OFFF Festival Barcelona 2019

The Statuo creative team have just got back from OFFF Barcelona 2019, a festival that featured different sessions including conferences, workshops, exhibition and interactive installations, all organised to inspire designers, artists and creatives from all over the world.

This was an amazing opportunity for the Statuo creative team to spend 3 days amongst a vibrant community of creatives and graphic art professionals.

Here’s a roundup of the artists/agencies that we were particularly impressed with and a little bit about what we took away from their work.

Man vs Machine

Los Angeles, London.

Man vs Machine is an international creative studio specialised in the fields of design, film and visual arts. The studio creates future-focused brand identities, communications, and campaigns.

We got to watch their most recent campaign brief by Mother London: KFC ‘What the Cluck’ which is currently running on KFC’s UK television adverts.

Featured Projects: Apple, Audi, Honda, Microsoft, Nike, Channel 4, Discovery Communications, ITV, NBCUniversal

Key Takeaway: To embrace clients brief and bring excitement to every project you get your hands on. Humour is universal.

Ben Johnston

Toronto

With a desire to push what is possible with typography & lettering, Ben is a self-taught designer, letterer & illustrator from Cape Town, currently based in Toronto who takes inspiration from the world and location of the art he is creating, we were lucky enough to see him create a typography piece for OFFF live over the 3 Days.

Featured Projects: Nike, Ford, Sierra Nevada, Adobe, Blue Moon, Aston Martin, Shopify, Lululemon, Pan Am Games, Canon

Key Takeaway: Collect ideas from the world and your environment - not from your phone.

Handsome Frank

London

A UK based illustration agency representing some of the world’s best known artists and illustrators. They pride themselves on close relationships with their artists and collaborations with clients. One of their most receptive pieces was illustrator Malika Favre’s piece for Arab News to promote a milestone for Saudi Arabia women drivers, entitled ‘Start your engines.'

Featured Projects: Audi, BBC, Budweiser, CNN, Coca Cola, Cos, Herman Miller, Nike, Pimms, The New Yorker, Virgin, Vodafone, Wired

Key Takeaway: The only 'likes' that are important are clients and art directors.

David Carson

Los Angeles, New York

An American graphic designer & art director, best known for his innovative magazine design and use of experimental typography. This was one of the highlights of our trips and one of the most entertaining speeches of all, taking us through his process as a designer and how he applies his own style to a variety of clients big and small.

Featured Projects: Nike, Pepsi Cola, Ray Bans, Levi Strauss, MTV Global, The End of Print: The Graphic Design of David Carson (1995), 2nd Sight, Trek, Fotografiks

Key Takeaway: Humour is universal and just because its legible doesn’t mean it communicates.

Gary Hustwit

The director of the acclaimed design documentaries Helvetica, Objectified, Urbanized, and Rams. His most recent documentary Rams is about the life of Dieter Rams, one of the most influential designers alive, The man who all but invented consumer product design as we know it today. We were privileged to watch his most recent documentary Rams, and get insight to how it was made.

Featured Projects/ Films: Helvetica, Objectified, Urbanized and Rams.

Key Takeaway: If you see a gap in the market - Go for it. There were no films specifically about typography before Gary Hustwit and thats why he created the Helvetica Film.