Program
SEP 28
Studio tours, Museums, and Meet-ups
See the Side events >Coffee & Breakfast
Ingrid Haug
Design Matters
Co-founder
Opening talk
Ingrid will introduce the 3 themes of Design Matters 21:
POST-PANDEMIC DESIGN
How did the Post-pandemic change our design practice, influence our creativity, and what did it teach us?
COLORS!
What does color mean in design and how can colors be used in new and exciting ways? How do we deal with skin color and diversity in design?
THE DESIGN CODE
Generative design, AI-driven design, algorithmic design, and design systems are the new black for digital designers.
Pablo Stanley
Illustrator, Cofounder & CEO
Blush Design
Atomic illustration design systems
Illustrations are emerging as a vital part of the user experience of a product, as they help tell your brand story, articulate and communicate your values and brand personality. How do you create a successful illustration system, shaping a strong visual identity? How do you decide a core set of principles?
In this talk, Pablo Stanley discusses how the process of creating illustration libraries using the atomic design system method. He walks us through a brief history of illustration and comics in a designer’s creative journey and a look at how illustration has been applied in different products.
Tiffani Jones Brown
Executive Editorial Director
Dropbox
Designing a Virtual First Culture
Like many companies, Dropbox decided to go fully “virtual first” in 2021. Since then, they have been rapidly prototyping experimental processes, practices, and tools to help employees make the shift successfully.
Dropbox’s Executive Editorial Director, Tiffani Jones Brown, will share what teams across Dropbox have learned in their first eight months of remote work. You’ll walk away with insights and tactical tips on staying effective, healthy, and creatively energized in our new era of work
Coffee Break
In-person: Networking & Craft activities Online: Speaker interviews
2 X TALKS
Lisa Apers
Lead Designer
UNDO
How design systems can increase creativity in cross-functional teams
More info >2 X WORKSHOPS
Rune Madsen & Martin Bravo
Designers and co-founders
Design Systems International
From design rules to design tools
More info >
Online Workshop
To be announced soon
Lunch
In-person: Meet the speakers, Networking & Craft activities Online: Speaker interviews & Networking games
2 X TALKS + NETWORKING
Kinneret Yifrah
Microcopy expert and UX writer
Nemala
Golden Microcopy: How to help older adults use your product
More info >
Stay tuned!
This speaker will be announced soon
2 X WORKSHOPS
Ulrike Rausch
Type Designer & founder
LiebeFonts
Create you own vector color font
More info >
Online Workshop
To be announced soon
Coffee & Cake
In-person: Networking & Craft activities Online: Speaker interviews & Networking games
Stefanie Posavec
Information Designer
Independent
Designing data with a ‘Post-Infographic’ mindset
More than ever, data visualization needs to engage broad audiences, evolve beyond conventional chart types, and move beyond the usual infographics.
Stefanie will use examples from her practice to explore what a ‘post-infographic’ design approach might look like while sharing tips on how to communicate data with a spirit of openness and experimentation.
Vlad Zely
Head of Design
Miro
The Evolution of Work
We are in the middle of forming the new paradigm of work, redefining our process, tools, and work ethics. Everything is new, but not everything is exciting.
The pandemic has given us video-conferencing fatigue, digital burnout, disengagement, and messy tools and procedures.
Companies and teams need to adapt to the new, and constantly changing environment, re-designing their work rituals and approaches, dealing with the new realities, and trying to gain enough resilience for the future. How might organizations survive and thrive in the long run?
Vlad Zely, Head of Design at Miro, the online collaboration whiteboard platform, will share his perspective on the Past and Future of Work while being at the forefront of creating a tool for millions of people across the globe to enable them to collaborate regardless of location.
FOOD & DRINKS
In-person: Networking & Craft activities Online: Speaker interviews & Design discussions
Sofie Riise Nors
Illustrator & Meme Warrior
Independent
Feminism and satire
Illustrator and writer Sofie Riise Nors consciuously works with ugly drawing lines as a rebellious commentary to society’s expectations of perfection to women. She actually claims that womanhood can be multidimensional: rough and brutal and, at the same time, graceful and kind. While women and femmes enjoy their complex portrayal of their lives, men are left grumpy and confused. How can a woman so “bad” at drawing, claim to be a succesful illustrator?
In her talk about feminism, humor, satire and art, Sofie will explain what it’s like to be a woman – let alone a FEMINIST – artist in the public eye.
Concert
We're fetching the instruments... the concert will be announced soon!
Enjoy the music!
After an intense day of learning, all you need is music! Whether you prefer to sit back and vibe or to show your moves on the dance floor, this is the right moment to get loose and have some fun!
PARTY
Breakfast & coffee
Welcome back! (Surprise)
Thomas Howard
Vice Head of Design
Teenage Engineering
The X-files of Teenage Engineering
Come behind the garage door and find out what makes Teenage Engineering tick.
Known as one of the most exciting engineering collectives in the world, they’re redefining the creative process and bringing together the physical and digital.
Aurélia Durand
Illustrator
Independent
Colors to create inclusivity
From an Instagram post to a bestseller book, Aurelia will share her unexpected journey as an activist artist.
Art has been a way for Aurélia to express what she could not say aloud with words. Her work is a celebration of her afro-descendants roots through proud and empowered colors, and she has found that many people relates to her visual stories and finds themselves represented for the first time.
In her talk, she will also discuss why representation is such an important topic today, and how social media can help underrepresented communities to stay connected and empower subcultures.
Coffee matters!
In-person: Networking & Craft activities Online: Speaker interviews
2 X TALKS
Stig Møller Hansen & Karsten Vestergaard
Designers / Programmers
DMJX
Adding Code To Design: Will It Blend?
More info >
Stay tuned!
This speaker will be announced soon
2 X WORKSHOPS
Workshop
To be announced soon
LUNCH
In-person: Networking & Craft activities Online: Speaker interviews & Networking games
2 X talks + Networking
Alexis Mark
Design Studio
POSE, DECOMPOSE, RECOMPOSE. Reimagining communication formats
More info >
Stay tuned!
This speaker will be announced soon
2 x WORKSHOPS
Nadia Piet
Designer, researcher & founder
AI x Design
Designing adaptive, intelligent, and semi-autonomous systems
More info >
Online Workshop
To be announced soon
Coffee & Cake
In-person: Networking & Craft activities Online: Speaker interviews & Networking games
Matteo Gratton
Design Advocate
Sketch
Can data and ethics live together?
Putting together a product as designers is a challenge on its own. But what happens when you take ethics, privacy, and data into account? What is the extent of the slippery slope about asking & storing data?
In his talk, Matteo Gratton will take you through practical examples and cases from Sketch and other design products and discuss how designers can look at their process from a privacy perspective.
He will share the story of how Sketch managed to build a collaboration feature that respects users’ data and design ethics, with all the challenges, pitfalls, and learnings.
Stay tuned!
This speaker will be announced soon
The last few speakers will be added to the program soon.
Stay tuned!
Yesenia Perez-Cruz
UX Director
Shopify
Resilient design systems
Design systems are often positioned as a tool that helps you scale what’s working well today. The obvious risk is that it also makes it more efficient to stay in place— leading to a lack of innovation in your products. A design system shouldn’t be the ceiling for creativity. It should be the floor that teams can build on top of. To do this, design systems need to be resilient: built to change and evolve.
In this talk, Yesenia will share lessons learned from evolving a mature design system, and how to create design systems that are built to adapt. Topics will include system of systems architecture, theming APIs, and shifting the culture around the design system.
GOOD BYE BEER
In-person: Physical hangout Online: Speaker interviews