swissmiss

I attended the Future of Webdesign Conference , yesterday, here in NYC. I was initially asked to present, on the topic of branding, which I declined. Sure, I would have had lots to say, but I didn’t feel it was a right fit. For a one day conference, you need the best of the best on each topic, at least, that’s how I see it. Instead, I would have loved to speak about ‘how to stay inspired’, blogging, how design sensibility is influenced by upbringing, the challenges of designing in a foreign culture, etc..

Overall, I must say, I left the conference, slightly disappointed. Sure, there were a few good speakers, but the odd venue and bad sound quality didn’t help the overall experience. The conference was held in a side-wing of the Jacob Javits center. The ‘stage’ was put against windows and all morning, we couldn’t see what’s been projected, as the sun was shining right onto the screen. Joshua Davis‘ presentation was my personal highlight, if only I could have seen what he was presenting. No luck. What a high energy, inspiring guy!

Another speaker I was looking forward to was Jeffrey Zeldman. The sound quality during his talk was so bad, that I couldn’t understand a word (!!!) for the first 15 minutes. Luckily they handed him another microphone half way through. Quite a few people got up and left, visibly annoyed.

Not to mention the overall bad start to the conference as they didn’t have name batches for about a third of the attending people and were printing them on an inkjet on site, and no lanyards… On my way home, I was wondering what I would have thought of the day, if it would have been a smooth organization and a better venue.

Bryan, the organizer, kept apologizing for the screen issue and promised that videos of each presentation will be available online. Well, that’s something.

Did you attend? What did you think?

– Upon arrival, walking into the Denver Convention Center, I ran into Debbie Millman who I wanted to meet for so long. She’s as warm and likeable as she comes across in her fabulous Design Matters Podcasts. By the way, vote for her.

– Daniel Liebeskind spoke for 15minutes straight without ever stopping or taking a breather. Needless to say I was out of breath when he was done. Oh, and he ran off stage. Humorous in its own way.

– The Denver Convention Center has a fascinating and sometimes questionable collection of rug patterns. You can view them here. Note to self: Research rug pattern psychology in public spaces.

– Ellen Lupton had a talk that I would have hated to be in as a man. She talked bra. Really. But she seems lovely, nonetheless.

– Command X, the American Idol for graphic designers, was entertaining and humbling. The level of professionalism of these young talents was breathtaking. Who would want to pitch an idea in front of 2000 (?) ‘clients’? The winner, Michelle Narcisi, got a standing ovation with her ‘except you’ campaign which is supposed to get young voters to vote. I will be on the look-out for her pdf posters. They will spread like wildfire, once unleashed. Curious to see how long it will take until Michelle will take some fine position in NYC…

– Blaise Agüera y Arcas’ presentation on Seadragon and Photosynth left me in awe. But the fact that both apps don’t work on a Mac deserves a big Boooo!

– Khoi Vinh’s talk on how we are slowly but surely gaining more ‘control’ in the world of webdesign was impressive. His presentation was extremely informative, well-structured and well delivered. Congrats Khoi!

– Maira Kalman – what an interesting, witty, talented woman. I wish her ‘talk’ would have been longer.

– Friday, I Julia introduced to Michael Bierut. He outed himself to be a swissmiss reader, so did Tobias Frere-Jones. YAY!

– I saw Helvetica for a second time. Loved everything about it with the exception, again, of Paula Scher’s comment on how Helvetica is responsible for the Iraq war. I know it was supposed to be a joke. Not funny.

– The Denver Art Museum is quite an impressive piece of architecture.

– Charming, funny germans do exist – Christoph Nieman is living proof. His presentation was delightful and his talent humbling. His client diagrams, above, made me chuckle.

– The presentation that completely blew me away was by biologist Janine Benyus, on Biomimicry — the way humans mimic nature in the products we build and the systems we implement. Watch her TED.

– Garth Walker, a south african designer definitely made me look. He is mostly known for his desire to do design that has roots in culture. Read some more about Garth here.

– I had the pleasure to meet Jessica Helfand. Warm, approachable, outgoing!

– Waking up seeing mountains from your hotel window is fantastic. I miss the swiss alps.

– Taking a hotel 20minutes outside of downtown to save some money was a stupid idea.

– At times I felt like I was at a Pentagram Conference: Julia, thank you for introducing me to Nikola, Joe, Lenny, Scott, Ben, Brian, Drew, Kurt. You guys are nutty.

– Oh, and on a very personal note: I want you all to know that I am married to ‘super-dad’: G took care of our little Ella while I was gone. Thank you G! :)

I am having a fantastic time at the AIGA NEXT conference in Denver. I am inspired and humbled by the work I see, the people I meet and the beauty of Denver’s surroundings. Alissa Walker, who I finally got to meet (she’s wonderfully bubbly and charming) is doing an excellent job in covering the conference. The blog panel I am going to be on is happening tomorrow afternoon, wish me luck! Waving from Denver!

I am heading out to Denver tomorrow to be part of a panel discussion on blogging at the AIGA’s NEXT conference. Thrilled! As a consequence there won’t be (m)any posts in the coming days. My apologies in advance.

So, instead of spending time on my blog, you could just order one of these Office Slacker Mini Games Desk Set or, you could move your cursor over to the left and visit some of my ‘recommended’ sites. So much to be discovered!

See you in Denver?

I am thrilled to be part of a panel discussion about The Rules and Etiquette of Blogging at the upcoming NEXT AIGA conference in october. I will be surrounded by much respected fellow bloggers: Allan Chochinov, Core77.com; William Drenttel, Design Observer; Khoi Vinh, subtraction; and Alissa Walker, UnBeige. The panel will be moderated by Steven Heller.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the topic:

What’s the future of blogging?

What is its role of blogs as a forum for ideas?

I am starting to get excited about the upcoming HOW Design Conference. Only 3 more days to go… I am thrilled about seeing some of the speakers. And most of all, I am thrilled to be hanging with my ‘long distance roomate’ and fellow design blogger BBlinks! YAY!

What about you? See you there?