3daysofdesign 2025: KEEP IT REAL – A Celebration of Authentic Design

The 2025 theme for 3daysofdesign, KEEP IT REAL, champions authenticity, individual expression, and emotional truth. It reflects a collective yearning for a world that is more inclusive, compassionate, and self-aware. This year’s theme is not only a call to action but also a celebration of originality—an invitation for creators to remain true to their vision and personal journey.

Swedish graphic artist Andreas Samuelsson was chosen to bring this vision to life through the festival’s visual identity. Samuelsson’s design features flowing, organic shapes framed by sensuous negative space and vibrant accents. His work invites open interpretation, offering a glimpse into the emotional and spiritual landscapes of the individual.

Andreas Samuelsson

Rooted in humanity

In a Q&A, Samuelsson reflects on how deeply the KEEP IT REAL theme resonates with him. He sees it as a mirror of his personal and professional growth—a theme rooted in humanity and creative authenticity. For Samuelsson, design is a meditative process of observation and reduction, one that distills experience and emotion into visual form. The blank page represents freedom, and it’s in that open space that his most personal and honest ideas are born.

He emphasizes the importance of staying grounded in one’s identity, particularly in an era where technology can often dilute the human element in creative work. Samuelsson advocates for a future where designers continue to draw from personal experience, intuition, and subtlety to craft meaningful designs.

Portraits of Managing Director Signe Byrdal Terenziani

Stay honest

His advice to emerging designers is simple yet profound: stay honest, embrace repetition as a path to refinement, and resist the temptation to be overly swayed by outside influences. Instead, he urges creators to cultivate simplicity and authenticity.

When speaking of Copenhagen, the host city of 3daysofdesign, Samuelsson describes a place that gracefully balances innovation with tradition. To him, Copenhagen offers a unique atmosphere where the past and future of design coexist, making it the ideal backdrop for a festival that celebrates individuality and creative truth.

Stay updated at 3daysofdesign from 18 — 20 June 2025