Stupid

Finally I managed to browse through all the photos and pick out some nice and exclusive selections from this first NYC edition of the OFFF conference. Happy reading…

OFFF Day 1
Paula Scher was the keynote speaker at the OFFF conference and before she began showing her work I had no idea who she was. So I was surprised to find that I knew her work very well and had been admiring it for quite a while. She also did the logo for CitiBank, but who gives a f*ck when she creates art like that. Wauw!

A slice of her wonderful and detailed map of Japan…

A work of Erik Natzke

A work of Erik Natzke

Erik Natzke just blew me away with his organic code-based creations. I had never really heard about him before, but he showed some very engaging work and spiced it all up with some music which always makes things more emotional. Maybe it was the prior amount of cosmopolitans at the nearby bar, but nonetheless this presentation made me all soft and melancholic. Thank you Natzke!
I kind of got the impression that he really manages to combine his passion with commercial works.

Josh getting ready for his presentation…

Joshua Davis gave an ultra-tight 15 minute presentation just before Natzke. This was the first time I heard him and he definately lived up to his name, No doubt his work is groundbreaking and it’s amazing to see the beatiful stuff he can genereate from pure code. One thing I couldn’t help thinking was, that from a designers-point-of-view it doesn’t seem like his work has been evolving a lot lately, but then again: Evolution in what he does can happen on many more levels than pure design, so what I know?. Maybe my PrayStation will soon be worth a bunch on eBay?

Craig Swan from UK – An interactive playful guy!
And I almost forgot Craig! He has an awesome approach to his work; that it should evolve from playing. This was right down my alley, and his interactive work is both inspiring and engaging.

OFFF Day 2

Since day one ended in heavy drinking on the Lower East Side we missed a good part of the day, including Must-sees like Gmunk. Dammit!

ReacTable – a mean music making machine

ReacTable was wild – A mutant of an apparatus! A fusion between interactive design, musicians, live visuals and huge nerds from Spain. I especially liked the quit guy who clearly didn’t liked to say a whole lot. Günther Geiger was his name. True!

Neville Brody was sarcastic and clearly an amusing, britishly arrogant and experienced speaker. But he showed the same stuff as he did at TYPO Berlin two years ago, and although his final remarks are both relevant and sharp he seemed to dwell a bit to much at it. Here’s the noteworthy mantra’s of his presentation and then: It’s time to take the next step, Brody!

“Today we (as designers) has forgotten how to take risks and difference has become an enemy.”

OFFF Day 3

Work of Vasava, Barcelona

Vasava – a Barcelona based design agency. Their work was cool in many ways, and really seemed to capture the zeitgeist – Especially their editorial work. Their motion design was also great, but felt really boring and un-engaging because of their very poor selection and editing of the music that accompanied it.

The motion panel team…

The Motion Panel was originally described to be a discussion of the “what’s next” in the world of motion design, but ended up being a presentation of existing works from the guys in the panel. Don’t get me wrong – it was truly interesting and inspiring, and it wonderful to see that both 100-people agencies and small 2-person studios can compete on world-wide campagins for huge clients… I would have loved some more of the “what’s next” stuff after all…

dump from the OFFF Title Sequence

DStrukt & The Ronin came as their alter ego, Devoid of Yesterday. Although it was impossible to hear their mumbling and internal joking their work once again blew me away. They had made the title sequence for this years OFFF conference and it was really awesome, It’s out now, right here.

There is so much more worthy of mention, but hey: I have noodles to buy and beers to drink and, well you get the picture… Any opinions or links? Please share…

A comment to the OFFF team
Hey spanish guys: In November it’s f*cking cold in New York City… We are not going to be all loungy outside even though you put up a stereo and a trendy dj! And why the huha did you play the intro title on the last day of the conference? That’s a bit too mañana to me…