Islamabad :Throughout most of the 20th and the 21st centuries, beauty has gotten a bad reputation. Most respectable designers claim not being interested in it; the contemporary art world too has almost abandoned it. But a beautiful environment not only changes how we feel, it also changes how we behave.
One of the most influential designers in the world Stefan Sagmeister delivered these remarks at the conclusion of the two-day National Digital Design Conference (ND2C) here on Sunday in a stimulating keynote address focusing on why beauty is so close to his heart, why beauty matters, why the neglect of beauty is so imprudent, and what can be done to reverse it.
An Austrian national, Stefan is co-founder of Sagmeister and Walsh, a New York-based design firm that has designed brand identities, websites, custom objects etc., for clients like BMW, Red Bull, The New York Times, and HBO, to name just a few. Like all other international speakers, this was Stefan’s first visit to Pakistan, courtesy ND2C.
“Beauty does not lie in the eye of the beholder. This line from a 19th century love story is demonstrably not true,” Stephan stated. He believes that the sense of beauty rests deep in the human mind. “Every idiot can design a chair one can sit on. But it is so far more difficult to design a chair that is beautiful; that you actually want to have in your house; and that you will want to repair when its broken,” he stated to demonstrate the significance and value of form and expression that is aesthetically appealing. “Functionality will only be enhanced by the beauty of its form,” he assured.
Setafan maintained that the big question is not between something that is simple and something that is ornamental or complex, but between something that is done without care and something that is done with care. He said, “99.9% of everything that is ugly in the world is not ugly because somebody wanted it to be ugly; it is ugly because somebody never bothered and it just happened to be that way.”
Soness Stevens, a TED and TEDx speaker, delivered a presentation on the power of emotion. She questioned what makes a talk engaging, and then replied ‘the power of story, of course.’ Soness was of the view that a story is simply a vehicle to move from point A to point B, and that it is actually the power of emotion that acts like fuel to drive a story.
The conference’s impressive speaker line-up also featured Jane Austin, Director Design and User Experience at MOO, an award-winning online print business. Jane said there are two stages to designing great digital products -- designing the right thing and designing the thing right! She presented several case studies from her career showing how design can inform business strategy and how designers can work together with product managers to execute great designs.
Filmmaker and academic Babar Sheikh shared how visuals can be handpicked to create a narrative structure that conveys an idea while balancing style and functionality. He talked about whether advertisers have ventured too far with creative licenses or whether some stereotypical cultural depictions are simply part of the nature of advertising.
Saima Zaidi, Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication and Design, Habib University, highlighted the need for interdisciplinary participatory design for education and entertainment projects to encourage community participation. A core member of Numaish-Karachi, Saima explained how the organization aims to open up neglected public spaces for cultural productions as an open art gallery, laboratory and playground, and transform them into inclusive urban retreats.
Badar Khushnood, Co-founder and Partner at Bramerz, shared the secret to success of ecommerce in Pakistan. He shared tips on how retail brands can sell online and expand their businesses, and how successful online stores can be set up in Pakistan.
The Creative Director at Blitz Aamir Mallick focused on the art of copywriting. He spoke about why words are good slaves and bad masters, and how to weigh them before we give them away. “As long as they remain unspoken and unwritten, words can be enchanting and magical. Once out in the open, they close every door behind them and we lose all control over them; though not all rights,” he stated.
Aneeqa Ishaq, Chief Design Officer, Ideate Innovation, highlighted the key steps to creating exceptional user experiences based on research, success stories, and real examples. What defines exceptional user experience; what is the one quality that is common to all successful designers, products and companies; and why is it that some products fail to impress users while other stay relevant year after year, were some of the questions she offered answers to.
‘The adventures of women in animation: now in 3D’ was the topic of a joint presentation by Ammara Gul Aga, lead writer and IP Developer at Ice Animations, and Syed Ali Akbar Rizvi, producer at Ice. Atiya Zaidi, executive creative Director at Synergy Dentsu, gave a powerful take-home message: “Find your own passion and do not follow the script given to you.” Graphic designer and illustrator Samya Arif spoke about the benefits of collaboration to the local design and illustration community, and spelled out how one can work together for maximum innovation. Yawar Iqbal, Executive Creative Director of J Walter Thompson was one of the guest panellists while Ali Murtaza, Industrial and Interaction Designer, conducted a workshop session.
An added attraction of the conference was the ND2C Live Design Challenge, an exciting live design contest where five designers competed for the chance to kick-start their careers in front of hundreds of design enthusiasts, as well as potential recruiters and buyers. Dua Saeed, a graduate of art and design at the Comsats Institute of Information and Technology, was the lucky winner of the first prize -- a cash award of Rs400,000 and a Wacom design tablet. Cash prizes valuing Rs750,000 were presented to all the five contestants.
Networking sessions, panels, workshops and a creative fair were added features of the conference. Umair Saeed, COO of Blitz, did a great job as host. In the end, organizers Sana Khalid and Nida Salma appeared on the stage to a standing ovation. Nida recollected how they started working on the idea a year ago and how it eventually materialized despite denunciations.
Adding to the story, Sana said, “We met a lot of people and wherever we went, we were asked, ‘What is your platform?’ We would tell them, ‘It is just us; we don’t have a platform.’ We were told it would not be possible for us to proceed; that people would not come; etc. However, every time somebody said, “You can’t,” we replied: ‘Watch us,” because we knew we had to do it.” Sana thanked all sponsors, partners and volunteers who contributed to the success of the conference.
