The Cardiff Design Festival, now in its 4th year, grew from a personal dissatisfaction with the amount of recognition that design companies in Wales were getting for the work they were doing. I was well placed to see what was being produced, having been part of the design community for some time, having good contacts in the printing industry and maintaining industry links through my role as a lecturer in Cardiff School of Art & Design UWIC. I knew that design companies are often too busy to shout about what they do and perversely can be shy about celebrating their successes, despite being expert at communicating on behalf of clients.

A big moment for me was castigating Linda Relph Knight for the lack of coverage in Design Week of regional and particularly welsh work which I knew to be very good, and she rightly said 'how can we know if no-one tells us about it?'.

She planted the seed of the festival as a celebration there and then. I had conversations with contacts in Cardiff from that point and despite the long ingrained assertion that we'd never get designers in such a competitive market to work together or socialise (the only forum previously had been a printers/designers Monday night five a side football arrangement which was neither terribly inclusive or sustainable due to aging knees) I was pleasantly surprised by the enthusiasm for an event or some action.

A meeting of those interested was held, and the first festival was an exhibition of work from as many design disciplines as we could think of. companies were invited to show work that year. A celebratory dinner was held and the whole venture greeted a s a success.

In subsequent years submissions have been sought from companies and an independent panel of judges have selected work to showcase. In addition, the intention was always to set aside a week or two, (this year it's a month) and encourage others to organise design related events as part of the festival.

Design Wales (an organisation promoting design to SMEs and offering support) have scheduled seminars and talks during the festival from the outset. This year the Design Circle, the southern branch of the Royal Society of Architects in Wales have joined in with a Design Charette and an exhibition, Reflecting Wales. There's an exhibition of the best of Welsh graduates from art & design institutions in Wales and a portfolio clinic for students too. The Capitol shopping centre have teamed up with Cancer research to hold the Festival's first Fashion show, Momentum, design retailers are holding a 'modern greats' furniture exhibition and an office interiors design company are holding a seminar on how different generations respond to work environments. we have a designers' market 9 like a farmers' market!) There are a host of networking events too.

We've made an impact locally, giving an identity to the design community, but made a big impression internationally too. We've taken the showcase to The Dutch Design week in Eindhoven and become a member of the group of International design festivals presenting at Milan and Istanbul.

Cardiff is playing host this year to the Design Management Europe awards, the centre piece of the Festival. Companies from across Europe are being recognised for their strategic use of design. The aim was always to bring the design community together, to show off Welsh talent, to demonstrate the value of design to business, and to explain design to the public. I think this year we're really close to achieving that!