This autumn, as part of the Month of Design 09, Zavod Big hosts its annual design conference, this year entitled ‘Sustaining Design Excellence’. The conference, held over two days in central Ljubljana, addresses questions and issues that explore the relationship between quality design, creativity, innovation, technology, strategy, responsibility and sustainability. Eight internationally active and engaged practitioners – from designers and architects to managers, consultants, planners and strategists – are invited to Ljubljana to present their work and their vision within the framework of ‘Sustaining Design Excellence’.
The aim of the conference is to reach and bring together a diverse group of professionals, avid users and enthusiasts from all areas of design planning, production, implementation, communication and distribution; to exchange ideas and information on thinking, application and development of the entire design process.
This year’s program reflects a dynamic array of backgrounds, approaches and disciplines, from curating and communication to redefining retail; from fashionable technology to client services management; from branding and identity to interactive user experience. Each and all represent germane components in the complex mix that is the very wide and diverse  domain that is design today.

Jeff Bickert, Producer and Conference moderator

Information & reservations: Tadeja Perič, registrations@zavodbig.si

Programme
Register here

THURRSDAY, NOV 5
9:00 – 10:00 Registration
10:00 – 10:10 Conference opening
10:10 – 10:20 Welcome by guest dignitary
10:20 – 10:30 Introduction, Jeff Bickert
10:30 – 11:15 Libby Sellers, Curator/Director, Gallery Libby Sellers; UK
11:25 – 12:10 Erik Mastebroek, Director, Client Services Manager, Total Identity; NL
12:20 – 13:25 Lunch
13:30 – 14:15 Michael Mckay, McKay Explore Design and Consulting; DK
14:25 – 15:10 Florian Dengler, Creative Director, Meta Design; D
15:20 – 16:00 Break
16:00 – 17:00 Panel debate

FRIDAY, NOV 6
9:00 – 10:00 Registration
10:10 – 10:20 Welcome by guest dignitary
10:20 – 10:30 Introduction, Jeff Bickert
10:30 – 11:15 James Mair, Director, Viaduct, UK
11:25 – 12:10 Sabine Seymour, Chief Creative Officer, Moondial; USA/AT
12:20 – 13:25 Lunch
13:30 – 14:15 Roland Sailer, Head of Interaction Design, Nose AG; CH
14:25 – 14.35 Break
14:35 – 15:20 KwanMyung Kim, Professor, KAIST, RK
15:30 – 16:10 Jurij Giacomelli, Managing Director, Gorenje Design Studio, SLO
16:10 – 16:30 end, questions, 20 mins, all speakers

Conference producer and moderator: Jeff Bickert

Register here

Erik Mastebroek is a client services manager at Total Identity in the Hague, Netherlands. He has worked as an independent advisor as well as an advisor and account manager for several design agencies. Being a liaison between clients, designers, producers, directors and the rest of the world, he regards his role a silent force in the design and communication work field. MORE…

Florian Dengler has served as creative director at MetaDesign since April 2004, managing clients such as Triumph, Siemens and Lufthansa. After studying design at the Art Center College of Design in Switzerland, Dengler began his creative career at Germany’s leading multimedia agency Pixelpark. Following that, Dengler moved to the international design agency frogdesign and became Vice-President of digital media. MORE…

KwanMyung Kim is Adjunct professor at KAIST – Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, and a researcher at the Human Centered Interaction Design Laboratory. Previously he was co-founder and director of the Hanmaum Energy Science Institute, Kyunggi, Korea, and co-director at the Spring Time design firm, in Seoul, Korea.
For the past couple of years at KAIST, he has been active with a number of projects, including: developing user interface design guidelines for LG Electronics, developing a function scenario for  future TV, and developing a scenario for a social network service for Samsung Electronics. MORE…

Libby Sellers is the founder of Gallery Libby Sellers, a design gallery specialising in limited edition pieces from emerging designers. Launched during London’s Design Festival in 2007, the gallery was listed as a ‘highlight’ of the Festival. MORE…

Sailer will present the case of Swiss International Airlines, now the most successful airline in Europe. NOSE has created a chain of brand experiences for the airline. He will demonstrate how the brand experience is linked to some simple recognition patterns. The presentation includes results across various customer touch-points and the instruments used to manage a sustainable brand experience. MORE…

Sabine Seymour has been described as an innovator, visionary, and trend spotter. She is the Chief Creative Officer of her company Moondial, which develops fashionable wearables and consults on fashionable technology to companies worldwide. Moondial’s work is based on the convergence of fashion, design, textile, wearable and wireless technologies. MORE…

Michael Mckay graduated with a Master of Technology from the Technical University of Denmark as a Mechanical Engineer in systematic product creation. He soon went on to developing phones for Nokia, including work on some of the most widely sold electronic devices ever, like the Nokia 3310, which family sold more than 200 million units worldwide. MORE…

James Mair worked for some years as an interior architect before becoming increasingly interested in contemporary furniture. This interest led him to set up Viaduct Furniture Ltd in 1985. The original plan was to sell British designers work abroad, but the idea developed and led to the opening of Viaduct’s first showroom in 1989 displaying contemporary furniture from Europe and selling predominantly to architects and designers on projects. The current 300m2 showroom is in London’s Clerkenwell between Covent Garden and the City. MORE…

Jurij Giacomelli has a Master’s degree in Economics and a strong affinity for visual arts. With his strong and varied leadership experience from the insurance, publishing and media industries, he contributes much to the success of the Gorenje Design Studio. He understands design to be an essential part of innovation processes in every company. MORE…