DUTCH DESIGN WEEK 2009
PRAGUE DESIGN DAYS 2009
LONDON DESIGN FESTIVAL 2009
GIZMODO GALLERY 2009
EUROBIKE 2009
MAKER FAIRE AFRICA
NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL GIFT FAIR
ISTANBUL DESIGN WEEKEND 2009
BAUHAUS SUMMER SCHOOL 2009
A packed RISD auditorium enjoyed one of the best-programmed conferences ever, with concentrations on Sustainability, Interaction and Experience, Research, and Creativity--exactly the issues most urgent in the growing and maturing field of what is still, stubbornly, being called industrial design.
After a Friday night "mixer" at DWR (Bob Brunner from Pentagram and Fuego North did their futile best to give a presentation amid the pandemonium), Saturday morning started off a bit groggy, but nevertheless inspired, with the theme "Major Shifts." A central thread was sustainability, (a highlight was Eric Rice from Patagonia), with the line up of Stephen Lane from Item NPD, Cynthia Smith (curator of the upcoming Design for the Other 90% at the Cooper-Hewitt), Meagan O'Neill from Treehugger, and Allan Chochinov from Core77.
[tons more pics after the jump]
Anthony Pannozza then moderated a (long) presentation by Bruce Ancona from A2 and a (too short, but very sweet) presentation from Uday Dandavate of SonicRim. (Sadly, no Q&A. Speakers: please stick to your allotted time!!)
Post-lunch workshops followed, (Meagan O'Neill, David Malouf, Motorola, Stop Saw Demo, Gary Eisenkraft), then it was back to the auditorium for an IDSA update with Brian Roderman. "A New Look at Interaction" was the theme of the afternoon mainstage, and it was a standout. Jon Kolko from SCAD killed, followed by Harvey Molotch from New York University, and Michelle Tepper from Frog Design.
A gala event Saturday night was hosted by ITEM NPD, culminating in the student merit award winner ceremony (congrats to Dan Bolinski, from RIT; and to Zach Hastings from Mass Art for an honorable mention). Then it was off to an afterparty at the Monohassett Mill Project.
Sunday's start was strong, with a portfolio review (sponsored by Core77) and then an excellent set on "Research" featuring Graham Marshall from Motorola, Rob Tannen from Electronic Ink, fave Steve Portigal from Portigal Consulting, and Craig Vogel from the University of Cincinnati.
After lunch, the conference hit its last set with "Shifters – Design Mavericks," featuring a kick-butt Paul Budnitz from Kidrobot, Scott Henderson from Mint, and David Wales from the Ministry of Culture.
Hats off to programming director Heidi Newell, who assembled an incredible speaker roster. Kudos to host Jakob Lodwick for providing exactly the right amount of MC, wit, and hand-holding, and congrats to Angela Yeh, Lauren Serota, Asher Dunn, Leslie Fontana, Jay Coogan, Stephen Lane, Trish Wadley, and the entire team for pulling off a wonderful conference. Next stop San Francisco?
Thanks to Nate Dwyer and Steve Portigal for sharing some pics!
Bonus: There were a lot of great lines during the conference--most of them compromised out of context--but for students looking to get hired out there, Paul Budnitz had the crown-winner: "It's all about the cover letter; it's not about the resume." Indeed.
Dutch Design Week
Prague Design Days
1 Hour Design Challenge Winners!
Coroflot Salary Survey Results
Comments
thanks alan for a great report - your support is much appreciated. I have excellent photos of the dance floor moshing on Sat night if you're interested. trish
One of my office mates attended this past weekend and said that the portfolio review session was a complete joke (he also heard the same from several other students he spoke with). I thought the same thing at the last IDSA Northeast conference I went to in Brooklyn. What is so hard about getting that process right? The portfolio-review portions of the conferences I went to in the South were equally laughable. Why is it okay to make students jump through hoops so they can meet with a random "professional" who doesn't have but 2-3 minutes to ask him or her why they're showing them concepts that aren't in their particle area of interest?
A number of RISD IDSA Committee members were left out of the article that deserve to be commended for their exceptional work and dedication in organizing the conference:
Talia Cohen
Advertising and Graphic Design
tcohen@risd.edu,
SungMin Kim
Event Design
Skim24@risd.edu,
Shaai Sattar
Event Design
ssattar@risd.edu,
Yena Lee
Advertising and Graphic Design
Yayna86@gmail.com,
Leslie Ruckman
Graphic Design
lruckman@risd.edu,
Stefan Gougherty
Event Design
sgougher@risd.edu,
Jenny Wu
Graphic and Event Design
Jwu01@risd.edu,
I would also like to extend that thanks to all the volunteers that helped during the day of the conference.
Thanks to everyone for making this weekend such a success. These conferences are a chance to build community, disemminate knowledge and positively influence the future of our industry. It is such an exciting time to be part of industrial design and our global community, and these conferences should help designers act on the pulse.
Please use this blog to express wishes for next year - planning for next year starts now!
I would like to thank everybody who attended the conference, on behalf of Yeh IDeology and the IDSA NYC planning committee. This conference was spectacular, and every person involved was integral in its execution.
And to Troy -
I believe that the portfolio reviews this year were successful. However, we welcome your assistance in planning the 2008 IDSA NED portfolio reviews and look forward to hearing your ideas on how to improve our approach.
Two comments.
I think the portfolio reviews were shoddy as well. Tons of students, no reviewers. It was doubly a drag to not get my portfolio seen by ANYONE, when I could have very much used the morning to nurse my wicked hangover from the afterparty at the Steelyard, which leads me to my next comment...
This weekend was a lot of fun! I have been going to the Northeast district conferences for 3 years now and this was definitely the most enjoyable. The weather was perfect, RISD campus/surrounding neighborhood was great to hang around. I met up with old friends, met some new people, the open bar at the Item party was stocked all night, and the afterparty was sweet. It was just an all-around good time for all. On Saturday I lost my camera somewhere in the auditorium, was totally bummed, on Sunday it was returned. Awesome.
A big thank you by the way to the unknown good samaritan who found it!