Tartu, Estonia, September 21-22, 2023

The Gift Design Hackathon was organized by the Tartu Centre for Creative Industries and held in Tartu Paranduskelder (Repair Cellar).

47 participants came together to work in teams. The participants were guided by top level mentors and experts from different professional fields. In addition, various mentors and inspirational speakers were providing support and expertise.

The goal of the hackathon was to develop design gifts that were made in an environmentally friendly way and promoted reuse. The participants had the opportunity to use material leftovers such as metal, wood, leather, paper, etc., that were given to the event by the local production companies.

By the end of the hackathon more than 20 different prototypes of designed gifts were created and the awards were given to the best ideas.

Manager of Tartu Centre for Creative Industries, Külli Hansen comments: The gift design hackathon went completely well, and as a result we got a lot of very interesting prototypes. I was also very inspired by the speakers of the hackathon – Anne Rudanovski, Andres Kuusik and Juta Vallikivi, who highlighted an important message: Creating a design gift as a product is different from an ordinary product, and you cannot only take into account the needs of the customer. A gift can be impractical,
but in this case, it should have other values – it must have local character, tell a story, and most importantly, come from the heart. As a result of the hackathon usable and necessary things were made, which were unique and at the same time connected to some emotional stories.

Programme

21.09

15:45 Gathering and registration

16.00-16:15 Opening remarks from the organizers. Introduction of the hackathon idea.

16:15-16:45 Inspirational speaker: Anne Rudanovski, professor at Pallas Art College

16:45-17:30 Creation of hackathon teams and presentation of ideas

17:30 Coffee and snack break

18:00-18:20 Introduction of repair cellar machines and materials

18:20-19:30 Development of ideas with the advice of mentors

19:30 Energy break

20:00-20:30 Presentations of ideas and summary of the day

20:30-21:00 Free time for work in the Repair Cellar

22.09

9:45 Morning coffee and snacks

10:00-10:20 Opening of the day and inspirational speaker: Andres Kuusik, Professor of Marketing, Faculty of Economics, University of Tartu

10:20-12:00 Product development with mentors

12:00 Energy break

12:30-13:00 Inspirational speaker: Juta Vallikivi, head of Tartu Art School’s development projects and team coach.

13:00 Work continues, creating prototypes with the advice of mentors

17:00-17:30 Product presentations

17:30-17:45 Awarding of prizes

17:45-18:00 Joint photo shoot and festive end