HIGHLIGHTS FROM SOFIA DESIGN WEEK 2011 - SEMINAR DAY 1

Day 1 of this year's Sofia Design Week Seminar was cloudy and cold, but that did not stop it from being quite interesting and exciting. It was a day of cool bags and Converse sneakers, as I think that for the most part everyone from the audience was wearing one or the other, or sometimes both. Seriously, the number of great bags I saw today was staggering; even the guys had very cool bags. The Converse sneakers definitely seem to be back in style among creatives, although this makes me wonder whether I can count myself as a creative person if I don't actually own a pair...the thought is worrying:) Anyway, I guess it was fitting, since the cherry of the cake in the first seminar day was actually an awesome interactive campaign that the studio Perfect Fools has created for none other than, yes, Converse! Check out just one of the videos featuring the Converse screen of sneakers, where each sneaker is a pixel:



Most of the product designers, such as Matali Crasset and Ding 3000 studio were circling around the idea of the multifunctional and convertible object that reflects the fact that life is always changing - a chair that turns into a table, a coaster for a small pot that flips and turns into a coaster for a big pot that looks very different are just a few of the objects mentioned. Even Johanna Agerman Ross, who is the creator of the new biannual magazine Disegno, talked about this idea of the double-purpose object. I loved Ding 3000's ideas about humor in design. I do believe that people should have fun and it's a good way to bring some designers back to Earth, since there are a few out there who take themselves way too seriously. The "Dividing the Cake" cake mold was one of my favorite objects stemming from the idea of humor in design. It has different size pieces because some people want a smaller piece and some want a bigger piece, and it's just not practical to cut a cake in pieces that are the same size:).

Photo by Ding 3000: S-XL Cake


Photo by Ding 3000: INENDOUT Coaster

I enjoyed Thomas Feichtner's design of a crystal chandelier and wine glasses.


Photo: thomasfeichtner.com

David Pearson's lecture on book design and book covers was refreshing, funny and full of great visuals, and it was one of my favorites from today, since I just love books. Head over to his website by clicking on his name in the previous sentence and make sure you browse around, because there are some great book covers there. After him, Gerard Saint from Big Active took us to the world of design for the music industry, and I was very excited to find out that Big Active worked on Keane's Under the Iron Sea visuals, which are usually on every blogger's list of great CD covers.

Book Cover Designs by David Pearson


Photos: davidpearsondesign.com

Keane - Under the Iron Sea

Photo: bigactive.com

There were so many great ideas and products that were presented today that it's impossible to put them all down in a blog post, but I hope that the ones I've mentioned would still be inspiring for you and will give you a taste of what the first day of the seminar was like! I'm sooo looking forward to Day 2!