As some of you know, Armin and I spent this weekend in San Diego while attending the Y Conference. Personally I had heard many good things about this conference in particular, and was eager to see if my sources were as trustworthy as I thought them to be. Turns out they were.
With a wide array of speakers in content, style and message there was no dull moment in the two days we spent at the University of San Diego. A great venue (although cold indoors!) that didn’t really allow for procrastination and wandering; this meant that most attendees were present for all lectures. Surrounded by beautiful gardens and stunning views you met great people while having lunch (provided in the package) and catching some sun.
A few (personal) highlights included:
Luba Lukova talked about the human relationships and human touch she has discovered in the client side, as well as in her finished products. Maintaining a humanistic approach in each piece to make things personal and approachable, she has managed to create a feel and style that is truly unique to her. Beautiful work, passionate speaker.
Ze Frank is one of the most amusing and intelligent speakers I have seen in a long time. A guy who loves to challenge the status quo of anything and anybody he has developed projects for himself unlike any: videos, games, programs and much more keep him excited and in love with what he does. And you can tell.
Karen Hsu + Alice Chung from Omnivore were soft-spoken and humble when showing us their amazing work. With clients across the globe, the pet-loving pair have managed to amass a striking portfolio through word-of-mouth clients, while working from their homes. Cute, yet voracious.
Nina Eigerman provided a small insight into the Aquent doings. Although repetitive in content her presentation touched on a few things that they do for their clients when analyzing and searching for problem areas in hopes of streamlining processes and creating more efficient companies. Started really good, but slowly declined in content and interest.
Armin Vit (slightly biased review) managed to bring a few more individuals to the conference through video interviews. Wanting to explore the why of the profession, why we do what we do, he managed to go around town asking unique designers for their reasons. Although a few sound glitches proved difficult, it was insightful and very real.
Stefan Bucher has got to be one of the “goodest” individuals on this earth. Passionate, charismatic and truthful he talks about design as some reference their children. One of the best speakers I have encountered, he showed us his work (which by the way has a OCD influence that he admits to) and talked about the reasons why he did what he did, choosing his clients and projects based on interest and uniqueness among other true-value qualities.
Art Chantry, as was to be expected managed to keep the room in constant facial movement; laughter, seriousness, awe, amazement and some contempt to name a few. Using slides (which he swore he shall continue to do until there are no more projectors in the world) he focused on the gimmicks he has used throughout his career. I would have to say that the most striking thing I noticed, as decades of work were presented, was the fact that he has been true to himself and his work at all times. Never compromising his identity.
Other speakers included Michael Vanderbyl, Erik van Blokland, Gaby Brink and Vanessa Marzaroli + Tom Koh .
In the end — as I flopped myself on the sofa last night exhausted by endless hours on planes and realizing what beautiful weather we had left behind — I felt satisfied and happy with the venture. The speakers were engaged and gave me more that pure eye-candy. Insightful and rewarding in an unusual sense for a two-day conference, this is one that I would recommend both coasts to attend.
Armin's vid. was a great way to start the day...
On Apr.06.2005 at 10:57 AM