" FABER | Open Call for Designers 2026 "
FABER | Open Call for Designers 2026
FABER's project in Romania questions how design can evolve to actively shape alternative futures in Agri-food Industry
Image: Aabir Ahammed on Unsplash
Design Signals is FABER’s program for design research and practice. Designers are invited to use diverse media, skills, and languages to uncover hidden narratives and untapped resources within the industrial ecosystems of Timișoara and Romania. The goal is to question how design can evolve its strategies, practices and visions to actively shape alternative futures.
Design Signals: Agri-food Industry
The agri-food industry is a foundational pillar of everyday life. It shapes our landscapes through fields, factories, and retail networks, while invisibly structuring labor systems, supply chains, and consumption patterns. From soil management and seed technologies to processing, packaging, and distribution, this sector represents a critical framework where technology, policy, ecology, and culture intersect.
In this edition, designers are invited to join FABER’s team of researchers, cultural practitioners and makers to question the status quo of the agri-food industry. The aim is to prototype new research methods and design outcomes that address the complexities or urgencies of this field.
About the call
Both emerging and established designers are inveted, whether applying individually or as collectives, to bring their unique skills and visions to this year’s program. This call is open to a broad spectrum of practitioners—including makers, information designers, coders, social designers, architects, and multimedia, industrial, material, graphic, or bio-designers—who are eager to engage with the agri-food industry at the intersection of technological, manufacturing, ecological, and social systems.
Applicants are encouraged to propose a thematic interest and a design approach rooted in the complexities of the agri-food sector. Design Signals provides the framework, the professional fee, and the platform necessary to develop new work. This is a rare opportunity for designers to translate their vision into a research-based process, expanding their practice through real-world prototyping and deep collaboration with our curator and the FABER exhibition and research team.
INFO
AMOUNT
Budget for each designer, that includes: a fee, production and traveling costs.
APPLICATION DEADLINE
24 April 2026
ELIGIBLE COUNTRIES
ELIGIBILITY
The project look for proposals that:
- Experimental and Inventive: Demonstrating a curiosity to explore the intersections of design, contemporary industry, and rigorous research.
- Grounded in Urgency: Based on a specific theme within the agri-food industry and focused on a real-world case that highlights pressing questions or investigative passions.
- Methodologically Clear: Formulated around a distinct approach to both research and applied experimentation, embracing multidisciplinary tools, techniques, and materials.
- Systemically Inspired: Informed by the diverse actors of the industry, including factories, workers, machinery, artifacts, infrastructures, and markets.
While a connection to Timișoara is highly encouraged, it is not mandatory during the initial application phase. Selected designers will have the opportunity to cultivate and deepen this local connection during the five-month development period.
APPLICATION DETAILS
For more information about the application process and eligibility criteria please visit FABER's official website.
NOTE
*The calls that are listed on our website are shared for informational purposes and are sometimes subject to change. Please visit the organization's official open call website for up-to-date information.
DEADLINE
2026-04-24
TYPE OF SUPPORT
Public funding
FUNDING COUNTRIES
Romania