Last month Heineken kicked off a global design project, connecting club goers and designers in the development of a pioneering nightclub. Open Design Explorations Edition 1: The Club invites the most talented emerging designers around the world to become part of an interdisciplinary team, involving product, graphic, fashion, interior and motion design. Together, they will co-create an exciting and unique nightlife experience, resulting in a live concept club space to be unveiled during Milan’s Design Week in April 2012. With the invitation video you’ll find below, young talented designers are invited to submit their portfolio via Facebook:

The Heineken Concept Club community
The most talented entrees will be invited to present their portfolios in person at a PechaKucha selection night in New York, Tokyo, Milan or Sao Paulo. These presentations take place now until the beginning of September, after which a final line up of around 20 designers will be announced. During this selection process, Heineken and InSites Consulting are conducting an international research project with club goers to provide the designers with relevant and true consumer insights that act as inspiration and springboard for ideation.
InSites Consulting is setting up an online research community with 120 design-savvy clubbers based in the 20 hottest cities of the world. The Heineken Concept Club community will uncover insights from the club life in a 3-week inspiration journey. Based on this connection with consumers, a consumer journey map will be created, visualizing the needs, perception, experience and motivation of the club goers.  This will serve both as a briefing and inspiration to the designers.
These insights will guide designers during their tour of nightlife hotspots to take the observation of the clubbing environment and social interaction beyond the obvious. The immersion in the clubbing scene will inspire them to come up with consumer-centred ideas that truly challenge the current nightlife experience.

Sparking ideas
Designers will receive specialist coaching from experts in their fields. After the briefing, designers and coaches will join the clubbers and the Heineken team on the InSites Consulting online platform during a second 3-week phase, where they can spark ideas with each other. This project takes full advantage of the characteristics of an online research community; providing a 24/7 connection to stakeholders from all over the world for a longer period in time, allowing true co-creation.