Islington's rival to Excel and Earl's Court, the Business Design Centre hosts a huge diversity of events and exhibitions including the annual London Art Fair. Most of the time though you are likely to find it full of business types wandering the stalls in search of the perfect flip-board.
The space is large and although well designed suffers from a definite conference vibe. However, they also pursue a 'design' theme and have retrospectives of British engineers and designers, which are well worth looking out for. Other annual highlights include wine tasting and comic book summits.