This past week was Design Currency: Defining the Value of Design, an installment of Icograda’s world-wide Design Week series. This was a multidisciplinary design conference – there were speakers that had backgrounds in business, education, marketing, advertising, industrial design, journalism, city planning, consulting, strategy, and much more.
I’ve written a number of posts on defining the value of design and the conference:
- GDC.net: Defining the Value of Design
- Designweekvancouver.ca: Design Currency Discussion
- GDC.net: Design Currency 2010 Approaches Quickly
- GDC.net: World Graphics Day and Design Currency
What I really liked about this event was how well-rounded it was. This was not a technical skills-oriented conference where you’re taking tutorials or talking about new technology. This was a meeting of the minds about the philosophy behind design itself – why do we design, and what place does it hold in society? There were many inspiring talks and perspectives, far too much to recap here. I recommend checking out some of the links I’ve provided with the photos below, and of course the Speaker Interviews from the Design Currency website.
One of the highlights for me was the Dinner with a Side of Design series at the Irish Heather in Gastown. Myself, Matt Warburton (Emdoubleyu), Helen Walters (BusinessWeek), and Phil Kneer (IBM) debated and designed the city of the future. We called it Village 2.0, and I assure you, it is nothing like Sheffield.
This event was bookended with the GDC National AGM at the beginning and the Graphex Awards towards the end. I did not make it to Graphex, but the GDC AGM is worthy of its own post and so I’ll leave it at that. On to the photos!
Below are my photos – I’ll provide information where I can.
was how the Olympic podium was modeled to have Vancouver Island’s shape. Nice touch!
Matthew Warburton FGDC, Emdoubleyu Design, GDC Past President, Event Co-Chair.
Update: Thank you to Mark Busse and Cam Cavers for IDing some of the missing participants and speakers above.
Hey Davin, I can identify a couple of the “event participants” in your photos… the guy right above Mark Sackett is Nick Frühling, our Program Assistant at Kwantlen GDMA (and a hell of a human cannonball too – see humancannonball.ca), and the guy above him (and below Ana Masut) is Todd Smith of toddsmith.tv — I met him just before I met you at the Alibi event, I think.
Great photos Davin. Thanks for posting
Great photos Davin! It was great to be able to connect/re-connect with so many passionate, talented, and like-minded people over the course of the week. Thanks for the good times/memories… ’till next time, take care! Cheers!
As usual you captured the moments Davin. And perhaps more importantly, thanks for adding to the most essential of conversations!
Davin,
Brilliant! Wonderful taste of DesignWeek. Thanks from me too for your unique perspective on all things creatively relational! Honour to be in the real company of so many gifted folks (speakers and listeners included). Coffee soon?
You always have such a terrific eye in situations like these Davin. You’ve created a great archive of our time together at Design Week—one I won’t soon forget.
Until our next adventure!
M