I've decided to post my sketchbook from
AGideas 2009. It's basically an attempt at visualising what each speaker was talking about, what I found interesting and what was... less interesting. Here it is in its glorious entirety.
Stefan Sagmeister was really very good. He spoke mostly on how design can make us happy—not just represent
or visualise happiness. I also attended his masterclass on Monday, which was really great. You can view a similar speech of his over at
TED.
Presented some interesting ideas on food, but I'm left wondering how much of it is about spectacle and how much is about producing really great food. For example, he used a combination of edible bubbles and liquid nitrogen to present mango. It really was just mango, too. Oh, he's from
Vue de Monde.
Not much to say here—I find this sort of photography quite lacking in depth.
Kate Cullity's work was very interesting, if only for it being so strongly tied to the Australian landscape. I struggled with Jill's piece. It was essentially a film studies lecture and didn't really bring any ideas to the table.
I think that
Etienne was truly the surprise hit of the entire week. His work is really quite innovative and his thoughts on web design are very interesting. Loved his philosophy on clicking. Also, totally got his signature! Bit of a convert, I must say.
John Marsden can really tell a story. He was softly spoken, sat on a chair, didn't use any graphics and yet he managed to keep the crowd engaged throughout his presentation.
To understand why I was excited for a boat designer you need only look at
this clip (strong language).
Apologies to
Garson Yu—his work is truly incredible. Some of the best titles for films I've ever seen (including the Watchmen & 300) but I had to leave early to attend Studio Access night with
Studio Round (lovely people doing lovely work).
Marina had some really nice work to display, but I thought that the best part of her presentation was her ideas, including an all too brief discussion of the brand as it stands in modern culture.
Dinosaurs are really very cool. Go watch
Jurrassic Park.
As always, the curator struggled to capture the attention of the crowd. This was despite his talking about some really interesting work and the role of a curator as designer. Who would've thought that designers were bored by art? Also, a very boring presentation from the
Sartorialist...
Sean Cummins was very entertaining and presented a strong argument for drawing from local sources for our creativity. He's also responsible for creating the 'Best Job In The World' campaign.
Tobias was amazing. To even get a glimpse of the thoroughness of approach that typifies
H&FJ was a great experience, let alone a detailed breakdown of two of their most popular typefaces (Gotham & Archer).
Although I've heard similar talks before,
Stephen Banham's was a great insight into the promotion of design.
This is the section in which I won free beer from
Soap. It was good beer, too, and a nice talk about the culture at Soap that they so obviously put a lot of thought into.
Harry Pearce does some really great stuff, and his devotion to pro
bono work is really great. It was no
Richard Seymour moment though—
something I'm coming to realise was a true once in a lifetime thing. Here's a review of
that particular speech from DesignVictoria.
Stefan Sagmeister was really very good. He spoke mostly on how design can make us happy—not just represent or visualise happiness. I also attended his masterclass on Monday, which was really great. You can view a similar speech of his over at TED.
Presented some interesting ideas on food, but I'm left wondering how much of it is about spectacle and how much is about producing really great food. For example, he used a combination of edible bubbles and liquid nitrogen to present mango. It really was just mango, too. Oh, he's from Vue de Monde.
Not much to say here—I find this sort of photography quite lacking in depth.
Kate Cullity's work was very interesting, if only for it being so strongly tied to the Australian landscape. I struggled with Jill's piece. It was essentially a film studies lecture and didn't really bring any ideas to the table.
I think that Etienne was truly the surprise hit of the entire week. His work is really quite innovative and his thoughts on web design are very interesting. Loved his philosophy on clicking. Also, totally got his signature! Bit of a convert, I must say.
John Marsden can really tell a story. He was softly spoken, sat on a chair, didn't use any graphics and yet he managed to keep the crowd engaged throughout his presentation.
To understand why I was excited for a boat designer you need only look at this clip (strong language).
Apologies to Garson Yu—his work is truly incredible. Some of the best titles for films I've ever seen (including the Watchmen & 300) but I had to leave early to attend Studio Access night with Studio Round (lovely people doing lovely work).
Marina had some really nice work to display, but I thought that the best part of her presentation was her ideas, including an all too brief discussion of the brand as it stands in modern culture.
Dinosaurs are really very cool. Go watch Jurrassic Park.
As always, the curator struggled to capture the attention of the crowd. This was despite his talking about some really interesting work and the role of a curator as designer. Who would've thought that designers were bored by art? Also, a very boring presentation from the Sartorialist...
Sean Cummins was very entertaining and presented a strong argument for drawing from local sources for our creativity. He's also responsible for creating the 'Best Job In The World' campaign.
Tobias was amazing. To even get a glimpse of the thoroughness of approach that typifies H&FJ was a great experience, let alone a detailed breakdown of two of their most popular typefaces (Gotham & Archer).
Although I've heard similar talks before, Stephen Banham's was a great insight into the promotion of design.
This is the section in which I won free beer from Soap. It was good beer, too, and a nice talk about the culture at Soap that they so obviously put a lot of thought into.
Harry Pearce does some really great stuff, and his devotion to pro bono work is really great. It was no Richard Seymour moment though—something I'm coming to realise was a true once in a lifetime thing. Here's a review of that particular speech from DesignVictoria.
