AGIDEAS

Trends and Designers


One major trend that I noticed during the 3 day conference at AGIDEAS was the term "collaboration".
Many designers have collaborated with individuals not only from their disciplines, but from all walks of life, including industrial designers, florists, milliners and painters.
I learnt that networking and joining forces with others is a great way to get the creative juices flowing and to bring about new ideas by learning a new way of thinking from people you never thought you would have worked with and thinking in ways that you never thought to think. "Doing fun stuff with other fun people" - Kerrie Stanley
Jeffrey Copolov, who worked on the Royal Children's Hospital rebranding project collaborated with a lot of artists and architects to create a story and atmosphere in a place where people don't normally associate with hapiness. Through understanding the way the building worked architecturally, he was able to devise a set of stories for each floor of the building, working his way from the bottom up. Along with the physical structure of the building, he worked closely with landscapers who look after the exterior of the space. Knowing nothing about gardening, he was able to work with and communicate his plans to make the garden areas of the hospital welcoming and inviting. A place where children can find peace and sanctuary, all while maintaining the look and feel of the story that is happening inside the walls.
Collaborations bring about new opportunities and aim to inspire designers to go off after a project and look at things in new ways. Returning to partnerships that are made through networking can open a whole new set of opportunities and create relationships that are beneficial for all parties involved.

Concept Evaluation
Cindy-Lee Davis is the founder of Lightly. They design 3D works such as light shades, bowls, tableware and ornaments. The pieces are all inspired by the past. "Design is a story telling process". Cindy-Lee tries to convey a story in all her work. She likes to draw on patterns from the middle ages and humanises products through the stories they have to tell.
I feel that her work is very personal and the amount of detail shows that she is very passionate about what she does. Her project with the tea cup saucers took months and a lot of hard work. The concept was to collect old and disused china and porcelain saucers that can be recycled from unwanted tableware to unique and ornate decorations. Where one person sees trash, Cindy-Lee sees a design opportunity. "I am often inspired by the ordinary, and make it extraordinary".
I believe the concept is fresh and different and works well with her corporate culture of playing on nostalgia. These old saucers all told a story about the person who used to use them. They will live on to tell more stories with their new owners in a different function. This is a great way to look at the work that one is doing, to make it worthwhile.
The concept works great and it has proved to be a great success. Pop up exhibitions have come about for Cindy-Lee through collaborating with others on this international project, which again shows this trend to network and make new relationships.
Click here to view the ornate collection.