Vancouver

MutliSport Centre finally under construction

There’s something happily surreal about sipping on your morning coffee and reading the newspaper when you stumbled across a story about a client’s success story. Very nice indeed. A few years ago we designed the logo, brand iden [...]

Posted by: Mark Busse on Tuesday, February 1st, 2011

Categories: Design, Industrial Brand, News, Vancouver | No Comments »

Free coffee and snacks will be generously provided to those who come early, so come join a group of like-minded creative professionals and start your day with some good conversation over a cup of good coffee. Remember to confirm your RSVP on the Facebook group page so we can estimate how many people are coming (sometimes more than 50 attendees). If you don't use Facebook, you can join our LinkedIn Group, or follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on upcoming events. Invite a friend, and bring your travel mug. See you there! PS - If you bring your camera along, please upload your shots and share them with the 70 other Likemind groups in cities around the world! Also, please consider sharing your appreciate for our host café by posting to Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Yelp, Urbanspoon, or your personal blog! [post_title] => Likemind Vancouver: January 21, 2011 [post_category] => 0 [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => likemind-vancouver-january-21-2011 [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2011-04-05 15:11:50 [post_modified_gmt] => 2011-04-05 22:11:50 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://industrialbrand.com/?p=4749 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) -->

Likemind Vancouver: January 21, 2011

The next Likemind Vancouver event will be held at 8am on Friday, January 21st, and hosted by Prophouse Café at 1636 Venables St. (one block west of Commercial Dr) (Click here for directions).

Posted by: Mark Busse on Wednesday, January 5th, 2011

Categories: Events, Inspiration, Vancouver | No Comments »

Free coffee and snacks will be generously provided to those who come early, so come join a group of like-minded creative professionals and start your day with some good conversation over a cup of good coffee. Remember to confirm your RSVP on the Facebook group page so we can estimate how many people are coming (sometimes well over 60 attendees). If you don't use Facebook, you can join our LinkedIn Group, or follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on upcoming events. Invite a friend, and bring your travel mug. See you there! PS - If you bring your camera along, please upload your shots and share them with the 70 other Likemind groups in cities around the world! [post_title] => Likemind Vancouver: August 2010 [post_category] => 0 [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => likemind-vancouver-augus-2010 [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2011-04-07 16:27:49 [post_modified_gmt] => 2011-04-07 23:27:49 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://industrialbrand.com/?p=4557 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) -->

Likemind Vancouver: August 2010

The next Likemind Vancouver event will be held at 8am on Friday, August 20th and hosted by Kafka’s Coffee & Tea House at 2525 Main Street (at Broadway) (Click here for directions).

Posted by: Mark Busse on Saturday, July 31st, 2010

Categories: Events, Inspiration, Vancouver | No Comments »

What’s Design Currency?

Matt recently wrote a great article about why he was excited about the upcoming Icograda Design Week Vancouver 2010 conference. This week Icograda released this animated promo video about the theme of Design Currency created by Rethink, Gia [...]

Posted by: Mark Busse on Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

Categories: Associations, Design, Events, Inspiration, Vancouver, Video, We love, animation | 1 Comment »

Well, there is the fact that it is hosted in the convention centre in my beautiful hometown of Vancouver. An international conference on my doorstep of this calibre (which would normally involve air-flight and hotels adding extra expense) is a wonderful opportunity, I would be a fool not to attend for this reason alone. I enjoyed watching this presentation recently given by GDC President, Rod Roodenburg, where he said "we don't have the answers but we have ideas, and so do you. Lets create the value of design together". That one statement alone inspires me to want to attend this conference. Going to a conference to truly participate and contribute on a global level sounds refreshing. I am hooked by the theme ‘Design Currency: Defining the Value of Design’. Working in a service-based industry we often bump up against the value of design. How do you put a dollar value to a service for a client? What impact will the completed design work have on your clients business? What parameters does the client use to judge that impact and how does that translate into value for them or their clientele? Also, in a world where you can buy a logo for next to nothing on certain ‘generic logo’ sites, or use a myriad of crowd sourcing sites, how do we educate a client on the value of strategic design and the process behind it? The conference is an international event organized by Icograda (International Council of Graphic Design Associations), the world body for professional communication design. The conference will host speakers who are all world-class design experts from countries around the globe (Canada, US, France, Denmark, Hong Kong, and India to mention just a few). I believe many creative designers are multi-disciplined in their thinking but lack the skills to implement these ideas. Personally I am a wanna be architect, interior designer and car designer but unfortunately my buildings would probably collapse and my cars would never start. That being said, I am excited that the speakers at the conference will be from varying disciplines of design with experts from the fields of architecture, industrial design, branding, strategy, and interactive design. At the same time as the conference there will also be a trade fair where you will get to meet lots of industry suppliers and network with top management from leading design agencies, design media, design students and design educators. Additionally, there will be lots of wonderful printed samples for our greedy design fingers to flip through, admire, critique (“I can’t believe they used that typeface” or “look at that leading”), and to smell the wonders of printed ink (slight personal obsession). On the Friday the day will be divided into workshops and an education symposium. Thursday night the conference will host the Graphex 2010 awards gala, celebrating and acknowledging the best of Canadian design over the past two years. I attended the 2008 awards gala and was impressed by the whole night (the MC Ze Frank was a hoot, this year it is Debbie Millman). It was an opportunity to connect with my design colleagues and meet admired designers from studios across Canada. Did I mention the cocktail reception and three course plated dinner? The world has many currencies but the GDC and Icograda felt there was one missing—a 'design currency'. One that could transcend different economies but could still represent monetary value on a balance sheet. Hence the 'Design Dollar' icon used as the conference logo mark. I am intrigued by the logo for the conference. There is a logo for the conference, how cool is that? It has me instantly ask questions. What is this currency? Where is it used? How is it used? What is the value? What is the Canadian Dollar and Design Dollar exchange rate? It acts as a vehicle to start asking questions drawing you in and enrolling you into the topic of the conference. Rather than the conference title set in just Helvetica (as many conference often do), strategy and thought have been put into not just the logo but into other promotional materials and brand elements. I am excited to see the full extent of which this graphic theme will be incorporated throughout the conference and trade fair. I have seen people at local design events recently wearing Design Currency promotional t-shirts that states ‘This shirt is worth 150 Design Dollars’. Inviting people to engage in dialogue about the value of design, actively promoting the conference but more so the topic of the conference. It is truly a great PR campaign. One of the conference events that I am most keen to attend is the ‘Dinner With a Side of Design”, April 25, 26 & 28. A long table series at Irish Heather (great beer and food) combining local leaders and designers in collaborative conversations focused around the complex themes of sustainability, culture and economics. i have never heard of such an opportunity where my thoughts and ideas would have an actual impact on our city. I've heard that speakers have been encouraged to avoid portfolio presentations in favour of theme-focussed dialogue and that there will be panel discussions and break-out groups. Collectively (speakers and the attendees) will come to conclusions together to include the following: What is the true value of design? How can graphic designers contribute to positive change in the world? What is the impact and value that your design has on the bottom line socially, environmentally, economically and culturally? By attending this conference I believe the global perspectives learned, relationships made, practical lessons learned will benefit my career (and yours) not only for the next short while but continuously long term. I encourage you to join me and register online by visiting the design week website www.designweekvancouver.ca. [post_title] => Icograda's Design Week Vancouver 2010 [post_category] => 0 [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => icogradas-design-week-vancouver-2010 [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2010-01-22 13:20:33 [post_modified_gmt] => 2010-01-22 20:20:33 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://industrialbrand.com/?p=4423 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 1 [filter] => raw ) -->

Icograda’s Design Week Vancouver 2010

I believe there is always room for every person to grow, personally and professionally. But as an Art Director (and father of a two year old) my ‘spare’ time for a conference is very limited. I have been in this industry for 15 years an [...]

Posted by: Matt SamyciaWood on Thursday, January 21st, 2010

Categories: Associations, Awards, Design, Education, Events, Learning, Vancouver | 1 Comment »

Likemind Vancouver: January 2010

Happy New Year! The first Likemind event of 2010 is scheduled for 8am, January 15th and will be hosted by W2 Community Arts at the W2 Culture + Media House at 112 West Hastings Street (the Perel building across the street from the fancy new [...]

Posted by: Mark Busse on Thursday, January 7th, 2010

Categories: Events, Inspiration, Vancouver | No Comments »

The response to District has been very positive. Building one sold out in the first three weeks. Building two has just a couple of suites left. In fact, every element of the development not only worked well but exceeded expectations. The buzz in the media was great! The PR Campaign that Mac Marketing created with Rock 101 was a huge success. They gave away a $350,000 Condo, Harley-Davidson, home entertainment system, BBQ and iMac—apparently the biggest giveaway contest in the history of Western Canadian Radio history. It drew a lot of traffic to the development and presentation center. The design that Industrial Brand created was very distinctive. Susan M Boyce wrote in the New Home Buyers Guide article, the following "Located in Vancouver’s South Main neighbourhood, even District’s brochure stands out from the rest... honest, I’m not kidding. It has attitude, and how often can you say that about a brochure?" Download the whole article. I am looking forward to walking by the buildings when completed and observing the new residents, seeing the intended vision for the neighborhood realized. [post_title] => People build culture [post_category] => 0 [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => people-build-culture [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2009-12-17 23:54:32 [post_modified_gmt] => 2009-12-18 06:54:32 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://industrialbrand.com/?p=4359 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) -->

People build culture

Being involved in the development of District was a great experience. Working closely with our clients Amacon and Mac Marketing I truly feel that we have all contributed to the South Main district by creating not just a great building but a [...]

Posted by: Matt SamyciaWood on Thursday, December 17th, 2009

Categories: Articles | No Comments »

Presented by the International Council Of Graphic Design Associations (Icograda) and hosted by the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada (GDC) from April 26–30, 2010 at Vancouver Convention Centre, the theme of this international, multi-disciplinary design conference is Design Currency: Defining The Value of Design, with the concept of "Currency" being expressed as the state or quality of being current; general acceptance or reception; a passing from person to person, or from hand to hand. Design Currency: Icograda Design Week in Vancouver 2010 will offer designers, business leaders and government the opportunity to experience current design thinking. Design brings clarity and enhances meaning and has the power to influence our core values, our identity, our expectations and our worldview. The conference will help reshape our mutual understanding of the value of design by exploring the various levels of identity as it relates to processes, sustainability, economy, innovation, change and authenticity in communications that help define who we are and where we are going as a culture. Preceded by GDC's national AGM and Icograda's regional board meeting, the conference will kick off with a keynote presentation of thought-leadership on how design is shaping, and being shaped by, our global community. The following two days will include highly interactive presentations, panel discussions and workshops led by a host of world-class international design experts that will maximise the opportunity for interaction between presenters and delegates. All delegates, presenters and sponsors will have free access to exhibits, forums and Design Trade Fair featuring the latest products and services from manufacturers, retailers and event partners. The conference finale will be the Awards Gala dinner for Graphex 2010, Canada's national awards programme. A partial sample list of confirmed speakers include:

• Nathan Shedroff - Experience design pioneer, Chair of the Design Strategy MBA, California College of the Arts (United States)
• Marian Bantjes - Designer, typographic illustrator and educator (Canada)
• Freeman Lau - Kan & Lau Design Consultants (Hong Kong SAR)
• Gregoire Serikoff - Designer and facilitator, Founder of The Value Web, member of Accelerated Solutions Environment network, Icograda board member (France)
• Ashwini Deshpande - Founder and Creative Director of Elephant Strategy + Design (India)
• Debbie Millman - Brand designer, author, radio host, President of Sterling Brands, President of AIGA (United States)
• Mark E. Sackett - Designer, radio host, President of Reflectur, Founder of BOX SF (United States)
• Jason Santa Maria - Interaction designer, Founder of Mighty, Creative Director of A List apart, AIGA board member (United States)
• Martin Miruka - Designer, author, Founder and Lead Strategist of ATOM-tdf, Chairman of Diversity Africa Foundation & KenyaOne (Kenya)
• Lise Vejse Klint - Designer, Architect, Director of INDEX: Design to Improve Life, former Secretary General of Icograda (Denmark)
• Oscar Pena - Designer, Global Senior Creative Director of Philips (The Netherlands)
• Cameron Sinclair - Architecture for Humanity (United States)
• Dr. Tony Golsby-Smith - Designer, strategist, Founder and CEO of Second Pty Ltd (Australia)

Register online before January 16th and take advantage of the early bird discounts! [post_title] => Design Week Vancouver 2010 - Registration Open! [post_category] => 0 [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => design-week-vancouver-2010-registration-open [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2009-12-16 19:57:57 [post_modified_gmt] => 2009-12-17 02:57:57 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://industrialbrand.com/?p=4357 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) -->

Design Week Vancouver 2010 – Registration Open!

If you are serious about your career as a designer, and want to learn from the world’s top experts while participating in an important dialogue about the nature and value of our industry, leaving you better equipped to tackle social, [...]

Posted by: Mark Busse on Wednesday, December 16th, 2009

Categories: Articles | No Comments »

Vancouver has a real opportunity to emerge as THE next significant creativity and innovation centre in Canada, yet City Council seems uninterested in supporting efforts to that end. Content, it seems, to leave that role to other cities like Montreal and Toronto—both of which have wonderful design centres. Vancouver has none and it's our turn. There is exciting stuff happening in this city, but no one knows much about it on the other side of them hills. When the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada (GDC), in partnership with Icograda, presented an appeal to the City's Mayor and Council seeking support for the Design Week Vancouver international design conference, their polite response was that this globally-promoted event "does not meet criteria as set by City Council," specifically quoting a policy that states:

"That Council not consider financial support, in the form of hospitality grants or otherwise, to conventions being held in Vancouver, sports teams holding championships in Vancouver or to other events of this nature, except in the event that senior City staff, in their professional capacity, are directly involved in the event, and the topic is particularly relevant to the business of the City."

I'm sorry, what? Excuse me, but are they saying that the burgeoning design community coming into its own in Metro Vancouver is not "particularly relevant to the business of the City"? Uh, aren't Electronic Arts, Rainmaker and Bardel major employers in Vancouver? Didn't Disney just set up a Pixar studio here? Aren't some of Canada's most successful advertising studios such as Cossette, DDB and Rethink located in Vancouver? Or brand design firms Identica, Karacters, Fleming, or Karo? Hasn't ACM SIGGRAPH Vancouver been selected to host SIGGRAPH's massive international computer graphics conference in 2011—the first time ever outside of the US? Is New Media BC wrong in estimating there to be over 1,100 digital media design companies currently in BC? Aren't schools such as VFS, Capilano, VCC, Emily Carr, SFU, Kwantlen, BCIT, Langara, AI, and Vancouver Island University (formerly Malaspina) all enjoying tremendous growth in their design programs? All true. I can assure you Mr. Mayor, that the various facets of design, including branding, communications, advertising, web, product, interior, architectural, and game design, are indeed relevant to this region's culture and economy. Very relevant. In fact, the secret to achieving your goal of making Vancouver the greenest city on Earth may very well lie within the design industry itself. Tourism Vancouver seems to see the relevancy, having been a key supporter of Design Week, helping GDC/BC win the original bid last year. BC's Ministry of Housing and Social Development also seem to understand the importance of this event, recently awarding significant funding in support of Design Week. And the BC Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts calls Design Week "an important international cultural and business event, creating an international profile for British Columbia, bringing the global community of designers to Vancouver and reinforcing BC as the international hub for design." In 2008, former Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan wrote a glowing letter of support during the Graphex national design awards, hosted by GDC/BC in Vancouver, saying, "Design is an important part of our everyday life and business, and Vancouver is fortunate to have a thriving creative community." Even Premier Gordon Campbell, infamous for slashing arts & culture funding in BC, wrote "The Province of British Columbia is committed to excellence and innovation in visual arts, media arts and design" in a letter of support of GDC's efforts. Well, Mr. Former Mayor and Mr. Premier, maybe you guys could talk to your buddies back at your old mayoral office and convince them to recognize the value and relevancy of supporting the design community before it's too late. And it really is almost too late. Design Week Vancouver is less than five months away. Vancouver is spending millions on the 2010 Olympics to lure potential business investors, but I believe they are short-sighted and not showcasing the best Vancouver has to offer. The "afterglow" of the Olympics everyone is counting on will have to be founded on something other that just our pretty geography, overpriced real estate, and fancy new sports facilities. What is Vancouver's real "mojo"? Its great appeal? Could it not be our emerging dominance as a creative force so we can be more competitive with the country's existing economic centres to the east? If we truly want to convince companies and investors to shift their attention to Metro Vancouver, then we have to make sure we showcase what Vancouver really stands for post-Olympics. Having recently returned from Beijing, China, I saw first hand what is happening there and frankly it scared me. Many have accused China of overspending on the Olympics in unsustainable ways, but do you think they are sitting on their laurels, hoping the world shows up to do business with them while they're in town touring the Bird's Nest Stadium or Water Cube as a tourist? I assure you they are not. In fact, Beijing just spent hundreds of thousands of dollars hosting the Icograda World Design Congress and 1st Beijing Design Week. There were literally dozens of corporate sponsors, with one print sponsor alone donating $150,000 to be a sponsor of such a prestigious event. They even invited their respected friends from Canada to showcase the best designers at a Graphex 2008 exhibit at Tsinghua University's prestigious Visual Arts Center Gallery—an initiative that GDC paid for out of its own coffers with no support from government or corporate sponsors, although thanks are due to Martin Charron, Senior Trade Commissioner in China from the Embassy of Canada, for generously hosting a packed opening reception. The Beijing World Design Congress opening ceremonies were attended by 2,500 delegates from around the globe, and was held at The National Center for the Performing Arts. The opening of Beijing Design Week was held at the National Art Museum, with over 2,000 witnesses to one of the most impressive ceremonies I've ever attended—all part of their plan to change their reputation from one of "Made in China" to "Designed in China". They are very serious about this folks. Check out this review of their recent conference to get a sense of the scale of their commitment to their design community and its reputation. I spoke at four of the top universities in the country during my visit, and learned that there are hundreds of thousands of students (some say upwards of a million) currently enrolled in design programs across China, and new design studios are opening in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing every day. These will be our competitors very soon. Now, I'm not saying that Vancouver is just like Beijing, but I do fear Vancouver may be putting all its eggs into the Olympics basket and forgetting to invest in an important industry that will help our fine city to flourish. I certainly don't want to live in a city primarily known for hosting overrated, over-budget sports events. BC's economic base has begun shifting away from natural resources as our chief export, and tourism, real estate and finance aren't rock solid economic foundations either—just ask Dubai how it's going for them. Markets are now globalized and continue to evolve at break-neck speeds. In order to compete over the long haul, Vancouver needs to become an economy that values innovation—an economy based on the flow of ideas and imagination. We already have a strong basis for that economy in place in Vancouver, one that's ready to grow, mature and take its place on an international stage, but we cannot do it alone. Without the clear and present support from our municipal, provincial, and federal government, I fear we may be just spinning our wheels, destined to host a lovely little design conference and little more. A conference that will show off how pretty our city is, but also demonstrate how small-minded our City is in terms of supporting design thinking. I'm sure Brisbane and Madrid, the next two Icograda Design Week host cities, will do a terrific job of positioning themselves as world-class design communities thanks to the significant support they are receiving from their city councils and regional governments. We're living in the design age where long-term economic growth is based on creativity and innovation. Having spoken with Mayor Gregor Robertson about this in person, I thought he agreed with me on this point, yet his City Council friends with the purse strings still seem to think that a national design association hosted international design event featuring presentations from some of the most notable design experts on the planet isn't "particularly relevant to the business of the City." Disappointing to say the least. Enough ranting for today. If you have any thoughts on this or any ideas what we can do about it, let me know in the comments below. Or if this bugs you as much as it does me, fire off an email to the Mayor's office and City Council yourself and tell them your thoughts on the matter.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Since posting this personal rant (which is in no way the opinion of GDC or Icograda), The City of Vancouver's economic development arm, appropriately called Vancouver Economic Development Commission (VEDC), has indicated they intend to financially supporting Design Week which is a positive sign indeed and I am encouraged. In no way am I claiming that this post had anything to do with this recent development, but I am happy to eat my words and and update this post to declare Vancouver DOES  support the design industry!

[post_title] => I Wish Vancouver DOES Supported the Design Industry [post_category] => 0 [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => i-wish-vancouver-supported-the-design-industry [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2009-12-15 12:30:04 [post_modified_gmt] => 2009-12-15 19:30:04 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://industrialbrand.com/?p=4311 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 13 [filter] => raw ) -->

I Wish Vancouver DOES Supported the Design Industry

IMPORTANT UPDATE – See amendment below for some good news. I love living in Vancouver for a myriad of reasons. The more I travel, the more I realize how good we have it here. But I have to say, as a creative professional who makes his [...]

Posted by: Mark Busse on Monday, November 30th, 2009

Categories: Articles | 13 Comments »

Remembering VANOC Design Director Leo Obsbaum

My friend and colleague Leo Obstbaum, the creative mastermind behind the designs of the Vancouver Olympic Games, died suddenly in his home of natural causes in the early hours of Friday, August 21st. He left behind his beautiful wife Monice [...]

Posted by: Mark Busse on Wednesday, October 14th, 2009

Categories: Articles | No Comments »

District South Main Campaign Launch

We just finished a new identity and marketing campaign for a development project called District South Main for our client Amacon. The first teaser advertisements just hit the streets and the initial website has launched and is now acceptin [...]

Posted by: Mark Busse on Thursday, August 27th, 2009

Categories: Design, Marketing, News, Vancouver | 3 Comments »