OFFF Barcelona 2017
Barcelona has been known to astonish its visitors, with the architecture of Antoni Gaudí’s Sagrada Família and Casa Batlló turning the city into a surreal haven for curious travelers. The Spanish city is a fitting location for OFFF, a meeting of internationally renowned creatives that has been running for 17 years.
OFFF Barcelona 2017 – with the theme New Senses – will bring together designers, thinkers, theorists, developers and anyone else with an eye for the unusual. The three-day meeting will be packed with conferences, workshops, activities and performances related to art and design: “Experimental Design with Vallée Duhamel” and “The Art of Risk-Taking with GFDA” are just two of the many events available to visitors.
For four consecutive years, we’ve been proud media partners of OFFF Barcelona and the journey continues with the partnership across the 2017 edition. Ahead of this year’s edition, we spoke to a number of the creatives that represent the uniqueness of OFFF Barcelona: filmmaker and visual artist César Pesquera, design studio FOREAL, Barcelona-based art collective Hungry Castle, director and designer at Imaginary Forces Karin Fong, and renowned graphic designer Lance Wyman.
For César Pesquera, OFFF Barcelona has an atmosphere similar to a music festival – but OFFF, he said, fills you with ideas and creativity, rather than with music, drink and drugs. “I will enjoy meeting and exchanging tales with friends and strangers at OFFF,” said Lance Wyman, “and what’s not to love about Barcelona.”
Hungry Castle, whose meme-inspired sculptures have led them to be christened “the internet in real life”, said it was an honour to be invited to OFFF, with “so many talented mother fuckers under one roof”. The folks at FOREAL, however, pointed out that OFFF was just like a gathering of any other industry professionals, be it for dentists, lawyers or hairdressers. But they noted one key difference: the creatives at OFFF know how to party.
FOREAL
fluoro. Tell us about your history.
FOREAL. We both met the first time 12 years ago on vocational school for our first job as a media designer, where we started our creative career with a lot of crappy designs. Since then we lived together, worked together in different European studios and went to the same university. In 2013, we founded our own illustration und art direction studio called FOREAL in our hometown Trier, Germany.
fluoro. What do you feel is your purpose as designers?
FOREAL. We both don’t take us too seriously and we don’t see us on a mission to make the world a better place. We like to have fun on what we are doing and appreciate if other people enjoy our work.
fluoro. Does colour = eye candy?
FOREAL. It’s important for us to create consistent colour harmonies. But for a real eye candy piece you need more than just nice colours. Our eye candy basically represents the kind of work we love to do: Bold, colourful, graphic and funky visuals with a twist. Most of our eye candy comes out of self-initiated projects. The catchy commercial stuff we create is often based on something we already did as a free project. We do a lot of free projects beside our commercial stuff to explore new techniques and styles. We love to put a little extra effort into the materials to receive a realistic haptic feeling in the details.
fluoro. Does typography influence your work? If so, how?
FOREAL. We started our studio with a strong focus on typographical illustration and gained much attention with it. We like the graphical appearance of an illustration when it includes type. Recently we do enjoy a lot of projects, which does not incorporate type. Our aim is, to keep up the graphical composition to each of our illustration, not matter type based or not.
fluoro. What does OFFF Barcelona represent to you?
FOREAL. Basically, the OFFF is just an industry congress like dentist, lawyers and hair dressers have it. BUT the big difference is, that creative people have a much better taste and know how to have a good party. The lineup at the OFFF is always great and the price for a three-day ticket is below average, which makes the event more accessible for younger designers. On top of that, Barcelona always serves you a good time.
fluoro. Why have you chosen to take part in the 2017 edition of OFFF Barcelona?
FOREAL. Simply because we have been asked too. We’ve attended a couple of OFFF events and we always had a good time and enjoyed the talks. For us it was clear to be a part of it, when getting the opportunity. We feel honored to be asked for the 2017 edition of OFFF.
Hungry Castle
fluoro. Influenced by the likes of Shepard Fairey and icons like Jeff Koons, what/who/where else influenced your work?
Dave Glass, Hungry Castle co-founder. I’ve always been a huge fan of Salvador Dali. What’s interesting is that there is no separation between the man himself and his work. His entire life was a performance, a remarkable character spreading his vision with the world. We try to embed that performance/character element in our work too. Our persona is the yellow jacket crew, when we wear those jackets we’re ready to build. Life is one big performance (or short depending on the timescale).
f. What makes your work different?
DG. We create large inflatable sculptures inspired by the internet. The Washington Post once called us the Internet in real life. I guess to some extent we are. We love the internet. We are the internet. We take these moments (mostly memes) that have been shared by countless numbers of people and turn them into physical experiences that individuals and groups can interact with.
We adore these pop icons because they resonate with our audience regardless of whether we are in Qatar or New York City. We add humour to the mix because it makes our messages easier to consume.
f. What’s your process in the creation of concepts like ‘Nicholas Cage in a cage’ or Laser Cat?
DG. Our ideas start with a reference. It might be a poorly photoshopped image or a gif. Perhaps it’s a post on reddit. We start with a kernel of an idea and extrapolate that into something that is bigger than us.
We normally thrash about 20 – 50 shit ideas before we finally find one that is acceptable. We’ll share these ideas with our close friends and see if they resonate. Usually if a concept can be explained in a few words and make people smile we’re in a good place. If our friends start telling their friends about our idea we know were onto something truly golden.
The final test is when we get these ideas out in the public and see how our community respond. It’s normally in these live project moments that we truly realise the value of what we have created.
f. Is bigger better?
DG. Size absolutely matters. In our case, bigger is always better. If your work is destined for a gallery or museum there are some absolute limitations. However, when your canvas is public spaces the sky is the limit. A music festival with 100k people demands an artwork of scale.
We use scale, repetition and vibrant colors to command an impact.
f. What does OFFF Barcelona represent to you?
DG. OFFF is a dream come true. So many talented mother fuckers under one roof, it’s mind blowing. It’s a great reference for creativity in Europe and it’s an absolute honour and privilege to be included for the 5th year running!
f. Why have you chosen to take part in the 2017 edition of OFFF?
DG. An artist’s purpose is to persuade people. Usually we do this through our art but sometimes we have the rare opportunity to do this via workshops and public speaking.
Our goal at OFFF17 is to persuade people to adopt new practices in their professional and personal work. We’d like everybody who attends our talk to walk away with a new tool set and new found enthusiasm to make Cool Shit!
César Pesquera
f. Where did your fascination in cinema derive from?
César Pesquera. I remember going to an open air cinema with my dad and watching Harold Lloyds’ movies. Also, I remember watching Amarcord and Blue Soldier at a very early age in a cinema theater in my hometown. Certainly I was too young to watch those films at the time. Those are my first memories regarding cinema. For me it was something I enjoyed watching, I never wanted to become a director, I was more into drawing, painting and later graphic design.
f. How have you evolved as a creator since you first started working in design/film/ music?
CP. Hard to say. I guess I am more focused now in telling stories supported by strong concepts. At the begining I was more dispersed, also in terms of disciplines, techniques and style. Now I try to be more focused, focus my energy on bigger projects instead of working on ten different projects at the same time.
f. What excites your imagination?
CP. Lots of things. Music, art, exhibitions, other people’s work, those are the obvious things. But I specially like traveling. I also think it is very important to do nothing. Just stopping, sitting in a train or in a bus and watching through the window. Just having time to think. That really works for me. I think is important doing just nothing.
f. How do imagery, space and technology relate to perception, identity and desire?
CP. That is an issue that has been worrying me lately. First, the amount of images we generate, the pollution of images in our world. Does it make sense to keep generating images? What’s the point? That is one of the reasons I don’t take many pictures when I travel. Secondly, how that affects the way we see the world and the way we see ourselves.
Not so long ago humans didn’t even have mirrors. The images generated where just a few paintings done by a few number of painters that later were hanged in churches’ walls. Now people do thousands of pictures and know exactly how to pose when they do a selfie. And then those pictures are out there, available to anyone in the world in a matter of seconds through smartphones and social networks. That is an issue I have been thinking a lot lately. My piece Our Time Is Over (Vanitas) is just about that.
f. What does OFFF Barcelona represent to you?
CP. It’s a great combination of things with the atmosphere of a music festival that fills you with ideas and creativity instead of music, drink and drugs. It’s just great. It’s also a great chance to see friends and people you haven’t seen in a while.
f. Why have you chosen to take part in the 2017 edition of OFFF?
I was part of OFFF in some other places, Russia, China.. but never in Barcelona, so that was an extra motivation, being part of OFFF Barcelona, where OFFF is bigger and in the city I live. On the other hand, I have some ideas and work I am ready to share with the world.
Karin Fong
fluoro. What is the importance of storytelling across design and animation?
Karin Fong. I’m a big fan of using design as tool in storytelling. Stories make us feel, remember— make our world easier to navigate. A good story often gets past the thinking part in us, into the a more visceral place. Design, whether animation or another medium, is a fantastic tool for creating tone, for providing context, for making complicated things understandable, and all these things can be used to push a story, and ultimately, emotion, along. Design can express things metaphorically, or impressionistically. Sometimes things make a stronger impression when they are not literal. Maybe that means a drawing, a macro shot, or a surreal effect. I sometimes remind collaborators that in many cases its not about seeing it, but feeling it.
f. How have you evolved as a designer since your work on Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
KF. Over the years i’ve definitely had the privilege of designing for all sorts of stories and content, and that has enabled me use many different production techniques: live-action, cinematography, animation, both drawn and cg, stop-motion, photography, animated typography— and especially hybrid methods that combine high production and lo-fi.
That’s my favorite — being able to create things from all sorts of elements. Hand-done combined with digital, or analog with modeled. In a way, my job at Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego was a primer, a precursor to this approach. For those who are not familiar with the show, it was a PBS gameshow that taught kids geography. It short animations that would run as interstitials. One of my first jobs out of school was at WGBH Boston, the public tv station that produced this program, and I was on a small animation team that did these. For every episode we’d be sent photo transparencies (this was pre- getting images on the internet! ) of various monuments and sites around the world and we would storyboard how the cartoon villains would capture then. The character illustrator would then fax (that’s right fax! ) us back drawing which we would use in Macromind director (this was pre-after effects!), along with the scans of the photos, to make a mixed media animation. I had been doing similar mash-ups of my own doodles and collaged photos at school. I think I always liked the idea of putting together things onscreen, that didn’t necessarily originate in he computer. Now that filters into combining things I’ve shot with illustration, type, effects, sometimes for a seamless effect, sometimes deliberately not.
I’ve never been locked to one look or style and that has definitely contributed to my growth as a designer. I llke the sense of possibility— the not-knowing exactly how it will be made from the beginning can be a good thing. That said, working with amazingly talented crews — often people with a blend of curiosity as well as skills— has made the evolution of the work possible.
f. Talk to us about the mission and purpose of Imaginary Forces?
KF. We just celebrated our 20th birthday, thank you very much! Our studio has always been a about looking at the world through a design lens, and finding ways to excel at visual storytelling. Work that is narrative and conceptual— we like to drill down to find the key ideas and emotions within an project, and bring them to life with artistry and craft. We’ve never limited ourselves to one kind of media, and prefer to work across different types of disciplines, from entertainment to technology….We strive to create work that connects audiences— that’s memorable, that impacts culture.
f. What does OFFF Barcelona represent to you?
KF. Inspiration. I’m looking forward connecting with fellow designers, artists, creators, and taking the time out to look around. explore, be surprised. Having a good time sharing. Thrilled about exploring Barcelona as well. The combo is potent.
Lance Wyman
fluoro. In your view, what is the role of design today and how does it differ from when you first entered the industry?
Lance Wyman. I think the role of graphic design or visual communication today is the same as it was when I first started designing. Figure out what has to be communicated and then figure out how to communicate it in an effective way. The technology today is different but the quest for the good solution is the same.
f. How have you evolved as a designer over the decades?
LW. I studied Industrial Design and then fell in love with graphic design. Industrial Design taught me how to create modular structures in great detail. Graphic design introduced me to the challenge of communicating effectively with simple visual forms. Simple is a challenge. I love the Einstein quote, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler” When form gets simple to the point of loosing it’s intended communication it can get really dumb. Simple can also be very powerful and moving communication. I tend to develop complete systems that rely on simple graphic forms, such as icons and logos. It’s the “not simpler” part of the Einstein quote that’s hard to accomplish.
f. What has been an integral part of the evolution described above?
LW. Icons and logos have certainly been an integral part of my work as it has evolved. When designing for the Mexico’68 I learned that icons can effectively communicate, not only without a specific written language, but in many cases, just plain better. They are compact, they can be read from a distance, they are memorable and they can express feeling. I applied this to the Mexico City Metro, designing an icon to identify each station. That was 50 years ago. They are still working and I am still working on urban systems.
f. Beside the challenge of “communicating layered messages through minimal form” as you’ve noted before, what else appeals to you about the ‘logo’?
LW. If a picture is worth a thousand words a logo is worth a thousand pictures and no words are needed.
f. Are human behaviours affected by design? If so, how?
LW. I do think human behaviors are affected by design. I have been more or less specializing in urban image. The way a city visually identifies, informs and directs people to it”s amenities has an impact. It creates a sense of place and expresses an attitude. It can be a visual ambassador for visitors and can help create a sense of pride for it’s residents.
f. What does OFFF Barcelona represent to you?
LW. OFFF Barcelona represents a quality opportunity to take in other views of our world
f. Why have you chosen to take part in the 2017 edition of OFFF?
LW. I will enjoy meeting and exchanging tales with friends and strangers at OFFF, and what’s not to love about Barcelona.
–
Stay tuned to our Instagram and Facebook as we share the latest from OFFF, with the event taking place on Thursday 6 – Saturday 8 April 2017 at the Disseny Hub Barcelona.
