The power of real design
By Cecilia Camacho, Founder & Editor of CC/magazine
I’ve returned from Copenhagen with both my mind and heart full. It’s been an intense few days at 3daysofdesign — one of those events that transforms everything you see — and feel — into something new. A full week of breathing in creativity, innovation and purpose. A week of real design.
This year, the Danish festival revolved around a powerful theme: KEEP IT REAL. A statement that couldn’t be more in tune with the times we live in. Amid digital noise, overstimulation, and algorithms telling us what to watch, follow or buy, this edition made a stand for authenticity. For individual expression and genuine connection — with what we can touch, smell, and look in the eye.
At CC/magazine, we collaborate as media partners with many design weeks, both in Spain and internationally. And while each has its own personality and focus, they all share something vital: they are extraordinary opportunities to be inspired. Because, in the end, that’s what we need most. To pause. To feel. To connect. In a world where everything happens through a screen, real experience becomes priceless.
These days in Copenhagen have been a reminder that design is not just about form or trends. It’s a way of being in the world. Of thinking about others. Of imagining possible futures. I’ve seen sustainable proposals shaped with respect for the environment and the people who inhabit the objects. I’ve discovered projects that merge craft with technology, the local with the global, beauty with function. Ideas that aim not only to be beautiful, but also useful, human and transformative.
And best of all: I experienced it. With all five senses. I touched surfaces, sat on chairs that told stories, spoke with designers who create from conviction — from emotion. And I realised once again that true innovation doesn’t always lie in spectacle, but in honesty.
Of course, nowadays everything can be shared, captured, broadcast. And yes, Instagram is a wonderful tool — as are a well-written newsletter or an elegantly edited video. But nothing replaces face-to-face connection. That moment when someone explains why they chose a certain material, what inspired them to create a piece, or how they hope it will make someone feel. That kind of exchange — intimate, direct, unfiltered — is what gives all of this its meaning.
That’s why I wanted to share not only what I saw, but what I felt. Because before we publish our two special reports on the highlights of this year’s 3daysofdesign in CC/magazine, I needed to write about this. About the importance of experiencing design from within. Of feeling it in your body before translating it into words or images. About the urgent, vital need to reconnect with the tangible.
In an age where everything is expected to be instant, shareable, and profitable, embracing real experience is almost an act of resistance. And yet, it’s precisely there that the magic happens. When someone pauses in front of a lamp and finds poetry in its form. When a spontaneous conversation with an artist leads to a new collaboration. When a city like Copenhagen becomes the perfect setting to remember that creativity, when it is honest, has the power to move us.
Design can be many things. But the most powerful thing it can be is this: real.
(*) Image courtesy of Lee Broom, from his installation at 3daysofdesign2025.
