Documenting Copenhagen's annual design festival as part of the official photographers team — two days, sixteen venues, by bike.

I joined the official photographers team for 3daysofdesign 2025, Denmark's annual design festival in Copenhagen. The commission ran across 17–18 June 2025, a press tour through sixteen Copenhagen design venues. The work was delivered with a 24-hour turnaround across socials, newsletter, web, and the festival's brand archive.

3daysofdesign
Copenhagen, Denmark
17–18 June 2025
Official photographers team

The brief

3daysofdesign is Denmark's annual design festival, held each June in Copenhagen. The 2025 edition was the eleventh, drawing over 400 exhibitors, 45,000 visitors, and 200 press from 500 publications. The theme: KEEP IT REAL.

The brief was to embed with the press tours, document everything, and deliver same-day. The festival's usage was broad — social, newsletter, website, press distribution, and brand archive.

The work

Wide shots of showroom interiors. Detail shots of products and materials. Portraits of designers. Talks in progress. Press in dialogue with the designers and each other. People eating, drinking, cycling between venues. The afterparties and long dinners.

The press tours move fast — fifteen to forty minutes per venue. Read the room, find the frame quickly, and keep moving. Shooting through the day and into the evening. Back to the hotel at night to edit. Files uploaded inside 24 hours so the team could publish them the next morning.

Venues

Day one: 25hours Hotel · Royal Danish Academy · Louis Poulsen · Fora Form · Openhouse · Dagmar · Hem · Formarkivet · Rockfon · Bjarke Ingels Group

Day two: String Furniture · Desalto · Occhio · The Sound of Material · Reboco · Material Matters

The result

The frames were used across the festival's social channels, newsletter, website, press distribution, and brand archive. I've been invited back to document the 2026 edition.

Denmark's annual design festival — three days each June in Copenhagen across eight design districts.
Mid-to-late June each year. The 2026 edition takes place 17–19 June.
Louis Poulsen, Fritz Hansen, Carl Hansen & Søn, Hay, &Tradition, Frama, Audo — alongside hundreds of smaller studios and international brands.
Design media, architects, interior designers, buyers, and an international public audience. 45,000+ visitors.
Sam Harrons was was one of the official 2025 photographers for 3daysofdesign 2025.
KEEP IT REAL.

About the photographer

Sam Harrons is a Norwich-based editorial and event photographer working internationally across hospitality, design, and brand commissions since 2012. Selected clients include The Hoxton, Inhabit, 25hours, Naturalmat, Aesop, Lavenham, Bellroy, and 3daysofdesign. He founded Compendia, a design-led editorial platform and content studio.