NEW YORK, NEW YORK

NYC halloween

Just came back from New York, one of my favourite places in the world. I love that city!
The neat thing about going back to one place many times is that you start seeing it through different eyes. The first time I was there my mouth was opened 24/7. This last time I noticed things like how crowded it is, and how noisy it is. One day I was walking to the conference at aroun 7:30 am and my ears hurt...the traffic noise!

I don't know if it had anything to do with the fact that I've been high on cold medication for about 2 weeks. I met several New Yorkers and it is amazing to hear their stories about living in the big apple. Salaries there don't seem to be that great -unless you are a high ranking executive - and the cost of living is ridiculous. I met a few MTV designers and a few have to have roomates in order to be able to afford their rent...many live in New Jersey, cheaper and quieter.

My friends, Mette, from Denmark, David from Seattle, and Marc from North Carolina

I went to the bi-annual GAIN conference presented by the AIGA (american institute of graphic arts). I love this conference because it focuses on the business part of design. The theme this year was "Design means business". I wish this kind of conferences were more geared to business people than to designers. It is always refreshing to hear that the perception of the real value of desing is not clear to the buyer of design...even in New York. So, in less sophisticated markets the challenge is even greater.

One presenter, Moira Cullen, design director for Coca-Cola NA, really inspired me. She talked about the evolution of brand collaboration and the strategy behind synthesis of brand and design management. I want to be like her when I grow up, and she was wearing this incredible Prada suit.

Another one that I loved was Michael Conforti, Ph. D. His presentation was on Archetypes, Image and Design from the perspective of the Jungian school of thought. He argues that visually and conceptually, what we know about life we learn from the patterns around us and those we create, that there is a universal and mythic dimension to images, and undestanding these allows us to be much more discerining when working with brand logos and designs. I think this was my most favourite lecture because many things clicke in my head with respect to the validity and importance of the work I do. At the reception that night I had a good conversation with the guy, and bought his book "Field, Form and Fate: Patterns of Mind, Nature and Psyche", dedicated the book. oooohhh, ahhhhh
I also had a short and intersting conversation with the guy that wrote the "Brand Gap" a must read for anyone interested in branding, designer or not.

Ji Lee, "The Bubble Project" was excellent. I love design anarchists that make a brainy statement. A guy with attitude BUT nice, intelligent and articulate. Check this out at: http://www.thebubbleproject.com.

And I thought one of the best presenters was Scott Williams, chief creative officer ( I LOVE that title) of Starwood Hotels and Resorts. He gave a very inspiring talk about "the obvious". His talk made something in my brain click, I love it when my brain clicks with things because it's like opening a door and all these ideas start to flow.

The conference was very good, but it wasn't as great as the one 2 years ago. Some of the presentations were boring or poor and really, for an event like that it's not acceptable.

I stayed at an amazing flat on the 39th floor of a building MidTown. WOW! the view. It is so nice to have very succesfull friends in high places that have access to those perks, and I was so lucky that the place was available. So thank you! I'm scared of heights, I spend the first night thinking how I would escape in case of fire, earthquake or break/entering, and I couldn't come up with anything. The only thing was that I'm glad I'm mobile and could run down the stairs, and in case of eathquake I would be on top of the people in the floors below. 2 nights the wind was HORRIBLE, at some point when I was walking back to the condo, it (the wind) threw me against a wall, now that is freaky!! and I could hear the wind roar and i thought the building would just collapse. then i fell asleep and I woke up and everyhting was just fine.

Awesome place, thanks Alex!

Drank copious amounts of alcohol, ate little and walked a lot. Saw friends that I met at the last conference and made some new ones. But I wasn't at my best at all, so everythink took a ton of effort and I came back more exhausted than when I left. My feet are not hamburgers any more. I hope to be back to the new apple again soon!

Mette and Carolina at some Soho bar