was accidentally found in one of the galleries in New York was returned to Italy. Excavated near the Colosseum, stolen, then rediscovered — it finally goes home to the Capitoline Museums in Rome. This is a good example of the current restitution trend. If you want to dive deeply into restitution topic, check out our post.

#DAFESNewsDigest

OPEN CALL: Digital Design
DAFES invites students and professionals working in the sphere of Digital Design to participate in the competition. The list of open nominations:

— Product design
— Web design
— Artificial intelligence
— Creative programming
— Mobile app
— CX (Customer Experience)
— Interface design

Open to all: regardless of gender, age, nationality, or professional level.

Don’t wait until the last minute — submit your work today via the links above!

DAFES AWARDS is an international competition that celebrates creative achievements and supports professional growth in design, art, fashion, education, and startups.

#DAFESAWARDS

OPEN CALL: Creative Entrepreneurship

DAFES invites creators of startups in the field of fashion, design, art, and digital services to participate in the Creative Entrepreneurship Competition!
This nomination is dedicated to innovative ideas that transform traditional industries or set new directions in the creative business world.

Requirements:
- Both concepts and projects implemented or published between November 1, 2023, and October 12, 2025, are eligible;
- Open to all: regardless of gender, age, nationality, or professional level.

Submit here

#DAFESAWARDS

Art Deco Legend — Erté

Behind the elegant pseudonym Erté stood Roman Petrovich Tyrtov (1892-1990) from a St. Petersburg aristocratic family. He was expected to uphold the family honor as a naval officer, but art called louder than tradition!
In 1910, he moved to Paris and began a career collaborating with the legendary fashion designer Paul Poiret. He then went on to design costumes for the theatre and cinema, working with icons such as Anna Pavlova and Joan Crawford.
His historic partnership with Harper’s Bazaar shaped the fashion industry’s visual culture for several decades and established him as one of the era’s leading tastemakers.

Erté became one of the key artists of the Art Deco movement, known for his slender, elongated silhouettes, ornamental elegance, and motifs inspired by the natural world.

Nowadays, most of his artworks are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) and the Victoria and Albert Museum (London).

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