Design

Gemma O’Brien does her own thing. She quit law school to pursue her passion for drawing and letterpress printing and in the meantime became a well-known artist. Gemma does bold super graphics, illustrative lettering and hand-painted murals with the mission in mind to elevate words to art. We had a chat with the Australian artist about the in-between of digital and analog, trends within the creative scene and how to find balance in her creative career.

Putting design in motion: Robert Hranitzky and Michael Münch show you how to bring movement into your designs.

Found Studio explains the CG short film they created for the launch of VIZIO's first OLED TV. By Meleah Maynard

Raise your hand if you have ever tried a face filter on Instagram! No doubt, pretty much everyone using the photo platform has used a face filter to augment one´s face and the reality around oneself.

With Donald Trump as the president of the United States of America, the world has been through a lot. It has been a wild ride full of fake news, thousand of tweets, embarrassments, and political scandals. Four years it was all eyes on Donald. Magazine covers, political cartoons, photo installations, and design activism have been part of his era as much as his slips of the tongue (remember “covfefe"). High time to have a trip down memory lane!

The terror attacks in Vienna on November 2nd happened especially close to our heart with Forward Festival being born and raised in Austria´s capital. Whenever something traumatic happens, creatives process the events in their own ways. Here is our collection of how Vienna gets through these intense times.

Let us introduce you to the Heart Directors Club! Very well aware of the fact that artworks won't save the world, the people behind Heart Directors Club also know that a little financial help can definitely make things easier!

Every month, the Forward Calendar brings you the most important events from our community. In contrast to regular event calendars, we don’t just collect an innumerable amount of exhibitions and conferences taking place in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. Our calendar is a collection of the most inspiring events from the Forward universe. The kind of calendar that brings you forward.

23 international artists have collaborated and designed the new “Support Your Local Dealer”-T-Shirt. The third edition revolves around a “Rave New World”.

Where to start when talking about the legendary Bureau Betak? The studio dedicated to the production of high-end fashion shows, exhibitions, and spectacular events has studios in New York, Shanghai, and Paris and gave rise to over 1000 events with which it located itself at the top of the list of production agencies in the world of luxury, fashion, and events. Fashion houses like Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Kenzo, Viktor & Rolf, etc., trust the revolutionary mind of Alexandre de Betak, the Bureau’s director, in composing the perfect setting, which is a piece of art in itself, to present their latest collections.

“100 Beste Plakate” is an association and exhibition series presenting the best, printed posters created throughout the year in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. This year's edition was just launched in Berlin and is now moving through the DACH region and to Korea.

Most countries have a dish with whose invention they adorn themselves and that is being promoted as a national treasure with cultural significance. To serve only a few of the stereotypes, we could say the Italians are incredibly specific on how they cook their pasta, the Belgians can’t do without waffles and the Austrians do love a good Schnitzel. Countries and inventors of dishes take credit for original recipes, secret ingredients, or the only 'real' way of preparing a certain meal.

In the last days of June the designer of the famous I ♥ NY Logo, Milton Glaser, passed away on his 91st birthday. 

Marcus Fairs is a journalist who became an entrepreneur or as he describes it: He is someone who thought he wanted to be a designer, wasn't very good at design, then discovered journalism and became an entrepreneur.

No followers, no likes, no ads – nothing but pure quality content curated by a transparent, open-source algorithm AND still somehow generating income. Sounds too good to be true? We did some research.

"Can you move a festival into digital space?" The University of Applied Arts Vienna's reply: "No." But it will be happening either way. Angewandte Festival 2020 is about to go alternate.mode, in digital and public space, from 23 to 26 June.

We asked our community on Instagram to share some accounts by talented BIPoC creatives to support in this time and in the future. Diversify your inspiration, follow them & we will be updating the list with your suggestions:

32 designers and artists joined forces and created a one-of-a-kind t-shirt for "Support Your Local Dealer".

The current crisis hits us on a global and on a very individual level simultaneously. While everyone is confronted with the same issue, it affects us on different levels, and we have our own ways of coping. We spoke to four talented women of the creative industries, asking them the same questions, gaining different perspectives. 

Humans crave their five basic senses. While sight and hearing get covered quite well in the digital world, smell, touch and taste are often left behind.

It always starts with a vision, a topic we want to explore. Very soon, we will find ourselves digging for information and being overwhelmed by our own thoughts. That's when we have to gather our inspiration.  This year, we saw shared idea documents and 400MB worth of pictures taken with our phone.

AR is becoming constantly more available through face filters on Social Media. What happens when you let people enhance their own reality?  

Can design save our planet? As the Amazon rainforests are still burning and other ugly things are happening on earth, designers may ask themselves: how can we have a positive impact through design? By choosing your clients wisely, designing smart disposable packaging and environmental or political campaigns, and thus generally promoting a healthier and happier Earth through design - there are thousands of ways. And more importantly: don't let your head down because of the disappearance of Banksy's Brexit mural in London.

The world-famous designer and artist has collected virtually every design award. As a product and graphic designer, Bregenz-born Stefan Sagmeister has worked his way up to the very top by mashing up typography and picture language in a fresh, unique and sometimes even provoking manner. Interview by Catherine Hazotte

If you are passionate about typography and design, there is no way around the name of Erik Spiekermann. The Berlin-based creator designed the famous classical font FF Meta and is the author of various typography literature. During his career, he worked on legendary projects like the graphic appearance of the city of Berlin, the control system of Düsseldorf Airport and the corporate design of Volkswagen and Audi. Interview by Catherine Hazotte

It’s pride month and EuroPride in Vienna is only a few days away. In celebration of all things pride and to mark the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, the retailer Everpress teamed up with artist agency Grand Matter curated a collection of t-shirts. Each t-shirt has been designed by another creative.

Stefan Sagmeister is certainly one of the most innovative and inspiring designers and graphic artists. Known as a "philosopher among designers", he not only designs covers for The Rolling Stones, Jay Z, David Byrne and OK Go but also initiates exciting communication projects. Together with his professional partner Jessica Walsh, he is among the leading agencies as SAGMEISTER & WALSH.

Milano Design Week - Austrian Exhibition turns Sala Reale into Design Pool: Over 40 top designers and manufacturers in the former imperial waiting room – ADVANTAGE AUSTRIA presents “Austrian Design – Pleasure & Treasure”.

Every month, the Forward Calendar brings you the most important events from our community. In contrast to regular event calendars, we don’t just collect an innumerable amount of exhibitions and conferences taking place in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. Our calendar is a collection of the most inspiring events from the Forward universe. The kind of calendar that brings you forward.

The posters created by designer, illustrator and artist Kelli Anderson aim to educate people on how to document and report sexual harassment in the workplace. The poster is already hanging in several restaurants on the US West Coast and has been translated into Spanish and Chinese.

In honour of the 91st Oscars the design team of Shutterstock published their annual Oscar Pop! Poster Series. Every designer picked a Best Picture nominee and reimagined the movie poster in the style of a famous pop art artist that resonate with them. But what has Shutterstock to do with all of this? All the used material is from high-quality images, illustrations and vectors available on the platform. That way the artists demonstrate just how inspiring, and downright useful the Shutterstock collection is.

A hotel can never replace a proper home – it should be better, at least for a few days. According to André Saraiva a good hotel is an experience. André who made himself a name as a graffiti artist with numerous exhibitions and collaborations with fashion houses like Chanel and Louis Vuitton opened his first hotel Hotel Amour in Paris in 2011, followed by the Grand Amour in 2015.

Monday evening, end of October in Vienna. With some delay, autumn has arrived in the Austrian capital. Nobody is on the streets, because the cold keeps the people in the houses. The only companion on these days is the biting wind that runs over the woolen hats and scarves. But a building next to the Wienfluss in the center of the city is an exception. There, people of all ages are rushing into the large entrance area as if it were the final sale at Zara. However, their interest in this evening is not on fashion but on design. Because the most famous Austrian representative of this branch of industry is in the city. An event that electrifies the masses in Austria.

Intriguing lectures, inspiring artists, great networking opportunities: This year’s Forward Festival kickoff in April in Vienna was a full success. One of many highlights: The Adobe Stock Creative Jam event, a competition in which ten pre-selected teams had the chance to prove their creative skills.

Since the year 2014 the musician Kanye West has been unhappy. The Spanish creative art studio Cool Shit couldn't live with that anymore and made it their mission to change his state of mind. Therefore, they created a seven-meter-tall inflatable head of a grinning Kanye with the sole purpose of having you go inside and make him happy again.

Privacy-encouraging furniture is gaining popularity, as it provides complete isolation to the user in any room.

You probably have heard of hackathons, where IT-aficionados are competing against each other under time pressure. The team behind the Designathon took this paradigm and translated it into the world of design.

Woka Lamps Vienna stands for timeless design, elegant yet characterized by formal simplicity.

His characters are smooth, soft-hued and sometimes weirdly sexual, an aesthetic niche he’s cleverly carved to make them instantly recognisable.

At this year’s Forward Festivals our attendants were able to join the #ModularLettering workshop presented by Adobe. In this interactive workshop everyone was working collaboratively on an illustrated alphabet, using photos and flat graphics.

Creative directors Ill-Studio and fashion label Pigalle together with sport brand Nike have redesigned a basketball court sandwiched into a row of buildings in the 9th arrondissement of Paris.

An idea begins with curiosity. With being on the move, seeking inspiration. Sometimes we need time to reflect on an idea for it to sink in, hit another idea and become something bigger. In searching for the new, our imaginations become tangible.

She came into the world in 1995, and was soon featured in fashion and lifestyle magazines, loved by photographers and readers alike. A film career followed, including appearances in “Sex & the city”, “Spiderman” and “Mr. & Mrs. Smith”.

Good design needs no explanation. Quite the opposite in fact. Tests at the Max-Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics have found that as soon as a subject needs to be told why he or she likes something its rating falls.