We recently got back from Auckland and the We Can Create design conference. First up was Sarah Maxey. She is obsessed with bears. And with words and the shapes they come wrapped up in. She's renowned for her delightfully whimsical typography. She uses blotches and lines that twist and swirl around each other creating letterforms of true beauty. She loves Outsider artists and 'The skip and bleed of nib on paper.' To illustrate this she showed a child's drawing of 'The road to the beach.' It was a one of those twisting unsealed roads littered with potholes. The drawing was a giant red scribble created by holding the pen to the page for the duration of the trip. Awesome. Next up was Thomas and Martin Poschauko, designers and authors of 'Nea Machina'. Their work examined the creative process by exploring the multitude of ways a single piece of text and image might be combined and represented. In doing so they critiqued the relationship between their head, their intuition, their hand and their computer. Their designs were a visual stream of consciousness. One idea bouncing of the other, it was an exercise in freeing their creative perception. Their graphic playfulness and a willingness to see the world with fresh eyes made their work a joy to view.
Jonathan Barnbrook showed some slides documenting street art in Ireland. They used huge motifs, masked men, flowers, emblems and typography declaring loyalty to the crown or IRA supported liberation. One wall proclaimed 'Sometimes it is better to be kind than right'. I liked that. A team from Adbusters spoke about how it's emotions rather than facts that convince people. This is because facts are abstract and emotions are relatable. The day closed off with Taika Waititi, director of Boy and Eagle vs Shark. Aside from being awesome he likes to express his point of view. He likes his Dads art, Robocop, Outsider Artists, Henri Rousseau, Michael Jackson, Swastikas that magically become windows, knock knock jokes, Rugbaby and dolphins. He dislikes cancer, fish fingers, nuclear bombs and Nazis.
Check out the V Motion project by Assembly who also spoke at We Can Create. They are designers who fuse art with science. http://vimeo.com/45417241