Last week Forward Festival Vienna brought together the most interesting international and local creative heads of the time. Two days of inspiring talks and key-note speeches, creative workshops and booming after parties gathered over 3000 creatives, designers, professionals and design enthusiasts with-in the walls of the infamous retro cinema Gartenbaukino on the historic Ring Strasse. The idea behind Forward since its beginning has been to create an event where the creative community can exchange opinions, inspire and learn from each other, with a core ambition to bring each other’s ideas, projects, and goals forward.
What I took home from these two days is a growing thirst for information, new experiences, and buckets full of imagination and ideas brought alive listening to some of the most compelling presentations I’ve seen in a while, and of course some amazing new friends I made along. I found it encouraging how both young up-and-coming names were mixed together with industry legends as both had equally unique points of view to share.
I loved how openly Baugasm spoke about his journey of designing a poster-a-day (688 and counting), and how the encouragement he gets through social media spurs him on. I felt mesmerized by Barnaby Churchill Steel of Marshmellow Laser Feasts ground-breaking ‘In The Eyes Of The Animal’ virtual reality project, as well as his ability to get several hundred people to close their eyes and visualize a sensory experience in the midst of a hectic festival day. I felt energized by Gavin Strange’s entertaining storytelling, which honestly made him sound like some type of a design superhero who does not even need sleep! The worlds trend authority WGSN gave an educational sneak-peak into their future consumers of 2020 predictions, while GraffitiAuftrag let me get my hands dirty by customizing my own festival tote bag with silk screen printing. I felt inspired. And by the words of the legend herself (and my personal fan-girl moment of the festival); “Find out what the next thing is that you can push, that you can invent, that you can be ignorant about, that you can be arrogant about, that you can fail with, and that you can be a fool with. Because in the end, that’s how you grow.” – Paula Scher (Pentagram, New York)
If you’re now feeling the threaded fomo, I’ve got good news for you. Forward Festival is packing its bags and heading towards Munich 30.-31.5, Zurich 1.-2.6, and Hamburg 5.7. Find your inspiration!
Europapier Stand
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