Last week, four from the Sundberg-Ferar team tore themselves away from their daily work and caught a southbound flight for the Industrial Design event of the year. At the IDSA’s 2018 International Design Conference (IDC) in New Orleans, Louisiana, they reunited with fellow designers from the around the globe.
The Industrial Design Society of America (IDSA) was founded in 1965 as the merger of three separate design organizations. The now unified organization of industrial designers and design educators focuses on the promotion and practice of industrial design through advocacy, information, education, and community. Sundberg-Ferar has contributed to the IDSA in significant ways over the years. In fact, Montgomery Ferar, one of our founders, was the VP of IDSA’s Central District in the 60s, and Jeevak, our VP and Director of Strategic Growth, also held the same position from 2011 to 2016. He was also chair of the level-setting 2017 IDC, “Design IS Business”.
For the 2018 IDC, conference attendees were lodged at the beautiful ACE hotel. The outside entrance was like a botanical garden and as the team stepped inside, the cool interior was of blackened wood, rich greens and unreasonably comfy furniture. The oppressive heat outside shone its rays in vain through velvet-framed windows. The sparkling brown and white alcohol that gilded the walls and the press-printed paper signs made it seem that nothing had changed there since the Art Deco building was built. Almost immediately we spotted old friends in the hotel lobby and settled into conversation, gladly exchanging news from the last year.
The first night of the conference marked the much-anticipated International Design Excellence Awards ceremony. The IDEA competition is held annually by the IDSA and is one of the world’s most prestigious and rigorous design competitions. Before the event, the ACE hotel lobby was bustling with designers dressed in their finest and those who needed to curb their pre-speech jitters with some liquid courage at the bar. As we entered the National WWII Museum for the gala, no one could resist craning their necks to ogle the real WWII fighter planes suspended from the ceiling in mid-flight. The whole museum hall was built like a large hangar. In the array of suspended planes, some seemed to be swooping down on the enemy while others seemed to soar upwards. Gangways at varying heights stretched across the open space and gave guests the opportunity to walk among the machines, observing their cockpits and paint details from above.
Megan Neese, chair of the IDSA Board of Directors opened the evening by drawing out specific inventions of industrial designers during WWII. Her presentation highlighted the global impact of Industrial Design throughout the war. As the awards themselves unfolded, we were impressed as we witnessed our fellows’ mastery of our discipline. This year there were 145 winners across all design categories. As the ceremony gave way to the after party, attendees relaxed into lengthening conversations, decadent food, and strolls around the museum exhibit.
The conference proper was held at The Sugar Mill in downtown New Orleans, a venue dating back to the 19thcentury. Originally, it was used as a sugar holding facility. Original steel I-beams, exposed brick walls, and a paved courtyard with swings and patio lights made it the perfect venue for a dynamic conference of networking and inspiration. The conference had over 400 attendees and speakers. Days were spent soaking up information, checking out interactive booths from conference sponsors, networking with our fellow designers over a game of Jenga, or downing quintessential New Orleans food under the pavilion outside.
Day one of the conference included some excellent keynote speakers. Steve Selzer, formerly of Airbnb, expounded on the benefits of confrontation in the workplace, an endangered event as we become increasingly hidden behind digital barriers and evasive habits. Krystal Persaud, of Grouphug, talked about designing with the end of the world in mind, and Erica Eden of PepsiCo addressed the need for a revival in marketing to genuinely reflect and serve the humans being marketing to. The finale of the day was a preview of the soon-to-be-released film, “Rams” by lauded director and producer, Gary Hustwit.
The audience was spellbound as we watched. The film, with music by Brian Eno, is a documentary portrait of the 86-year-old designer Dieter Rams. In the 20 minute preview, the IDC audience was given an unprecedented view into the very private life of the icon of design. The film allowed us to listen in on conversations between Rams and his wife in their garden. It allowed us to go with him to a museum exhibit of his own work and listen as he shared his personal thoughts on designs that shaped his generation. Hustwit’s portfolio of documentary films also includes the acclaimed works “Helvetica” and “Objectified“. Hustwit told the audience that his entire career has been driven by noticing stories that must be told but that no one is telling, and doing it himself. Rams’ story is simply one of those stories that had to be told.
In the evening, the SF team was invited to join Core 77 for an after party at Seaworthy – allegedly the oldest building in New Orleans. We stuffed ourselves with Cajun, seafood, and strawberry shortcake as we caught up with some of the design community’s most influential minds.
Day two included talks from, Claude Zellweger of Google, and a challenging and original talk from Jules Ehrhardt of FKTRY on fluctuations in the design industry. The final keynote was a visually rich and energetic presentation by Wilson W. Smith III on his work at Nike. Detailing his collaborations with Serena Williams and Michael Jordan to create many of their iconic shoes, he brought the physical shoes themselves to show us, and he even gave a live rap performance!
The SF team returned home from the 2018 IDC inspired. The conference equipped us with new ideas, conversations, and learning to apply to the projects we work on everyday. We left the balmy Big Easy with new energy, ready to return to the cool Michigan Fall and create our next groundbreaking designs.