October 23-24, 2008
Venue: Ljubljana Castle, Ljubljana, Slovenia

EXPERIENCE IN DESIGNING SPACES, BODIES AND MINDS

This year, the Month of Design Conference offers a venue for interdisciplinary dialogue on the role of design in the contemporary world, focusing on the experience as a body/object, as a place and as a concept/mind. What is it that we experience when we long for & use something – at work, play, when shopping, communicating, eating, driving … and what is it that they are trying to sell to us when we are looking for new experiences?

The Design Conference 2008 will feature a pool of design professionals, managers and internationally renowned lecturers, who will discuss the ways of manoeuvring through the world of experience shocks. Ljubljana looks forward to hosting designers, fashion editors, theorists of desire, agents of consumerism, creators of web platforms, web designers, architects, interior designers, marketing gurus and consumer rights activists.

Speakers

DESIGN EXPERIENCE/DESIGN IMPERATIVES, Allan Chochinov, Core77, USA, TRIBAL ASPECTS OF THE BRAND, Nicolas Minvielle, France; HUMAN NATURE, Victor Gerardo Martinez, VGM design, Mexico; SILENT DESIGN, Frans Joziasse, Park, Germany; THE CITY CENTRE EXPERIENCE, David Charles Cash, Building design Partnership, Great Britain; EMERGENT TRANSPARENCY DEFINED THROUGH EXPERIENCE, Enrique Limon, Limonlab, USA; ENRICHING EXPERIENCE THROUGH STRATEGIC DESIGN, Kim Aalto, Mozo, Finland; David Carlson, Sweden; ARE YOU BEING SERVED? Richard Eisermann and Anja Klüver, Prospect, Great Britain; THE SPEED OF INNOVATION AND ITS IMPACT ON CREATIVE PROCESSES, Frederik Andersen, Story Worldwide (London), Denmark; WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE, WHEN CHANGE IS THE ONLY THING THAT IS CONSTANT, Christoph Böninger, Auerberg Design, Germany; Kunle Adeyemi, OMA, Nederlands; HAPPY PEOPLE TELLING STORIES, Jan Egil & Stefan Dahlkvist, Moods of Norway; Norway, OBJECTS AND USERS: DEMANDING INTERACTION, Paul Cocksedge, designer, Paul Cocksedge Studio, UK, DESIGN AS ESSENCE OF ENTERPRISE, Jakob Odgaard, Bang & Olufsen, Denmark, Carl William Kerchmar – Month of Design conference moderator

MORE…

“MOTIVATION AND MANIPULATION: INTERVENING IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND CHINA,” OCT 23-24, LJUBLJANA
Kunle Adeyemi, The Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), Netherlands

Kunle Adeyemi joined The Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) in 2002. As a Senior Associate of OMA he is presently in charge of several ongoing projects: the Qatar Foundation Headquarters, the Central Library and the Strategic Studies center all in the Education City in Doha, the new Headquarters tower for the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in China, the Prada pavilion project in South Korea & most recently the 4th Mainland bridge & master plan project in Lagos, Nigeria.
In addition, Kunle has taught Design at Delft Technical University (The Netherlands) as well as been a visiting critic at the Harvard Graduate School of Design in America, the Architectural Association in London, and the Berlage Institute in Rotterdam. In 2006 he was a guest speaker at the ‘Impure Architecture’ symposium held at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. MORE…

“ARE YOU BEING SERVED?”, OCT 23-24, LJUBLJANA
Richard Eisermann and Anja Klüver, Prospect, UK

Richard Eisermann has worked as a designer and strategist for over twenty years. He has had a hand in designing everything from insulin delivery systems to high-speed train services. In 2006, he co-founded Prospect, a London-based strategic design practice, with Anja Klüver. Prior to Prospect, Richard was Director of Design and Innovation at the UK Design Council, responsible for leading design campaigns in the areas of manufacturing, technology, learning environments, and design skills.
Anja Klüver is co-founder of Prospect with Richard Eisermann, and a visual communications designer with over 12 years of interaction design experience. She has collaborated with MetaDesign London, Icon Brandlab, FutureBrand Digital and Oyster Partners among others, leading multi-disciplinary teams on projects for Unilever, Dutch Telecom, MTV Europe, No. 10 Downing Street, the Victoria & Albert Museum, British Airways and The BBC. MORE…

“SILENT DESIGN”, OCT 23-24, LJUBLJANA
Frans Joziasse, PARK Advanced Design Management, Germany

Frans Joziasse is one of the two founding partners of PARK (1998), an international network of strategic design management consultancies that works with clients like Audi, LEGO, Roca, Siemens, Lafarge, Johnson Controls, Hyundai & KIA Motors, Bugaboo, Amsterdam Airport and Reckitt Benckiser.
He holds an MBA in design management from the University of Westminster (London) and lectures/teaches at several universities in Europe and the US and at the Conferences of the Design Management Institute on strategic design management issues.
He founded PARK in 1998. Joziasse has been cited for numerous awards for design excellence by the Gute Industrie Form in Hanover (Germany). In 2003, he developed the module ‘strategic design management’ for the MA design management at the INHOLLAND University (taken over by EURIB at the Erasmus University in 2005), in Rotterdam, where he continues to teach the module. MORE…

“DESIGN AS ESSENCE OF ENTERPRISE,” OCT 23-24, LJUBLJANA
Jakob Odgaard, Bang & Olufsen, Denmark

Jakob Odgaard is Managing Director of Bang & Olufsen’s Expansion Markets division. From the company’s headquarters in Struer, Denmark, he and his team support an extensive dealer network covering some 40 countries, including Russia, the Middle East, Latin America and India among others.
Odgaard has been 13 years with Bang & Olufsen, with particular expertise in Expansion Markets. He began his career as a consultant with the Carl Bro Group, one of the largest players in the European consultancy market, providing management and strategic counsel to companies.
Today Odgaard also heads Bang & Olufsen Enterprise, a leading provider of custom AV installations to luxury hotels and condominiums, and most recently, took on the role of heading the company’s marketing division, setting the strategic direction for the brand globally. MORE…

“THE CITY CENTRE EXPERIENCE”, OCT 23-24, LJUBLJANA
David Charles Cash, UK; International Development Director, BDP

David Cash joined BDP in 1980, and took over leadership of BDP Manchester Office in May 1994 and of BDP North in July 2000, comprised of four offices with 350 staff. In July 2008 he became Director of International Development responsible for leading BDP’s strategy to become a major international design organisation through the securing of new projects around the world and establishing a network of international offices.
BDP works across many sectors – retail, urbanism, transport, workplace, healthcare, education, housing, leisure and heritage. Their many projects include Täby Centrum, Stockholm, Meriadeck Centre, Bordeaux; Liverpool One; Piccadilly Station Refurbishment, Manchester; and the Vasco da Gama Centre, Lisbon. MORE…

“MAKE IT DIFFERENT: FIVE DESIGN TRENDS FOR THE FUTURE,” OCT 23-24, LJUBLJANA
David Carlson, founder, David Report & Designboost, Sweden

David Carlson, founder of David Report, has been working with design as a competitive weapon for twenty years. With design as an added value David helps his assigners create attractive brands ready for the challenges of the future. His assigners include Absolut, Level Vodka and Sony Ericsson.
He is also the founder of the furniture brand David Design, the lifestyle shop Carlson Ahnell and the knowledge company Designboost. Now and then he also serves as moderator and writes chronicles and debate articles. He edits and does the graphic design for a nature preservation organisation magazine.
Carlson regularly lectures on trends concerning design, entrepreneurship, communication and brand development.

Today, Carlsson argues, most companies understand that the products of their competitors have the same technology, price, performance and functions. It’s more or less only the brand and the design that separates them. This then makes it crucial to have an open mind towards the future, to understand the market and its need states.
This involves developing aesthetically-engaging and life-enriching products that talk both to our hearts and to our brains – “feel good” products so to speak. It’s a safe way forward for companies that would like to develop a friendly relationship with their clients and, at the same time, earn lasting brand loyalty.
Carlson talks about the importance of being culturally connected, and having and using knowledge in creating humanistic experiences. He sees it’s about storytelling and how to build factors in that attract consumers; to use design as a tool and channel of communication. Most important is the need to differentiate; to find the white spots or the blue ocean or whatever we might want to call it, to do it your own way.
His approach to design as an experience goes through five different design trends for the future, all based on both micro and macro research made for the trend report David Report.

Back to Big Design Conference Programme
Month of Design Conference – register here

“HAPPY PEOPLE TELLING STORIES,” OCT 23-24, LJUBLJANA
Jan Egil & Stefan Dahlkvist, Moods of Norway; Norway

Moods of Norway began in Honolulu, Hawaii as an after-party idea between the company’s two designers Simen Staalnacke and Peder Børresen. Simen and Peder wanted to tell stories from Norway and make clothes for different moods, which is why every Moods of Norway item has a small Norwegian detail or twist to it.
Jan Egil grew up in Stryn, Norway and established his first business at 16, a night club in the Norwegian country side. At 36, he is co-founder and financial director of moods of Norway, handling the daily operations of this lifestyle design brand, and responsible for drawing the line between art and commercial products. Egil also works with the design process and to help bring new Moods of Norway concepts/product categories to the world.
With a Bachelor of Communications from Göteborg University in Sweden, Stefan Dahlkvist is the international sales manager for Moods of Norway and is also active in the concept development/design of the brand. At 34, he works closely with the company’s sales agents in Japan, Spain, Benelux, Germany, Scandinavia, Iceland and USA. Together with the company’s design duo, Dahlkvist forms new collections to fit under the moods of Norway concept umbrella, and is also involved with shaping new product categories.

Returning to the country known for polar bears and expensive gasoline, the designer duo drew their lines for the coming collections. The Moods Of Norway brand has its headquarters and showroom in the town of Stryn (population 5750), a place known for glaciers, salmon fishing and one newly-opened escalator.
Little Moods of Norway has been operating on the international fashion dance floor for just six years now, but the philosophy is still the same. Their main goal, besides making their grandmothers happy, is to make happy cloths for happy people around the world.
What role does design play in creating a strong and effective fashion/clothing experience? Behind the brand is an international lifestyle design concept that combines products with a twist of Norwegian history, culture, heritage and tradition. Nature – and the very special Norwegian natural environment – plays a big part in the brand identity and ultimate brand experience.
As a lifestyle clothing/fashion brand, it plays on – celebrates – international travel, a love of colourful play and fun, board sports and music in their clothing, shoes, cosmetics, food, spirits, hotels and more. Moods of Norway creates consumer experiences with hangtags in the linings, with true stories and statistical details, through concepts with (happy) thoughts in mind. To borrow a neighbouring Swedish company’s tag-line, Moods Of Norway is serious fun.

Back to Big Design Conference Programme
Month of Design Conference – register here