Reportback: Design Indaba

Alan Fletcher (London) - Stuff & Non Sense

Hailed as a genius in the design industry, Alan was a very interesting speaker ... coming across like someone's jovial grandad (actually, he is someone's grandad) he spoke about his work and about design in a calm, witty and relaxed manner ... like someone who has proved his skills and collected many stories but doesn't take himself too seriously.

He casually presented slides of his home and studio and went on to some of his more (and less) famous designs, explaining how he got the idea and developed it into a meaningful message - interjecting with the odd joke or personal anecdote. Design, he said, was basically getting an idea from one head into another ... and compared it to chess - where the game can be played either by using standard, well-known and well-documented moves or by elegant strokes of genius.

Alan encourages people (specifically designers) to look at the world carefully and attentively - to really "listen" to what they see. An avid collector of everyday things, he describe how many of his creations are ordinary things re-cycled and re-ordered into a more meaningful relationship.
He also believes in making the viewer think / work a bit. Certainly, playful designs that require some thought or effort do indeed leave a lasting impression.

For me, it was very inspiring to see how simple ideas and simple images led to very potent designs that conveyed meaning in such an economical, simple and elegant manner. And once again, I was reminded how rewarding and much fun this job can be!

Irma Boom (Amsterdam)

Firstly a bit of context. Irma hails from Holland - where design is everywhere ... not just in the studios, galleries and lecture halls, but in every little corner of everyday life. The Dutch culture is definitely more aware, appreciative and hungry for design (probably more critical too).

Irma first introduced two projects, which at first seemed "boring" to her ... phonecards themed for a popular flower show and postage stamps featuring butterflies. At first, she almost declined these briefs because they felt unexciting but she described the process of developing some very interesting concepts for these briefs and how she put together some excellent designs for them - picking an unusual angle to the theme and presenting it from a different point of view.

She then went to present books she designed ... but these are no ordinary books!
Ranging from artists' writings to Ferrari corporate brochures, these books provide much more than a collection of printed pages. Manipulating every possible aspect of a book, Irma has created some truly unique experiences ... from making use of the books edge - providing two separate experiences depending which direction you flip through the book; to cutting holes in the pages - allowing content to blend between them; to even printing with olive oil!

Undoubtedly a heavy-weight designer in every sense of the word (you should see the heavy-weight, 2000 page book she put together) ... Irma also comes across as pushy, tenacious, perhaps even stubborn. She shared several stories of how she pushed her ideas through and stood her ground no matter what happened - even when printing presses were clogged with olive oil and when binders couldn't put the books together because the pages had too many holes.
"There are no impossibilities" is her motto, and it seems to have served her well.

Patrick Burgoyne (London) (not on the website)

As editor of Creative Review magazine, Patrick certainly has his finger on the world's creative pulse. Patrick did not show any of his own work as he is not a designer, but his presentation was no less inspiring.

Creative Review and Warp Records (a label producing electronic music) conducted a series of collaborations between musicians and creatives in which various music videos were produced. Creatives (ranging from fine artists, to designers to architects) were given specific music tracks to interpret visually, ie. make a video. Two different groups produced videos for each track, with each group consisting of one to three members without entire studios to back them up. Also, there was to be no "suit" intervention. As these videos were purely experimental there were no marketing constraints and the artists were allowed free rein.

The results were very effective, interesting and visually stunning ... leaving lots of concepts to chew on, such as:

- How allowing artists more control and eliminating marketing constraints can lead to a very potent product with a powerful, lasting impression;
- How a truly excellent production can be made by very small groups of people;
- How several, previously exclusive disciplines (sound production, design, animation/motion graphics, video production) have now converged and become accessible to anybody with a decent computer, which ties in with;
- How the tools have become simplified and much more generic - allowing the creative to concentrate on the message rather than the method
- And as a result - the two-headed monster of specialisation and concentration of skills vs. generalisation and accumulation of a broad range of skills... in other words, finding a balance between being a Jack-of-all-trades or a Master-of-one.

Sujata Keshavan (India)

Having studied in the US, Sujata has now established a successful design agency in India. Her presentation concentrated on design and designers in India, providing a generous and very interesting background on Indian culture and also illuminating many features we share here in SA. India is also a country in transition with a developing economy. Increasing globalisation of values resulting from foreign influences such as TV and magazines, and trying to do first-world business with third-world resources (and the creative solutions which arise) were also some familiar concepts that came across.

There were some hilarious slides in her presentation of various store signage and common cultural ephemera that cleverly illustrated how India had developed it's own vernacular design style and also it's own version of English.

Sujata also presented a case study of one of her agency's projects in which a budding software company's brand was developed almost entirely from artwork created by mentally handicapped children. The branding was also very successfully applied to the interior of the company's HQ and is a good example of India's rich, colourful visual tradition.

Jonathan Barnbrook (London) - Welcome to the cult of Virus

Jonathan started off his presentation with a bright pink slide with the word "FUCK" in bright white letters in three different languages ... and from there it got progressively more provocative and in your face :)

A true Design Geek if there ever was one, Jonathan displayed a passion for what he does - typography in particular. He explained how designing type stems from the need to control everything in a design - right down to the shape of the letters ... which admittedly, does make sense. "You put the whole universe in a font" says J, explaining how a typeface can set the mood and atmosphere of a message.

He went on to present some of his famous fonts such as the neo-gothic "Bastard" (the name relates to the cannibalisation of the Gothic font by the Nazis) and "Manson" which has caused a great amount of consternation (named after the American serial killer and featuring letter forms designed from crosses and gothic colonnades).
A font called Exocet, named after a missile used by the US military, did not cause as much of a stir as Manson ... and J delivered a typically dry British line about this which I won't bother repeating ... you had to be there :)

Adbusters magazine gave J something to sink his sharp political teeth into, providing a platform to poke at politicians and global corporate culture with his sharp, err... stick. J showed slides of some thought-provoking visual parody and biting anti-propaganda that did occasionally cause some squirming in the seats.

Thankfully this was a generally open-minded and intelligent audience, which enjoyed such a brash, in-your-face presentation without being offended.

Garth Walker (Durban)

Local designer Garth has for a long time shared his fascination with vernacular SA design, ie. signage in mostly rural areas. His presentation consisted of slides of various signage that he has photographed, categorised according to style.

Interesting, humorous and visually striking, this presentation shed some light on everyday culture and what images people find appealing and how they lovingly reproduce them. Design on the street could certainly provide inspiration to design in the studio.

David Doubilet (US)

A highly acclaimed underwater photographer working for National Geographic, David provided a perfect close to the day. With the lights darkened, he showed some mesmerising slides of photographs he has taken on his journeys to Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

Incredible photos of incredible creatures in an incredible world - where there are no straight lines or angles, everything is bathed in a blue/green light, everything is weightless and where one cannot see very further than a few hundred yards at best. What was also equally incredible (I promise that's the last time I use that word) was the story behind each photo - the huge amounts of money and patience required to capture these images which illustrate the grandest Design - that of nature.

It was a lot to take in for one day and even more to think about. Design Indaba has once again filled up my inspiration tank to the brim and spilled it all over the side of my car ... just don't light any matches ! ;)