Us third year graphic design students at Sheffield Hallam was really lucky, as our tutors managed to get us tickets to AGI conference in London for free, which gave me an excuse to do my annual trip to London. In the five days i spent there, i got to witness talks and discussions with some of the most iconic designers of our time, visit galleries and get to hang out in the city.
"AGI stands for Alliance Graphique Internationale. It unites the world’s leading graphic designers in a professional gathering of common interest and intent. Membership is by invitation only: to be a member is to be judged ‘a person of influence and importance nationally and internationally’ by existing members.
AGI was founded in 1954. Past members have included Cassandre, Josef Müller-Brockmann and Paul Rand. Current members include Wim Crouwel, Massimo Vignelli, Paula Scher and Marian Bantjes.AGI members have been collectively responsible for the design of many of the world’s top corporations and institutions, as well as for countless examples of globally known publications, illustrations and posters. And they are also responsible for providing teaching in many of the best design schools in the world. "
Each year has a theme, and this year was 'dialogue', therefor instead of the usual lecture format, when lets be honest gets boring after a few hours, the speakers took part in discussions, interviews and quick turn around talks, opening up the conversation of the design process and engaging more with the audience.
Included with the ticket was a tote bag full of goodies (my goodies are photographed below), which as an aspiring designer was much appreciated, especially the GFsmith freebies!
I didn't manage to document the conference much, as some of the talks were so interesting, the last thing i was thinking about was getting my camera out. Some of my favourite talks were Roger Law used to be famous, Stefan Sagmeister on happiness, the cavaliers vs the roundheads debate, A question of design debate and unpopular opinion to my peers, and the interview with Peter Saville, but his talk was so honest and he was so passionate about what he had to say, it was a good end to the first day. The large diversity of subject matter in which was discussed and the honesty of the designers, not hiding behind there success but also discussing the flaws of being in design as well as the highs was amazing, and the two days were truly inspiring so having the change to be part of it at the start of my final year was perfect timing, and i now have pages of inspirational quotes to look back on when i'm going through a creative block..
I also got the chance to visit the Saatchi gallery (http://www.saatchigallery.com) and Tate modern during my visit, with the Saatchi being one of my favourite to visit i was really excited to head back after two years, and introduce my flatmate to it. The two exhibitions on at the time i visited (27/10/14) was Paper and New Order: British Art today. What i love about this gallery, is that it showcases a variety of young contemporary artists whose artwork is rarely or hasn't been shown before so there is always something new for you to be introduced too. Below is some of the photos i took during my visit.
Next year AGI will be held in Brazil, so if your considering it/near you i would highly recommend going as it was a great two days of inspiration, design and discussions. For more information on the speakers that were there this year, head to the website http://agi-open.com/about/ .
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