Indy Design Week is a city-wide festival celebrating and elevating the Indianapolis design community. The event is creating an inclusive space for designers, creators, and enthusiasts to come together, share ideas, and explore new perspectives to create a lasting impact in Indy.
Indy Design Week is a celebration of all facets of design. This year’s event returns with a bold and thought-provoking theme: Hues. Beyond highlighting color’s impact on design, IDW is celebrating the importance of diversity & inclusion in design, business, and society by showcasing unique perspectives & amplifying diverse stories in the community.
“For Indy Design Week 2025, we’re inviting the community to reimagine how color connects us,” says Tori Witter, Executive Director of Indy Design Week. “From its emotional resonance to its role in branding and storytelling, the power of color is universal, yet deeply personal. We’re excited to see the speakers, workshops, and exhibits amplify this theme and help bring it to life.”
The seventh annual event is happening from April 21st through April 26th and will take place all over the city of Indianapolis to increase accessibility for attendees and showcase the incredible venues the city has to offer. Attendees can expect events varying from coffee meetups and hands-on workshops to creative talks and inspiring panels, and even an exclusive VIP kick-off party for sponsors, partners, and VIP ticketholders.
“We see Indy Design Week as the intersection for all the different areas of design,” says Witter. “We want inspire collaboration.”
With an extensive schedule of speakers, attendees will get inspired by presentations from creative leaders, such as Patrick Armstrong, host of the award-winning podcasts Conversation Piece and The Janchi (pronounced: JohnChee) Show, who will be leading a special IDW edition of AIGA Indy’s “Creatives in Color” series and 2025 keynote speaker Daniel Swartz, letterpress designer and printer and Founder of Hoosier Type Company, delivering his keynote address ‘Done is Better Than Perfect’.
“Every single person you’ll hear from is a local designer and innovative leader in their industry. Indy Design Week continuously wants to highlight the amazing stories of local creators and the work being done in Indy,” says Witter.
Hands-on workshops that demonstrate diverse design principles and encourage the learnings of new design skills have become paramount to this event. Workshop Night is expanding into Workshop Day—a full day of hands-on, interactive workshops at The Stutz, thanks to sponsor Griffy’s Art Supply. After being a standout event in 2024, this crowd favorite returns bigger and better on Saturday, April 26, closing out IDW with a bang. Alongside signature design workshops, we’re adding activities for all ages, from elementary to high school students. Workshop Day tickets drop next month—stay tuned!
Partnerships are essential for this organization. Indy Design Week focuses on giving back to the community, and the group has been very fortunate on how much the community wants to give back. Local designer, illustrator and graffiti artist, Ess McKee, is donating a piece of original artwork which will serve as the official poster for Indy Design Week. The Buckingham Foundation rewarded IDW with a grant to support the new event software launching for the 2025 event. Indy Design Week will also be working with Second Helpings to limit food waste during the event and ensure leftover, unused food will be donated back to local neighbors in need.
At the end of the day, Indy Design Week wants to elevate the incredible design community that we have here in Indianapolis “With our 2025 theme Hues, we really want to promote conversations about the role of cultural storytelling and how we can become better creatives through the power of community.”
Early-bird tickets are on sale right now for Indy Design Week. $100 for a VIP All-Access ticket, which includes the VIP Kick-Off Party on Monday, April 21, and $80 for an All-Access ticket that gets attendees access to every event happening throughout the week. Students receive 75% off all-access tickets with a valid student ID and email. Ticket prices will increase as April approaches, so grab a ticket and mark your calendars Indy Design Week 2025.
To learn more information about Indy Design Week, see the full 2025 schedule, and purchase tickets, visit indydesignweek.com/2025.
