‘To shout or not to shout? The importance of Brand Tone of Voice’

David's practical presentation will cover off, what is Brand Tone of Voice - BTOV?, how BTOV changes based on a brand's strategic positioning and target audience, how to create a single brand message with the integration of BTOV and design, and which brands' BTOV are keeping their audience engaged.

Fred&Co is a creative digital-centric advertising and content agency based in Brisbane, Australia. Driving responses with difference matters most to them. They get a kick out of turning data, creativity and digital into results that change behavioural patterns to build brands and businesses.

David Lucas has over 28 years' experience in Advertising working at international agencies of M&C Saatchi, Wunderman and ‘hot-shop’ digital agencies. In that time, he’s worked on over 92 brands and won or been a finalist in 56 creative effectiveness awards.

https://www.fredandcodigital.com/

‘Behind every great design is a story’

What turns your dots, lines, shapes and colours into a logo or into something meaningful? It’s always the story behind it. When you create, always begin with a story and see how it not only supports your work, but makes it more powerful.

Rana Sadek is an experienced creative designer with extensive experience creating the visual components of clients’ branding and marketing initiatives. Her career has been highlighted by developing creative and innovative designs and campaigns that have resulted in not only significant sales growth, but extensive market penetration for leading international brands including Al Dar, Yas Mall, Government of Dubai, Al Futtaim, Orange, Etisalat, Royal Jordanian Airlines, the National Jordanian Football Team and Ferrari World.

She has a strong arts and design background, with a Masters degree in Graphic Design from Falmouth University in the UK.

http://impactbbdo.com/en

Ani Atanasova’s talk will be about Immersive design and the power of games and gamification.

Dr. Ani Atanasova has a Ph.D. in Quantum & Optoelectronics and spent years in science, research, teaching, and industry. She has worked on several patented projects of the EU in magnetic field measurements, laser, and laser applications. She is also third year 2nd Ph.D. in progress in the field of education.

Since 2009, Dr. Ani Atanasova has been the co-founder and CEO of Pixelhunters, a company based in Dubai, and an expert in Content Creation, Technology Implementations, Knowledge Applications. Pixelhunters is working extensively for the government sector with multiple projects developed for education, training, awareness, and innovative marketing, based on VR/AR/MR and gamification. 12+ years of history, more than 1000 projects delivered worldwide, and more than 100 international industry awards.

https://www.pixelhunters.com/

Michael Rice is an Irish Artist, Designer, Maker and Educator who specialises in ceramics; his work is concerned with surface, texture, natural geometry, gestalt principles and archetypal forms, all components of any design practice.

Michael has a Degree in Fine Craft Design, a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (Art and Design), and a Masters Degree in Multi-Disciplinary Design, all from the University of Ulster. His work is exhibited internationally. As an Educator he has taught in Schools, Colleges, Universities and Art centres worldwide and has undertaken artist residencies in the UK, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, UAE and Indonesia.

Michael is a member of the International Academy of Ceramics based in Geneva and is the IAC UNESCO representative for the UAE. As a writer, he has published articles in the UK based international magazine of Art and Craft ‘Ceramic Review’, and the Australian publication ‘Ceramics Art and Perception’.

http://mceramics.com/

Arian Shaughnessy will be talking about editorial design in the digital age. His talk will look at how his practice has gone from graphic design to one that includes writing, editing and publishing. It will look at such questions as: what is editorial design in the digital age? What is the future of printed matter in the age of Instagram and Tik Tok? What are the creative strategies for combining texts and images in ways that engage an audience in the age of distraction?

Adrian Shaughnessy is a graphic designer, writer, publisher and educator. He has written and art directed numerous books on design and has been interviewed frequently on television and radio. His book, ‘How to be a Graphic Designer . . .’ has sold over 80,000 copies. He is a co-founder of Unit Editions, the design publishing imprint. He lectures extensively around the world. He is a tutor in graphic design at the Royal College of Art, London.

https://www.uniteditions.com/

Irene Previn will talk about her passion for photographic illustration, and how she transitioned from designer to fine arts illustrator.

Irene Previn is a contemporary Australian artist working in the field of digital art and photography, whose current work explores her obsession with the sea, the sky, and incongruous associations of objects.

Her practice is informed by surrealism and explores the mischievous interplay between whimsical and sinister elements with the intention of provoking a visceral response.

The resulting assemblages created from her imagination are dream-like, and include combinations from her archive of landscape photography and images from her personal collection of vintage ephemera.

She also works commercially as Senior Designer at FJK & Associates in Melbourne, Australia. She has her own design company and has also worked as a design Educator at the University of South Australia.

https://www.ireneprevindesign.com/

Ghaz will talk about how Maek design started, the luck along the way, and the power of the hustle.

Maek Design Studios are an independent design company with a 16-year proven track record of partnering with global brands and new ventures to create beautiful and impactful digital, brand and design solutions.

Ghaz is the Creative Director and Founder and heads up the Dubai studio. Prior to founding Maek, he was Head of Design at the multi-award-winning creative agency Deepend, and then went on to freelance as an art director at JWT, Poke, de-construct, and the BBC, among others. His expertise is broad and includes strategy, brand identity, animation, website design, illustration, and video editing. He holds a BA (Hons) in Graphic Design from Nottingham Trent University.

https://www.maek.co.uk/

‘Home, Factory, Laboratory’ 

They believe that the capacities of the art history, literature, and eclectic urban culture of today's Iran and the region can be used to create a contemporary visual language.

https://studiokargah.com/

International Society of Typographic Designers, ISTD, is a professional body run by and for typographers, graphic designers and educators. The Society has an international membership who share and support its aim to create and inspire interest in all forms of typographic communication. Working closely with education and industry, ISTD establishes, maintains and promotes typographic standards through the forum of debate and design practice.

https://www.istd.org.uk/

John Tarpey’s talk will look at how a dyslexic approach to the design process can benefit non dyslexics too. He will Also explain how dyslexia shaped the  n Suspension book for dyslexics and non dyslexics, from design firstly and then to the writing of it.

John Tarpey is a Graphic Designer, Typographer and Educator. Originally from Kiltimagh, County Mayo, John is a product of a small, rural town of the nineteen seventies through to the nineties. Since leaving college in 1998 he has worked in various graphic design positions as practitioner and as an educator in five Institutes of Technology across Ireland.

John has now settled in Waterford City, where he works as a lecturer in graphic design at Waterford Institute of Technology. He continues to pursue his interest in graphic design and problem solving with a focus on improving the design process predominantly for students.

http://johntarpey.com/

‘Hindsight is 20/20, 40 years of design’ 

Stefan Sagmeister will look back at work from the past 40 years of his studio and talk about what worked and what did not, what made sense to do and what he would not touch again with a long stick.  

Sagmeister has designed for clients as diverse as the Rolling Stones, HBO and the Guggenheim Museum. He’s a two time Grammy Award winner and has also earned practically every important international design award going.

Stefan talks about the large subjects of our lives like happiness, beauty and art, how they connect to design and what that actually means in our everyday lives.

A native of Austria, he received his MFA from the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, and as a Fulbright Scholar, a master’s degree from The Pratt Institute in New York City.

https://sagmeister.com/