Embracing Design Back
I had the pleasure of attending the ‘We Can Create’ design symposium earlier this
year. Two days of local and international speakers left one inspired and energised
to return to base & get creating. There were a few speakers whose design work &
approach resonated with me – they are well worth looking up.
Rafael Rozendaal_Visual Artist, Brazil
With the internet as his canvas, Rafael’s work pushes the boundaries of design and
art. Like the great surrealists, his web canvas pushes the fundamentals of
perception. The work is fresh – appearing as an animated cartoon or painting, often
pairing motion play with moving light and spatial experiences. These works of art
have their own unique urls, which are then ‘sold’ to the art buyers on the premise
that they remain available on the www for viewing. Genius!
Some favourites were: http://www.goodbyefarewell.com/
www.yesforsure.com, http://www.deepblackhole.com/
Morag Myerscough_Environmental design, UK
Morag appeared on stage in a riot of colour – no surprises that her work continues
to express her obsession with it as a medium. A student of St Martins College & the Royal
College of Art, she delivers the unexpected – challenging preconceptions about the
urban environment with a playfulness that is liberating to watch. Her exhibition work
was particularly inspiring -from dressing ‘Alan Aldridge’ to Formula 1 exhibits, she
interprets the narrative through sound and sensual movement and playing on
object scale.
Thomas Roope_The Rumpus Room, UK
Concept is king, especially when paired with social media strategies that fuse the
real world with the possibilities of interactive. Thomas is clearly a clever creative
(remember the Trainspotting opening credits? -they’re his) and has since won a
myriad of A&D awards for his work with The Rumpus Room. The basis of many of
their ideas is to create something worthwhile to share – his Lily Allen clip for XBox
quickly became viral with millions sharing uploads. He delivered some wise advice
on mastery and the urge to get better at stuff and with work like that – I can’t wait to
see what follows.