The Aurora Design Fund represents a milestone as the first fund in Iceland to directly support designers. The Fund sponsors exceptional designers who have a solid business concept and a clear view of the future. Initially, the Fund was a three-year trial-project with the clear goal of building a sound foundation for Icelandic design. This was to be achieved through financial support enabling designers to market their products both in Iceland and abroad. The Fund has also initiated independent projects that form a platform for cooperation between designers and members of the business sector.

In the first three years the Fund sponsored close to forty designers and cooperated in various design initiatives. Several sponsorships were also awarded, in accordance with the Fund’s follow-up policy to ensure that the designers of selected projects are given the greatest chance of long-term success.

The Aurora Design Fund has both cooperated and shared premises with the Iceland Design Centre. Product designer, Hlín Helga Guðlaugsdóttir managed Aurora Design Fund for its first three years and was succeeded by Guðrún Margrét Ólafsdóttir furniture designer and architect. The two of them, with the support of the board of the Fund, have shaped the operation into what became an important professional sponsorship platform for designers in Iceland.

The Aurora Design Fund was closed down in 2016.

More about Aurora Design Fund can be found on www.honnunarsjodur.is