It all started a few months ago when my cousin Vicky, who lives in Berlin called me to ask if I would like to volunteer with her in a design festival. I jumped at the opportunity head first as this included 3 of my favourite things in the world - Vicky, design and traveling.
I filled out the application form and 2 weeks before the festival received my schedule. We were lucky enough to work only on the first day of the festival, which gave us freedom to attend all the lectures as guest for the next 2 days.
We got to make friends with many of the volunteers - mostly graphic designers who didn't want to pay the enormous price for the ticket and traded labour for a free entree to the festival.
We worked at registry, so we got to chat with some of the visitors as well - all of them from the design industry. What surprised us was that as well as the volunteers, the guests were coming from all corners of the world just to attend this one of a kind event.
The organization of the festival was flawless, and the venue was very well suited for the purpose. Upon arrival everyone receives a goodie bag full of designer perks. There was complementary BBQ and beer at some point, which went really late into the night and was a good excuse to network with fellow designers.
I mostly attended the lectures in the Grand Hall, where the speakers were the biggest names in the graphic design industry.
My highlights include :
She talked about her journey from redesigning Burger King to creating the first ever design podcast. She shared the obstacles on her way and the horrible record sound of her podcast in the first 4 years, as well as all the inspiring people she admired and had the chance to interview.
A modern inventor who has the craziest ideas. He talked about his recent project, where he would visit some schools in his hometown in England and show the children a few of his inventions. Then he would encourage them to create their own inventions. He will then collaborate with local crafts mans to recreate the children's ideas. Some of my favourite include an umbrella for ladybirds and an automatic high five machine. Check his project here.
The best part of his talk was when he was telling the story of the first customer in his agency. It was a budget hotel that was voted one of the worst hotels. And what Kessels did was he took the worst qualities that the hotel has and turned them into something positive. He says that 25 years later the hotel hasn't changed a bit, but now you need to book months in advance. You can check the project here and be prepared to laugh a lot.
The last day we were invited to a party organized by the Typo Berlin where I got to hang out with the camera crew who turned out to be all Bulgarians.
Any respectable night in Berlin should end in a Turkish restaurant with falafel and fries.
We worked at registry, so we got to chat with some of the visitors as well - all of them from the design industry. What surprised us was that as well as the volunteers, the guests were coming from all corners of the world just to attend this one of a kind event.
The organization of the festival was flawless, and the venue was very well suited for the purpose. Upon arrival everyone receives a goodie bag full of designer perks. There was complementary BBQ and beer at some point, which went really late into the night and was a good excuse to network with fellow designers.
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Dominic Wilcox - The Reinvention of Normal
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I mostly attended the lectures in the Grand Hall, where the speakers were the biggest names in the graphic design industry.
My highlights include :
- Debbie Millman - the host of Design Matters
She talked about her journey from redesigning Burger King to creating the first ever design podcast. She shared the obstacles on her way and the horrible record sound of her podcast in the first 4 years, as well as all the inspiring people she admired and had the chance to interview.
- Dominic Wilcox - The Reinvention of Normal
A modern inventor who has the craziest ideas. He talked about his recent project, where he would visit some schools in his hometown in England and show the children a few of his inventions. Then he would encourage them to create their own inventions. He will then collaborate with local crafts mans to recreate the children's ideas. Some of my favourite include an umbrella for ladybirds and an automatic high five machine. Check his project here.
- Erik Kessels - Your mistakes could change the world
The best part of his talk was when he was telling the story of the first customer in his agency. It was a budget hotel that was voted one of the worst hotels. And what Kessels did was he took the worst qualities that the hotel has and turned them into something positive. He says that 25 years later the hotel hasn't changed a bit, but now you need to book months in advance. You can check the project here and be prepared to laugh a lot.
The last day we were invited to a party organized by the Typo Berlin where I got to hang out with the camera crew who turned out to be all Bulgarians.
Any respectable night in Berlin should end in a Turkish restaurant with falafel and fries.
