Digital design moot ends on high note

Islamabad : The country’s two-days premier design moot ended on a high note here on Sunday. The organisers declared the National Digital Design Conference (ND2C) 2018 a success insisting it provided creatives and design enthusiasts with a platform to share thoughts and experiences. They also said the event brought an array of amazing design events and opportunities to the local talents.

“The National Digital Design Conference is Pakistan’s very own design movement. It is an initiative that provides a platform for promising minds in the creative scene,” said ND2C co-founder Sana Khalid.

The idea for the event was jointly conceived by Sana Khalid, chief executive officer of Minerva, a social enterprise that works on employability, and Nida Salman, head of Create Original, a branding and design consultancy.

The participants included graphic designers, illustrators and animators, educators, marketers and branding experts, digital product designers, freelancers, design thinkers and other creatives.

According to the organisers, the event, which took place for the second year in a row with the collaboration of the Jang Media Group, also gave participants an opportunity to learn from design experts both from within the country and abroad.

The international speakers included Jessica Walsh, designer and art director at New York-based design firm Sagmeister & Walsh; Valentina D’Efilippo, an information designer, illustrator, and creative director based in London; Laraib Atta, a London-based VFX artist, whose team won an Oscar for Blade Runner 2049 and BAFTA for Black Mirror; and Miroslav J. Azis, experience design practice lead at IBM.

They’re joined by Ali Rez, a creative director with more than 200 international awards under his belt; Hira Mohibullah, the most awarded female creative director in Pakistan; Alia Chughtai, a visual journalist at Al Jazeera news channel; and Uzair Khan, writer, director and producer of animated feature film Allahyar and the Legend of Markhor (2018), among others.

The workshops held in the conference covered topics from storytelling to the use of visuals and designs to how to make an impact to designing for influence to building a powerful brand.

In the Live Design Challenge, five applicants from across the country were given the opportunity to produce their designs for critique from participants and an independent jury. The winner was declared the ND2C Designer of the Year and was given away an award.

The ND2C also hosted a creative fair, a carefully-curated display of design talents from across country, with the aim to bring creatives a world of opportunities for learning, collaboration, selling and becoming more visible.