We have seen the future - our 99u recap
Recently we made our annual pilgrimage to NYC for the 99u Conference. As usual, the 99u team did not disappoint. From the overall theme of the Creative Future to the retro visual identity to the speakers and the workshops, this year’s conference provided insightful perspectives and tons of inspiration for the rest of 2019.
The Creative Future
Coinciding with the conference this year, 99u released The Creative Future Report. With all the media talk and apparent anxiety around robots replacing jobs, the 99u team decided to ask the opinions of 3,600 creatives about the future of design, technology, and business. You can read the full report here, but below are some of our key insights.
40% of creatives feel they can and will be able to work anywhere with Wi-Fi
But only 11% see that happening in a coworking space
37% of creatives still believe in communicating and working with colleagues and clients face-to-face
72% of creatives see social impact playing a bigger role in future work
40% of creatives find their inspiration offline
Conference Highlights
On Wednesday evening, we attended the Kickoff Party. Here you pick up your badge and swag, but also get a chance to explore, play, and mingle. In a very clever way, the kickoff brought the theme and visual identity to life. Despite all conference topics pointing to the future of work, the activities and branding summoned tried and true design aspects of the past. There were stations to design and print your own stickers, play with wood block fonts, and even an old school ink press. Of course, the simple black and gold aesthetic of the conference gave a nod to the past with a custom font resembling printer ribbon.
“If the cost of losing your job is too great, you will not innovate.” - Dr. Vivienne Ming
Thursday was full of learning and inspiration. Dr. Vivienne Ming from Socos Labs kicked us on the main stage reminding us that, “If the cost of losing your job is too great, you will not innovate.” This struck a chord with us being that much of what we focus on at Bourbon Fat is that overlap between company culture and innovation. Fear of taking risks seems to be growing more as concerns about job security persist. Dr. Ming gave encouragement though saying, “creativity is what fundamentally makes you unique.” Sure, robots can cut, color, sketch, print, and build, but they can’t come up with the creative ideas that yield those outputs.
From there, we heard Zach Lieberman from the School for Poetic Computation who gifted us the acronym, A.B.I.—always be iterating. If you want your mind blown visually, check out Zach’s work in the New York Times for A Visual Journey Through Addiction. Kyle T. Webster from Adobe made boredom a sexy concept again by saying, “if you want more creative ideas, you need to give yourself time to just space out.” The great Tim Brown from IDEO also took the stage, inspiring all of us by declaring this is the greatest time to be a designer, and added the future is about diverse design teams not individuals. Kat Holmes from Google and Mismatch Design talked to us about exclusion and mismatches. She said, “we all experience exclusion in more ways than ever before.” Joel Beckerman from Man Made Music enlightened to the importance of sound in design and branding. Did you know, “the right sound increases brand appreciation by 53%?”
Thursday concluded with a workshop from Hush Studios, an experience design company. In that workshop we all contributed to an audible experience where our unique personal data transformed into sounds and tones heard within the space. Very cool stuff. Then it was off to a Master Class from Dropbox where we dove into how to best share our design research with stakeholders, decision makers, and actual product designers. We have had multiple interactions with the Dropbox team and continue to be impressed by their culture and work habits.
Friday morning began with another Master Class. This time around I had the fortunate opportunity to snag a seat in Brian Collin’s session. Brian’s class was as he would say, “ridiculous!” Brian took us on a historic journey about how technology, politics, and space have long influenced design in all facets. He also took us through some case studies of his firm’s (Collins) work. Key takeaway from Brian was this is a great time for companies, brands, and designers to find their courage again…to find more than three brand colors again too. No more Minimal Viable Products…it should be making work you Maximum Fucking Love!
No more Minimal Viable Products…it should be making work you “Maximum Fucking Love” - Brian Collins
After Brian, it was a workshop from Local Projects where we practiced designing experiences within physical spaces. By weaving historic stories of the space with modern experiences, we learned how to reimagine learning in an experiential way.
Friday’s main stage talks were as exceptional as Thursday. Merrill Garbus provided a dance-in-your-seat transition from lunch with some of her beats. Then, Giorgia Lupi from Accurat gave us a lesson into making data humanized through visualization. Anna Pickard from Slack reminded us about the importance of words and how they can people feel seen. Michael Ventura from Sub Rosa took us along his journey of defining Applied Empathy. We heard and appreciated, “it’s not about being nice.” Thaniya Keereepart from Patreon revealed how content advertising is changing for the benefit of those making who make the content. And finally, in a very animated conclusion that contained zero slides, Ashley C. Ford from BuzzFeed News tapped into what it means to be authentic, transparent, and to be your own super hero.
As usual, Friday night concluded with the afterparty event at the MoMa, but I can’t tell you much about that. What happens at the 99u Conference afterparty stays at the MoMa. You’ll have to join us next year to experience it for yourself.
Thank you to the 99u and Adobe teams for their continued effort, we always enjoy the experience. Their attention to detail and design continues to serve as inspiration in our own work.