INTL Graphic Design Conference

Last night was the first International Assembly talk hosted by INTL, a Glasgow based company showcasing design and talent from around the world. Previously known as The Glasgow Design Festival, it was founded by 2 friends in 2012 after they graduated. The festival has grown massively over the last 9 years with increased gallery spaces and audiences until 2021, when they decided to go move beyond local talent, branching out worldwide and changing their name to INTL. I hadn't heard of this event but was fortunate to receive a free ticket from the university to attend. The conference consisted of around 8 speakers from all over the world, telling a bit about their process, experience in the creative industry and thoughts on how the pandemic has affected them. I'm sure they were only meant to talk for 15 minutes but it turned out to be around 3 hours with some people practically showing their entire career in the timeframe! This isn't a negative as I enjoy seeing the person behind the work, getting a better idea of what motivates them and seeing how they tackle industry briefs. While listening to the speakers, I made notes on the people and processes that interested me. 

Hey Studio

Founded in 2007, Hey Studio is a creative studio based in Barcelona. I really enjoyed how they utilised hand-rendered and traditional processes as graphic design is usually heavily focused on digital methods. The company started working with local businesses and sending their work to clients how they hoped to work for. This was a good insight into how smaller projects can lead to bigger opportunities. For example, they knew they wanted to work for packaging and drinks can companies so having similar work in their portfolio helped open up these opportunities and develop a more recognisable style. 

It was interesting to see their traditional process of cutting shapes in vinyl and ink marbling on cans, both of which could have been easily replicated digitally- just without the spontaneity. Their main message was the importance of collaborations, taking advantage of people who specialise in more specific areas such as motion graphics. This is beneficial as it helps both parties and makes for a fun, educative project. 

"If you don't find a project you love, invent it."

Daydream Packaging, 2019

Uniqlo Interior Design, 2019

Elijah Anderson

Based in Brooklyn, Anderson is an illustrator who works in editorial design. His talk was very personal and he spoke about his struggles with motivation during the pandemic. After months of feeling underwhelmed by anything he created he realised that life isn't defined by your work or creative ability which is something I struggle with too, it's easy to feel overwhelmed when other creatives are succeeding and you want to be doing what they are. Although I wasn't enamoured with his way of working and motivations, it shows that even established artists struggle creatively.

Two Times Elliot

A creative agency based in London with a group of designers, each assigned titles like 'Head of Expression', 'Head of Thought' and 'Head of Experimentation'. I liked this concept as it allows them to think about the context of each company they work with, looking at how the branding, strategy and identity will help them engage with their audience. It seems like a really fun place to work, founded by their love of experimenting and working with smaller brands. 

Lick, Paint Company Brand Identity

Type Play Poster

Femme Type, Type01

Amber Weaver, founder of Femme Type and Type 01, came out of University after studying Graphic Design and realised that typeface design seemed to be a male-dominated specialism. She wanted to bring awareness to this art and change the way we see and use fonts. This is when a company called Femme Type was formed. Weaver also founded the company Type01, aiming to be the UK's leading type-focused design magazine. I love this concept and would buy the magazine to learn more about it. Weaver wants to bring awareness to this area of design and encourage more people to get involved through supporting smaller companies in talks and on their YouTube channel. I've always been interested in Typefaces, how they can convey emotion and become the foundation of a design so I found her talk very interesting. 

Type01 Magazine (Coming Soon)

Nam Huynh

A designer based in Stuttgart, Germany with a focus on how people interact with an exhibition space, challenges perceptions. Beautifully designed exhibitions that are made to be viewed differently depending on the time of day, utilising lighting and location for maximum impact. 

He spoke about a lack of motivation through the pandemic and wanting to try something new, working on a new coding project. All about keeping active and experimenting with new techniques to learn more about your interests and how to mould them into your practice.

Commercial Work and Poster Produced for INTL Competition

Eva Cremers

I found Eva's talk so interesting. She's only been working in the creative industry for 2 years and learnt most of her skills on the job. Cremers is a Dutch illustrator who works in 3D for the likes of Nike, Lazy Oaf, Pull and Bear, Apple and Giphy on branding and advertising. She studied international business management then moved o graphic design but struggled to find something she was passionate about. After graduating, she was offered an internship with Man vs Machine for 3D Design so practically taught herself how to use the software in only 3 months before starting the internship. 

A collaboration with Nike and Size? involved creating an interactive experience where viewers could create a character to take part in a game collecting coins around a recreated Carnaby Street. I loved seeing how she worked, from drawing the rough concepts in Procreate then using 3D software to mould the shapes, adding colour and texture to each piece. Recently she has been focusing on personal work, developing her skillset to work with potential clients. A good piece of advice she gave was to think about how the client will use your work and benefit from it, add work to your portfolio that will help you get jobs in areas you'd like to work in. 

Nike Collaboration

Overall, I enjoyed this event and how diverse the talent was. It definitely focused more on graphic design than illustration but it was good to delve into a different specialism. My favourite speakers were probably Amber Weaver, founder of Femme Type and Type 01, and Eva Cremers because you could see how passionate they were about their work and finding opportunities in the industry. It has encouraged me to have another go at learning 3D software like Cinema 4D because it would be a good skill to have for developing characters.