Another Year, Another Trilogy of Truly Inspirational Days
Offset 2016, Dublin, Ireland.
Offset 2016 fell at the most optimum time for me this year. Some big deadlines at work had just drawn to a close the week prior. When you are passionate about something it can be easy to become consumed by it, so it’s refreshing to step away and seek inspiration from the creative passions of others. Offset offers me this space to think, engage and connect. This is important — to think and be inspired, to engage and have some fun and to connect with the content in such a way that you learn something.
Inspiration
“Visual art gets into your soul” Joe Caslin, Finding Your Voice, Offset 2016
I was able to let my mind wander freely along the paths others have taken and gain inspiration from them. From Rothco’s Shred of Deceny campaign showcasing how to turn something on its head for good,
to Seb Lester’s elegance and excitement at getting his typeface on a NASA space mission (you just have to ask!).
From Gmunk’s energy and pearls to intergalactic conquest, to Angus Hyland’s more refined Le Style Anglais approach his work.
From Joe Caslin, ADW and Will St Ledger using their talents to ask questions and inspire change for social good.
From empathising with people, building and knowing your audience, like Aoife Dooley’s online character YourOneNikita. Strategic in her approach to social media.
To designers who worked with iconic artists such as Jonathan Barnbrook with David Bowie or Stephen Averill and Shaughn MacGrath of Amp Visual with U2.
These are just a few examples of the variety of super talent on show.
Humour
There was plenty of humour too. McBess acknowledged the importance of referencing a good quote in a presentation:
“I like to draw” McBess, 2009
Gavin Kelly of Piranha Bar revealed that they are suffering from ADHD or Studio Attention Deficit Disorder —you can tell they aren’t lying when you realise you are familiar with the array of well known projects across multiple disciplines they have worked on throughout the — oh look a squirrel! We’ve reached peak squirrel, Gavin informs us.
Offset showcases a multitude of ideas brought to reality through belief, hard work and passion. Each story invigorates the mind; some spark new ideas, others validate how I do things already.
I set out my plan of action in advance (you can see it at the end) so I did not have think too much about the schedule and could focus on the talks.
Key Theme in 2016 — Innovation
As well as design, innovation was a key theme this year. Accenture Interactive’s Design and Innovation consultancy arm, Fjord, were a partner and provided some great talks throughout the weekend on their own stage. The talks stemmed from the Fjord Trends 2016: Trends Impacting Design and Innovation Report.
Wearing my professional hat as designer with Realex Payments, these talks were of particular interest to me.
IBM were back too, this time hosting design thinking workshops which very much align with this theme. I took part in one on the Friday on reinventing the restaurant experience. Using preset personas it was a fun, light introduction to empathy maps, understanding what we know, identifying pain points and ideation. Our product team at Realex Payments do this, but it is interesting to consider how the process could work elsewhere.
7 Take-Aways from Offset
There was so much to take in from such a diverse weekend. Therefore, I have attempted to group these into 7 take-away points. These are points that I connected with both personally and professionally. These are points that I feel will feed off one another to help me grow as a person, and to develop my career as a designer.
1. The Role of the Designer is Evolving
From the talks on the Accenture’s Fjord stage, I garnered that the role of the designer is evolving. The future for designers is no longer just in the creative industry. Organisations across a variety of sectors are recognising the value design brings to business. Designers now sit on boards and firms have in-house design teams. Design is being considered seriously on a strategic level and is necessary for innovation. This is something I could relate to. At Realex Payments we have seen the value of having design in-house and began to move this way around 2012.
2. The Importance of Rapid Innovation
Fail fast, learn quickly. Advice being shared by most speakers over the weekend. Change is happening quicker than ever in business. Companies should anticipate and adapt. Those that do not get left behind — look at Blockbuster V Netflix; Blackberry V Apple etc. Rapid Innovation Frameworks, highlighted by Fjord, can provide a structure for companies to innovate quickly, learn, iterate and repeat.
3. Gangs not Teams
Cross-Functional teams are a key component of a rapid innovation framework. Break down the silos and get input from across the organisation. Create cross-functional teams based on the requirements of the project. Give people permission to have their input. Rothco referred to their ‘teams’ as gangs, where anyone can take the lead and they all pull together to succeed in the task or project at hand. This reminded me of our Marketing team at Realex. Rather than a traditional marketing team I guess we are more of an 8-strong creative gang, consisting of a Head of the Gang, Creative Lead, Multimedia Guru, Web Developer, Content Strategist, Digital Strategist, Event Guru & Copywriter. No one task or project can be executed without collaboration from all members of this gang. Any of us has permission to step outside the box, bring ideas to the table and take the lead. This autonomy is quite empowering.
4. Power of Physical Space
Ideas don’t happen on their own. Innovation doesn’t happen on its own. To foster innovation and ideas, physical spaces that bring people together are important. It empowers cross-functional teams. At Realex Payments we have Ringforts. Inspired by the ringforts of the Burren where judgement was left at the entrance and people spoke freely, our ringforts are spaces that bring people together to brainstorm, ideate and innovate.
5. Culture is the New Currency
Culture is the new currency for employees. Career development is as important as monetary gain. Companies today such as banks or utilities are looking for the same profile of people as Pixar. I mentioned earlier that our marketing team, sorry I mean gang, consists of the likes of designers, developers, copywriters etc.— all roles you would expect to find in any creative agency. But people want to do something with purpose. This can be done by redefining a company’s strategic purpose with a customer centric approach. Ask Why do we do what we do for the customer?; then How do we do it? followed by What we do?. Design thinking is central to this. This is the approach we take.
6. Constantly Reinvent Yourself
It’s important to reinvent yourself. Step outside your comfort zone (I’m writing a personal blog for only the second time ever!). Collaborate — it’s important for adapting to change or challenges; it’s important to keep fresh and learn; it’s important to remain relevant.
7. Everything is an Opportunity
Keep working hard. Work on things you like and are passionate about. Do stuff for good. Put your work out there. Build an audience. Be authentic. Everything is an opportunity.
So that’s it for Offset 2016. It has been truly inspiring. It’s amazing to see so much passion from everyone in what they do. They take risks, they fail, they learn, they succeed, they inspire.
I hope to use my takeaways from the event to influence my approach to the things I do. Perhaps I’ll finally get my portfolio site up to share some things I work on in my spare time. For now watch my twitter space. It’s about getting stuff out there after all!
I’m fortunate that in working for Realex Payments I have a voice. I’ve been with the company for 8 years and have seen plenty of change over that time. The company and my career have evolved. Design has always been highly valued. Why not join the gang? We have vacancies. Give me a shout!
Until next year Offset!
My Schedule for the Weekend
Friday (April 8th)
— Main Stage: Rothco
— IBM Design Thinking Workshop
— Main Stage: 4Creative
— Accenture Fjord Design and Innovation Stage
Saturday (April 9th)
— Main Stage: Angus Hyland of Pentagram
— Accenture Fjord Stage: Data & Design
— Accenture Fjord Stage: Changing Culture in Organisations
— Main Stage: Piranha Bar
— Main Stage: Jonathan Barnbrook
— Main Stage: Gmunk
Sunday (April 10th)
— Accenture Fjord Stage: Going Viral
— Second Stage: Finding Your Voice
— Accenture Fjord Stage: Future Music Design
— Main Stage: McBess
— Main Stage: Steve Averill & Shaughn McGrath on U2 Album Artwork
— Main Stage: Seb Lester
