QBN Sessions Recap
Posted on Saturday, September 8th, 2007 at 18:39.
I attended QBN Sessions yesterday. The lectures were entertaining, inspiring, and thought provoking. The party afterwards was even better. Here’s a recap.
Phunk Studio
Phunk Studio is comprised of four guys who got into design so that they could “go to cool parties” and “get lots of girls”. Their creativity and unique style has brought them worldwide acclaim in almost every design discipline.
I loved the care free attitude the guys had towards clients. In Singapore, design studios apparently have the luxury of never doing comps. The idea of clients coming to you for your style and, for the most part, trusting whatever you come up with is foreign to me. Perhaps the trust of the client allows far more creative work to be produced. I admire how the four has translated their unique style to so many different design mediums.
Michael Muller
Michael Muller’s photography portfolio includes a long list of a-list celebrities. His shots are phenomenal. His personal and his professional work are equally impressive and I loved his emphasis on doing work you want to do even if it doesn’t pay well.
Photography is one of those things that I wish I was good at so badly. So much about photography to me seems like being lucky enough to have a situation in which to trigger the shutter. Certainly, timing is important but my favorite points in Michael’s lecture were about establishing the scene and connecting with the subject in order to create a moment worth capturing.
Favorite Quote: I’m driving up Highland and I see a fucking Storm Trooper on the side of the road.
Michael C. Place
Michael C. Place is a very British graphic/print designer. His style is incredibly simple and yet communicates so effectively. This is the most difficult design to do and Michael is clearly a master.
Matt & Mark Owens
These brothers were two of my favorite speakers. The showed off their favorite work, but also discussed more of the business and collaborative side of things. If I continue working in the “design for client” market, I’ve decided that I want to work in a “collaborative” like Athletics. More on that later, but these guys were the most inspiring to me that people can be happy in this industry. I also managed to grab a spiffy sticker before the mob trampled on me.
Shepard Fairey
Shepard is one lucky guy. His stencil became an unintended phenomenon and he’s gotten to live off of it. He had many interesting things to say about art and the making of meaning. Most interesting were his comments about commercialization of art. Shepard is criticized for now being part of what his Obey campaign critiques. He’s unapologetic and rightfully so. He gets to do the work he wants to do, it has great impact, and it has great meaning.
Favorite Quote: If you’re an artist and people find out you do graphic design, it’s like you work for God and do side jobs for Satan.
The Mill
I don’t care if you’re a multi-national Oscar Awards winning visual effects company. If you come to a lecture series in America and insult the mostly American audience by saying Americans aren’t intelligent enough for “European style” commercials, you should at least leave enough time in your presentation for Q&A so that you may be ridiculed for your absurd statements. Don’t be an ass. The end. I’m not even going to link to them.
Joshua Davis
Joshua Davis, downing a few Red Bulls during his prezo, was the speaker that most resonated with me. I loved that he showed the process of how he developed his signature style. His art is the program he creates, not necessarily the visual result of the program. More information on his code would have been appreciated, but the audience’s consensus was to start the after party. His thoughts on his appropriation of Asian culture being considered new by Asians because they don’t see their own culture was intriguing.
Favorite Quote: You should be pissed off every time you open Photoshop and Illustrator.
JEREMIAH. PREZO IS NOT A REAL WORD.