Today, design transcends geography, language, culture, discipline, and even physical reality. Designers working across these boundaries have much to learn from one another, and the 2013 SEGD Conference June 6-8 in San Francisco will celebrate the boundless impact of design on a global scale.
Vince Frost of Frost* (Australia), Sascha Lobe of L2M3 Kommunikationsdesign GmbH (Germany), Claudia Boggio and Alfredo Burga of Infinito (Peru), and Natasha Jen of Pentagram (Taiwan/United States) will share their passions, their portfolios, and their perspectives on what it is to be a global design practitioner.
The session entitled Into the Blue Sky: Global Design Visions will feature:
- Vince Frost, Chairman and Creative Director of Frost*, the Sydney-based interdisciplinary strategy and design firm that brings clients’ ideas to life across multiple dimensions and brand touchpoints, from digital to print and environmental. As one of the most significant contemporary leaders in global design, Frost has impacted not only the Australian design community but designers, students, and clients around the world.
- Sascha Lobe is Creative Director of L2M3 Kommunikationsdesign GmbH, the Stuttgart-based studio that offers cross-media services in information, signage systems, and corporate design. Lobe’s work is known for its fusion of experimental typography, amplified scale, and architectural context. His firm has worked for such clients as Adidas, Mercedes-Benz, Boss, UBS, and Nationalgalerie Berlin. He is a Professor of Typography at HfG Offenbach.
- Claudia Boggio and Alfredo Burga are the principals of Lima, Peru-based Infinito, the largest creative studio in this rapidly emerging country. Their work for commercial and cultural clientele ranges from an exhibition on the discovery of Machu Picchu to award-winning brand development for a popular Peruvian restaurant. Infinito is also active in retail and environmental channels, in tandem with a burgeoning Peruvian consumer class.
- Natasha Jen is a recent addition to the New York office of Pentagram, and the first intern to return as a partner. Her work bridges all aspects of visual communication and culture but focuses on emerging technology and its impact on the built environment. From dynamic performance installations to image mappings on façades to mobile applications, her work explores the boundaries of design and how these new contexts resonate with their users. Born in Taiwan, Jen studied graphic design at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.
“It’s always energizing to hear about design work happening in other parts of the world, especially work that has truly global impact,” says Lonny Israel, Associate Director with Skidmore Owings & Merrill and Co-Chair of the 2013 SEGD Conference with Julie Vogel, Principal of Kate Keating Associates. “The challenges for designers in Australia and Germany are likely to be wildly different than those facing designers in an emerging economy like Peru’s, and we think this will make for some fascinating contrasts.”
The annual SEGD Conference is the only international design event focused on visual communications in the built environment. The 2013 SEGD Conference will be headquartered at the historic Fairmont San Francisco Hotel atop Nob Hill.
Inspired by the famous fog that descends on the San Francisco Bay, Above the Fog will invite participants to look for blue sky and inspiration above the fog and to connect with designers, artists, planners, makers, and global thinkers from around the world.
