MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Time keeps flying fast as Graphika Online 2022, one of Asia’s most influential design conferences, returns once again to inspire with six remarkable guest speakers from the creative industry. Graphika has acted as an arena for the most talented and imaginative creative forces in Asia and around the world for the past 17 years.
This year’s amazing lineup features Ross Tran (also known as RossDraws on YouTube), Natasha Jen of Pentagram, Christian Alzmann of Lucasfilm, Alexei Bochenek of Psyop, graphic designer Annie Atkins, and content creator and illustrator Campbell Walker.
Missed the event? Here were some of the key highlights:
Design challenges by Natasha Jen
One of the most highly anticipated talks, Natasha Jen, a partner behind the world’s largest independent design consultancy Pentagram, took the virtual stage to share three cornerstone projects her team produced during the Covid-19 pandemic — all brilliant case studies on how to shift perception. Among them was the gargantuan task of renaming organization NEAVS (New England Anti-Vivisection Society), an animal rights organization with the mission to end lab animal testing.
"Rise for Animals", typography for The Asian American Foundation (@taaforg), and logo for Resilience were the projects @njenworks presented at #graphikaonline2022. #thewordoncreativity #adobomagazine pic.twitter.com/x4diFFzfvo
— adobo magazine (@adobomagazine) February 5, 2022
Natasha admitted the task was difficult. In the end, they launched “Rise for Animals,” a name that was “straight to the point, short, and memorable,” according to Jen. “To come out with a swing, with a really strongful, impactful identity was something we felt really proud of,” she said.
The following case studies were a logo redesign with The Asian American Foundation, a project close to Jen’s heart as an Asian-American herself, as well as a design challenge with Resilience, a biopharmaceutical manufacturing ecosystem.
From concept to a screen far, far away
Sharing some of the brilliant developments in bringing art from concept to screen, Christian Alzmann, a concept design supervisor at Lucasfilm, gave us a look at some of the conceptual art behind some of the recent works from the Star Wars franchise – Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and The Mandalorian.
Alzmann starts off by sharing some rough/concept sketches for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, with initial designs of the notorious droid BB8, as well as the leading characters of the story.#adobomagazine #thewordoncreativity pic.twitter.com/uFSRhD9NoN
— adobo magazine (@adobomagazine) February 5, 2022
While sharing never-before-seen illustrations behind characters like BB-8 and Baby Yoda, Alzmann discussed the importance of concept artists in film. “Concept artists provide a roadmap; a pipeline,” he commented as he shared how background concept illustrations were turned into a rather immersive and innovative 360-degree set where more recent Star Wars scenes were shot.
It took hundreds of drafts drawn by Alzmann and his team to develop the character designs that millions of people love today. Without any sugarcoating, he states: “Design is 75% failure. To get the thing that you want, there’s lots of (going) back and forth, trying to get elements working.”
Embracing your influence and spreading the contagious act of creation
In the afternoon session, Alexei Bochenek, a creative director at Psyop and a self-proclaimed nerd, sheds a light on how one can embrace their creative influences. Alexei is known for his highly quirky and visually stunning games and animations “I Love You, Colonel Sanders! A Finger-Lickin’ Good Dating Simulator” and various Apex Legends game trailers that quickly became a favorite across various creative communities.
"We aren't limited to one genre, time, or place. If we approach our subject sincerely and w/ respect, and if we approach our audiences the same way, the audience will feel the same enthusiasm in our work." – Alexei Bochenek / Psyop (@heyalexei)#adobomagazine #GraphikaOnline2022 pic.twitter.com/zBlLwRHhKq
— adobo magazine (@adobomagazine) February 5, 2022
Alexei is no stranger to using multiple references and inspirations when it comes to creating art. “We aren’t limited to one genre, time, or place. If we approach our subject sincerely and with respect, the audience will feel the same enthusiasm in our work.”
Apart from his insights behind their successful animated campaigns, Alexei offered some significant pieces of advice when it comes to creating art and connecting with communities.
“Creation feels like an act of love; a tribute to the content. That feeling of connectedness? It’s contagious.” Alexei stated.
Studying the world around us, according to designer Annie Atkins
A former art director in one of the largest advertising agencies in the world, McCann Erickson, renowned graphic designer Annie Atkins has gone on to work on a multitude of works, including Wes Anderson’s film The Grand Budapest Hotel and animated film The Box Trolls. During the creative conference, Atkins shared that as she continued to design different films, she set rules for herself.
#Design: From creating film props to set designs, Annie Atkins (@AnnieAtkins) shares her experience at #GraphikaOnline2022 #thewordoncreativity #adobomagazine pic.twitter.com/yzcVEnVTHv
— adobo magazine (@adobomagazine) February 5, 2022
“If something had been created by hand at the time, then I should be drawing it by hand now. And if something had been made of a machine at the time, then I [should] use my [computer] now,” Atkins said. Atkins also shared that she also makes time for workshops to share her knowledge in design and art; one of the key insights she often shares with her students is the idea that it’s okay to make copies. Making a bold statement, she debunked the popular mindset that originality is necessary for a piece of work to have value.
“In filmmaking, in order for our work to have value, we have to study the world around us and borrow and steal from things that have come before us,” Atkins stated.
Rules to ruthlessly live by (and break, eventually)
One of the amazing artistic minds on Graphika’s impressive lineup was illustrator, animator, filmmaker, podcaster, and content creator Campbell Walker, or as he’s better known by over a million fans online, Struthless.
“The thing that made me ready for this was a lifetime of creative experiments,” he said during the event. He said it was what led him to things — like seeing his art on a billboard for the first time or directing and co-writing Spotify’s first-ever original Australian podcast — that indicated that he should keep going.
Walker on reframing and making mental gymnastics work for you and your #creativity: "At the end of the day, you can never outgrow how big you can think." #GraphikaOnline2022 #thewordoncreativity #adobomagazine pic.twitter.com/MZBwuzGe9w
— adobo magazine (@adobomagazine) February 5, 2022
Wondering what kind of practices, outlooks, and habits got him there? Luckily, his talk was all about sharing the guide he created for himself and has helped him throughout his creative journey — his 10 Rules of Creativity and Life. “I’m gonna take you through the ten rules I like to live by,” he said. “And hopefully, you can get something out of it.”
adobo Magazine is an official media partner of Graphika Online 2022.
