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Design Gumbo IDSA National Conference September 20-23, 2000 New Orleans, Louisiana www.idsa.org Conference Review by core-e-spondent Duane Smith, of http://www.vesselinc.com

2000 IDSA Conference breaks attendance records! The IDSA's annual national gathering is always an opportunity to keep in touch with the academic and professional design communities, as well as enjoy the hospitality of the local folk - and there was plenty of that to go around. New Orleans' energy and role in the conference theme contributed to a successful, diverse gathering. Over 800 individuals from approximately 15 countries attended the event. There was also more national and international press represented than ever before, including I.D. Magazine, Business Week, Plastic News, WGNO-TV, New Orleans Times Picayune, Gazeta de Mercantil from Brazil and SBS, a Korean television station. The Design Gallery The design gallery always has a central role in the conference, acting as meeting place, information exchange, dining hall, and showcase for the IDEA winners. The opening of this year’s design gallery included tarot card readers and the GE plastics girls - women donning dresses constructed of the latest GE plastic sample chips. The gallery was also the venue for an auction. Nine design firms donated award-winning products they designed for auction, and a lively local couple auctioned them off to raise money for IDSA Scholarships. GE Plastics Conference highlights included presentations by a large variety of individuals in the design community and beyond. Mark Newson, Ayse Birsel, and Bill Moggridge all discussed influences in their work and visions for the future. http://www.marc-newson.com/ http://www.olive1to1.com/ Bill Moggridge’s presentation, ‘POMO to SHINTO’, was a particularly interesting view on the direction of aesthetics. He noted four ideals of SHINTO - love of purity, beauty and power of nature, unadornment, and zest for life - and their relation to many of IDEO’s current works. http://www.ideo.com Lorin Spak of Herbst Lazar Bell shared his opinions on the undervaluing and undermanagement of design. It was nice to be reminded that we are all part of a rare industry and that firms should be compensated for the value they add to clients’ businesses. Spack noted key differences between many design firms’ strategies and the typical public company or law firm, and also offered solutions to many of the typical problems encountered by design managers. http://www.hlb.com Jazzbottles Hiroshi Ishii and other representatives from MIT Media Lab shared their incredible Tangible Bits, including MusicBottles, curlyBots, and Ping Pong Plus. These animated technological creations attempt to "give physical form to digital information, seamlessly coupling the dual worlds of bits and atoms." Whatever their purpose, they’re a lot of fun to play with - the music bottles were a little hard to stuff in my pant pockets, so I guess I’ll just have to enjoy them online. http://tangible.www.media.mit.edu/groups/tangible/projects.html Of particular note were presentations by Beth Mosher and Jim Couch. Mosher likens design to ‘reverse archaeology’ and illustrated her point by analyzing various kitchen objects as seen by archaeologists of the future. Her inspired functional interpretations of a colander (eye protection from UV, of course) and cufflinks (decorative brass knuckles) were hilarious statements on the current state of our society. Mosher suggests remembering our role as a "mouthpiece of what’s important to society" in order to take pride in what we create. Couch spiced things up by preaching the gospel of design, as would any good southern minister. "With all the exposure and publicity that we (designers) as an industry have been receiving, we’ve gotten very comfortable," claims Couch. "This comfort in turn has bred passivity, which in turn has lead to complacency. Therefore, we haven’t been sticking our necks out as far or as frequently as we should. I decided that I needed a format that was both a stretch and a risk - the practice-what-you-preach (no pun intended) perspective." http://www.fitch.com/ Also spicing things up were off-site events and a personal taste of the N'awlins culture. If you didn’t know better, the Razorfish party could have been happening in New York’s meatpacking district. The party was held at a local gallery with some ‘interesting’ exhibits of jelly- and fetus-filled pouches, and the crowd spilled onto the sidewalk while enjoying sakitinis and pickup truck gymnastics (I won’t mention any names). You can’t talk about N'awlins without talking about Bourbon Street. One word pretty much sums it up - scary. If shoulder-to-shoulder crowds of drunken, bead-craving tourists who will do ANYTHING to get another string around their necks are what you consider a great evening out on the town, you know where to go! This year’s portfolio review was also the best attended yet with 46 employers reviewing the work of some 75 students. "I think it is a great resource for students," said Marianne Grisdale, IDSA, senior designer and project manager at Herbst LaZar Bell. "I wish that an event like this had been available to me. Unfortunately, I think there are still schools out there that don’t let the students know what a great opportunity the IDSA National Conference can be." If you’re a student or recent grad looking for work and you haven’t been to one of these yet, get off the couch and get your stuff together for next year’s review in Boston. Business Week’s Bruce Nussbaum and IDSA President Mark Dziersk presented gold awards to the 2000 IDEA Competition winners in the historic Sanger Theatre, followed by a trip to Generations Hall to complete the New Orleans experience with live music and great food. All the ceremony needed was a live band on cue to boot off long-winded acceptance speaches and it would have been perfect. Said Steve Wilcox, "I think it was great to end the conference on such a high note." "Some of the things we did that seemed to work well were to have really good food and really good music," said Wilcox. "We created an experience for all the senses." Good music indeed. The opening reception included tunes by Rockin’ Dopsie Jr. and the Zydeco Twisters, and the awards ceremony evening was completed with dancing to music by Jon Cleary and the Absolute Monster Gentlemen. I asked the Gentlemen about their name, but you’re probably better off not knowing. Hmmmm Sneak previews of next year’s conference planning suggest that New Orleans is going to have a run for its money. ‘Designing Your Life’ is being held in Boston from August 15-18th, 2001 and will be supersaturated with energy and inspiration. The conference chair, Gianfranco Zaccai of Design Continuum, is also sure to give us a taste of both the booming Boston design scene and New England culture - save room for lotsa clam chowdah. Reporting by Duane Smith of Vessel Inc. in Boston, and chairperson of the IDSA Housewares Section. http://www.vesselinc.com

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