OFFSET 2018 — Day Two
Saturday. Practice and Preach.
“With over 2,500 attendees each year, Offset has fast become one of the world’s most inspirational, educational and vocational conferences for the design and creative industries.”
On your phone? I made this as a Series too, in the spirit of experimentation!
Rather than give a list of notes, I’m covering the speakers’ works and themes to hopefully inspire you to find out more about them. Saturday was all about the unexpected, having values, and being brilliant.
Beatrice Alemagna
Children’s Book Illustrator
Beatrice shared her story and the value of children’s books — how children’s literature is art in every way. Conflict, comfort, anarchy, freedom.
“Doubt is my main motivator”
Luke Powell & Jody Hudson-Powell
Pentagram
Luke and Jody talked about their careers and work, and how it’s important to learn on the job and work bloody hard.
“make the process interesting”
Frith Kerr
Studio Frith
Frith ran through her work in identity and books, looking to the truth in things, taking a viewpoint, and responding with an authentic approach.
“we are the collectors of stories”
Chris Ware
Illustrator
Chris gave a very entertaining and self-deprecating interview about his career and work as a cartoonist and illustrator.
“make it up as you go along”
Anita Murphy & ROry O’Connor
Hub Games
Anita and Rory gave a very honest and inspiring talk on their work and the importance of play and of board games— how they let us explore straegies, make mistakes, and provide a framework to explore.
“do business with people who share your passion, keep it human, they will be champions for your product”
Stephen Doyle
Doyle Partners
In a fun and light-hearted talk, Stephen told us about his work, and the sweet spot between things that are Nonsense (defy logic), Magic (defy gravity) and Macramé (transcend expectations).
“how much can you take away”
“fun, fame or fortune — need two of them”
Simone Rocha
Fashion Designer
Simone spoke about the graft of fashion, how beyond the veneer of glamour there is a lot of physical graft and craft. She shared some beautiful work made in collaboration with film-makers and print designers.
“everything is connected no matter what medium”
Reinvention
Adapting While Staying Timeless in A Changing Design Landscape Doug Powell (IBM) In Conversation with Stephen Doyle
As a designer with a few grey hairs this seemed like a good interview to catch on the second stage. Doug and Stephen spoke about being brilliant, and finding your voice and distinguishing yourself.
“push it a little bit further, and a little bit further after that”
Gail Bichler
Design Director
Closing off the day, Gail spoke about her work on the New York Times Magazine, and the cover and special edition designs. (Which are often difficult given there are 52 editions a year!)
“when the concept is simple the details are important”
That’s all from day two — I was trying to listen as much as take notes, so I hope you found this as a useful way to discover new people and ideas. Find me on Twitter @irishstu for comments & feedback.
