This year i was lucky enough to attend the graphics design conference Semi-Permanent in Sydney. Hence i decided to write my experience and to say what a valuable experience it was.
The main highlight of the conference was that Andrew Gordon from Pixar was talking and this was one of the main reasons i jumped to get a ticket. But once ariving at the Conference Center at Darling Harbour i was first amazed at the amount of people attending the conference and it left me quite amazed. 2500 people, it was a sold out show.
The conference started with Lifelounge www.lifelounge.com
They gave a great presentation that followed a alphabetical approach to the bases off their company. They were a fun and interesting start to the conference setting a high bench mark for all the other speakers to follow. They presented themselves as a great Australian company and showed how some of their most interesting work was put together.
Next speaker was Ben Frost, for an popular artist is was a great experience to her him talk about his work personally. Over the course of the event there were two say “rogue” Artists that talked. They were different from the rest of the speakers in the way that, they were out of art school, individual with there own full on experiences. I liked a lot of Frosts work, i found him very much like an artist, but when the question from the audicence came that what did he think about the copy right laws and pop culture icons he uses, I thought the would have had a better answer. I would have liked to see him more connected to his own ideas.
The next was Debaser. This working group coming out of sydney was producing album covers for some amazing bands. I have never really thought that much about the production of art for bands albums. I would have just thought that the band would have done it. Debaser were great to listen to providing a sold speech and it blew my mind the artistic process in making the covers.
Debaser were awesome and i can see the doing great work into the future.
Next up was the incredible music video produces, The Directors Bureau and again this was another group that impressed me. Lana Kim showed a great in-depth story into the history and accomplishments of the group. I was grabbed by the uniqueness of their videos and i walk away loving the videos and music
Next up Sixty40. These guys impressed me because they were producing a fantastic amount of high quality work and they were Australian based! They were also one of the strong speakers of the day showing off their works and had everyone on the edge of their seats in sheer enjoyment. Someday i hope i could work for someone like this.
Spencer Platt was the final speaker of the first day and he showed a great drive and artist presence in his photographs. Platt works as a war photographer going to some of the most war-torn places and capturing those amazing images which we see in time magazine and national geographic. He gave a good recount of his work and life experiences which you would not normally be privileged to hear.
The second day opened with Alex Trochut a spanish based Typographer. Again i knew nothing about a typographers work and began to be very impressed and appreciative of their work. He makes some good works and you should check him out.
Anthony Lister strutted out his stuff on stage with spiderman who didn’t last too long as he was soon shot on stage. He was the other “rouge” artist i was talking about, providing a interesting speech that didn’t appeal to everyone. He had a very chilled approach to his speech and we were able to hear some funny story’s and a quote that i will never forget and always use. “its not like i’m Loyal to the oils”.
Superfad. They showed hot girls, fast cars impressive hi def art and great music. They are a company that produces work for bands like target, ps3, maccas and do it with style. They had some crazy work that showed heaps of talent. Check them out www.superfad.com
Amy Sol is an artist who has produced acrylic paintings, she follows a romantic mystical theme of characters. The works a visually appealing and have a unique talent to them. She was a very down to earth person and if had very likable work. www.amysol.com
We came to the second last speaker of the day. North kingdom is a company that has produced online interactive website based games and advertising for brand companies. I really enjoyed looking at there work they showed and interesting style and talent to attract an audience. But there speech was a little weak and everybody was looking forward to pixar. www.northkingdom.com
It finally came to Andrew Gordan from Pixar. He wouldn’t disappoint, it was a great pleasure to hear him speak he provided an creative and funny slide having the whole audience riveted. He talked all about his animation and the work of Pixar and the future to come. It was a great experience and i enjoyed every second of it. It was a great finish to an awesome conference. www.pixar.com
Overall the conference was a huge success and i will be right there next year.
