Tag Archive for: creatives

The Design Conference Brisbane 2017 // PART 2

The Design Conference was a two-day experience for us Salty designers!
{Read more about Part 1 here!}

Gemma – Designer, Salt Design

Mike Rigby
Mike Rigby delved into client projects just enough to keep us interested and wanting more. The highlight was watching the videos from his project titled ‘love has no labels’. These videos captivated the audience and pulled on our heart strings. If you haven’t seen them – I recommenced you do!

Lauren Hom
My favourite speaker of the day was Lauren Hom. Her presentation was polished and motivating. She showed empathy throughout her speech and connected with the audience by telling honest stories and not glossing over the strife in her life. Lauren’s pitch was to believe in your passion projects as these are the projects that have won in her life. I made note of many of her inspirational slides – such as ‘everything is design’ and ‘drunk conversions are creative goldmines!’. I was so inspired that as soon as I got home I read everything I could find on her – even purchased one of her prints!

Prue Jones
Prue Jones presentation was unexpectedly interesting. Prue works in Service Design (ie. design we all use but don’t own like Spotify and Netflix). A big part of Prue’s job is research, which meant she wanted to research us – her audience. She asked us all to visit the same website and we proceeded to answer questions on the large presentation screen by using our phones. We watched the data tally right in front of our eyes, it was great fun! Prue then went on to discuss the scary topic of Artificial Intelligence (AI). It was super-intriguing and made me realise how important it is to keep up to date with AI developments.

David Leavitt and David Torres – Cyrcle
Just as the audience was left shaking in their boots… out walks David Leavitt and David Torres from Cyrcle. I thought to myself “wow, this is either gonna make or break the wrap-up of this conference *wince*,” but it totally MADE it!!!

Imagine two typical LA artists, who look like they have never left the 90s and who love their cat dearly!

This duo was entertaining, funny, confusing and informative all at the same time. I appreciated their honesty as the pair scrolled through an endless number of photos, giving us a sneak peek of what their living / working lifestyle has been like. I will always remember watching as they told us when the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air attended their first art show and then proceeded to sing the theme song and dance around the stage, as if they had done this many times before!!!

 

salt-shaker-signoffBecause everything is better with a sprinkle of salt!
SALT.Shaker

 

The Design Conference – Day 1

Wow! One day down, one day to go… This year’s Design Conference (TDC) is being held in our hometown, Brisbane and we sent along two Salty designers to marvel in the exceptional line-up of national and international guest speakers – making for one impressive design event! **insert squeals of excitement!**

Finding your way to awesomeness!

There was a feeling of excitement and anticipation as well-over 700 people entered the Brisbane Powerhouse main auditorium. A huge screen flashing the TDC branding and pumping tunes greeted us to kick-off the conference.
(Image profiles below from TDC Website)


Feature Talk #1
Jessica Hische, Letterer

Jessica Hische is a lettering artist, illustrator, author, and self-described “avid internetter” working in San Francisco and Brooklyn.
Read her full profile on TDC website or visit her website. (Images above far right from Jessica’s Website)

As one of our all-time favourite creatives, Jessica was one speaker we couldn’t wait to see! And her presentation did not disappoint!

Stemming from the idea ‘More about the letterform, less about the decoration’, Jessica told her journey from earlier works to where she is now, going into detail of the process and production behind the end result. Her lettering is about substance and style, and really knowing the story behind what you are creating. Creating her Penguin Drop Caps Cover series certainly meant she needed to value the content and perspective of the readers.

Jessica continued discussing her process through a number of examples including those for Starbucks, MailChimp, Eventbrite, Penguin and Johanna Basford. We agree with her, that client’s love to see the process work or reasons behind things you changed on their existing design and it’s important to be sensitive to a client’s existing brand (who knows the client may have created it in the first place!!).

She also acknowledged that while we can all be immersed in and experiment with different creative paths, it’s imperative to have a trustworthy relationship with other creative people to help you when you need it. Her historical-feel café wall design was a good example, where she created the Illustrator file but left it up to a production team to bring it to life on the wall.

We loved her honest, funny and intelligent talk, which also highlighted how ‘you have to love the day to day, not just the end result’. It’s not a race to the finish line, as you discover more about yourself, improve your process and find your style… your awesomeness!

 

 

Feature Talk #2
Branden Harvey

I’m a storytelling photographer with really goofy hair. I used to think my dream was to be a photographer. Sure, that’s my job, but I’ll let you in on a secret: My dream isn’t to be a photographer anymore. Right now I’m telling stories with a camera, and that’s fulfilling for me. But I’ve got a couple tricks up my sleeve. And in 10 years, I hope to have a few more.
Read his full profile on TDC Website or visit his website.

Branden focussed on ‘pivoting’ through life to become a better you. While it’s important to have goals, it’s also fantastic to experiment and build on who you are. He spoke about writing down your top five inspirational people and finding ways you can take a piece from each of them, to pave your journey.

Don’t try to mimic someone else’s journey – choose your legacy.

Wow! Branden’s presentation left us full of good vibes and inspired to make a positive contribution to our community through our work.

 

 

Feature Talk #3
Emily Woollett, Creative Director – Paper Stone Scissors

Emily loves to create powerful brand stories that engage, resonate and inspire a response. It’s not just the story of the product, place or service, but uncovering the juicy bits, the ideals, the personality that captures the true essence of the brand.
Read her full profile on TDC Website or visit the Paper Stone Scrissors website.

‘Superawesomeness’ was the first slide of Emily’s presentation which delved into taking her approach to building brand stories and applying this to real life. We could resonate with the stage of life Emily is in and how looking back on her processes and life values was important to shape what she is doing now. That is, we all get busy with life and sometimes forget to take time for ourselves.

She gave us her top ten tips:

  1. Dare to begin (little and often)
  2. Make friends with fear (versus excitement)
  3. Value your values
  4. Phone home
  5. Focus on your super strengths (collaborate)
  6. Find your story
  7. Understand your process
  8. Don’t blame others
  9. Make work you love (even if it’s on the side)
  10. Work it out by doing.

 

Feature Talk #4
Kitiya Palaskas, Artist & Designer

Kitiya Palaskas is a designer specialising in the creation of props, installations, sets, and artwork using craft-based techniques.
TDC profile sums her up well. Check out more of her work online.

Now she is one rad chick! And we’re not just talking about her fabulous outfit today, or when she was a rapper!

Kitiya’s vibrant, fun personality shines not only through her work but her presentation today, showing how she embraces creativity and turns her limited experience into a dream job!
She’s a jill-of-all-trades, not necessarily fitting into the proverbial ‘box’, but that’s quite ok with her (and us!!).

She wasn’t afraid to mention all the things she didn’t know at first and how she googled her way through some questions in client meetings. Explaining her approach and process provided us with an insight into finding your craft and knowing how to rock it!

Her final statement was ‘success through gratitude’ and we couldn’t agree more!

 

Feature Talk #5
Lisa King, Visual Artist

Lisa King is a self-taught designer and artist based in Adelaide. Her imaginative and stylish portraiture crosses mediums – oil, acrylic, aerosol and computer-generated imagery.
Read her full profile on TDC Website or visit her website.

Art is life. It was great to see photos of Lisa’s exterior and interior murals, however, perhaps the most intriguing part to her talk was the time lapse of her Photoshop process. Her technique was amazing and watching the video provided insight into how she creates her digital pieces. The tone and detail in her work is impressive.

 

Feature Talk #6
Timba Smits, Art Director / Illustrator

Timba Smits is an award-winning designer, visual artist, illustrator and part-time crime fighter living in East London.
Read his full profile on TDC Website or visit his website.

This is one cracking illustrator and creative dude. His talk titled ‘Paddle against the flow’ covered illustration and its integration with typography and layout… oh and his love for Arnold Schwarzenegger!

Who remembers Wooden Toy magazine?! We certainly do! Hunting down a free printed copy whenever they were released was a must! Well it was actually some of Timba’s first works.

He is passionate about editorial layouts and creating a typographic headline to match each featured artwork.

We were shown a detailed illustration of a ‘made-up’ cityscape produced for an Amazon campaign, promoting that they deliver anywhere. And what made it even more awesome, was how he included many hidden elements such as the Ghostbuster building, a DeLorean – even himself with his girlfriend! Best of all – his client was totally cool with it!

While he is well recognised for his retro style illustration, Timba has taken new directions to further his style. One aspect he’s been working on is “taming the beast” – don’t go overboard with the design – strip it back and keep it simple.

Timba had the opportunity to move to London and now works for The Church of London as Creative Director, working on iconic magazine Little White Lies and Huck Magazine. His creative process to produce the cover illustrations is incredible!

If you live in Melbourne, be sure to check out Timba’s solo exhibition ‘Role Models’, inspired by cinema and movie culture, which reference his magazine covers.

T’s number one top tip ‘Good things take time. Great things take a lifetime.’

Cheers for awesome presentation Timba!

 

Feature Talk #7
Jonathan Calugi, Artist

(Note to all readers – this bio is to be read with a deliciously gorgeous Italian accent!)

It all starts with two dots and a line •• –

Jonathan Calugi is an illustrator from Italy and it is from his self-proclaimed chaotic workspace, that he creates clean illustration and pattern works. Each piece is a take on his quirky child-like doodles with minimal lines and simple, uncomplicated colours.
Read his full profile on TDC Website or view his work on Behance.

We loved how he introduced himself through his gradual illustration of his two cats, to which he then added his parents, then himself and his partner – this was his story in a way only he could portray so creatively!

It’s the energy he creates with a single line that makes Jonathan’s work so fascinating! His ability to create many viewpoints through the telling of a story from one perspective through to another in an array of patterning – all with a single line was awesome!

He was very passionate in his talk about taking his doodles (which he said we may think are ugly, but he simply loves) and turning them into stylised artworks.

Jonathan’s work for Nike and his development of typography by a continuous line were but a select few of our favourite works from his presentation. Truly exquisite!

Cheers TDC for a truly awesome day one!

salt-shaker-signoffBecause everything is better with a sprinkle of salt!
SALT.Shaker

Lest we forget
ANZAC Day

Lest we take for granted how fortunate we are to live in this great southern land.

Each year, as ANZAC Day approaches, we are reminded how we should remember the fallen. Those who fought courageously for our countries – Australia and New Zealand. Upon reflection, perhaps we can also use this commemoration to remember what we have and how lucky it is to live in countries where we can feel safe and able to live the lives we choose to live.

At Salt, we’re drawn to visually beautiful things – awesome design, brilliant typography, brilliant new styles and trends in all areas of design. So we would like to take this opportunity to recognise and be grateful for the freedoms we are provided to create and inspire, to achieve and strive for new and beautiful designs.

Design ‘across the ditch’
We are inspired by the freshness and ingenuity happening in all areas of New Zealand design. The nation’s approach to life, respect of nature and ‘genuine’ personality are being translated into many design disciplines including graphic, environmental, interior, fashion, industrial and architectural. Whether it is the natural beauty of the landscape, the purity of New Zealand’s oceans or the remoteness of the country – there’s definitely something about kiwi design!

Our Great Southern Land
Not to get too swept away by the talents of our nearest neighbour – we’ve got some pretty clever and crafty folk here in our own back yard! The ability to step beyond the norm, willingness to stand out from the crowd and true blue Aussie resourcefulness are the qualities of young designers leading the way here in Oz .

So here’s to great design, to our ability to express ourselves creatively and stand proud as Aussie and New Zealand artisans.
We truly are grateful – for who we are, for what we have and for what we can create!

Lest we forget.

salt-shaker-signoffBecause everything is better with a sprinkle of salt!
SALT.Shaker

 

All images and biographies below are from the creative’s website – be sure to check them out!
You can also see their work on our Pinterest board!

Aussies // Edith Rewa, Brooke Holm, Brown Paper Lemon, Olivia York.
Kiwis // Fancy (featuring Design by Makebardo + The Neighbourhood Studio), Hello Polly, Inject Design, Klim Type Foundry, Think Packaging.