Forward Festival Amsterdam: A celebration of local and global creativity

Last Friday, I attended the first edition of Forward Festival Amsterdam. This was the second stop on their four-city tour this year. Held in the heart of the city, the festival promised a showcase of groundbreaking artists, designers, Houdini masters and creative minds such as Studio Feixen, Builders Club and Baugasm on two stages.

Of the 27 speakers, eleven are based in the Netherlands. This is surprising given that typically 85% of speakers at design events in Amsterdam come from outside the country. Founder Othmar Handl explained that Amsterdam is home to the most creative studios after London, making it a hub for local talent. This local representation highlighted the rich creative ecosystem within the city.

Themed presentations: A strong suit
The strongest presentations were built around a central theme, such as transformation, the creative process or the female body. This thematic approach allowed speakers to interweave their portfolios with personal anecdotes, creating a deeper context for the projects they presented. This structure emphasised the importance of documenting the creative process. By providing insight into your creative process during a presentation, you build credibility, trust and a deeper connection with the audience that goes beyond simply showing off finished work. It humanises you and allows for authentic storytelling around your creations, helping you to build strong presentations.

One notable trend in presentation format that I noticed with most speakers was that they started with a compelling showreel, followed by an introduction, and then only showed their passion projects. 

In addition to the inspiring talks, Forward Festival offered 'The Moon', an exhibition, various Q&A sessions and workshops such as 'Tufting Like a Pro' and 'Displaced Display Letters', led by Stephanie Specht. These additional activities gave attendees hands-on experience and further opportunities to engage with the Forward community.

Forward Festival Amsterdam was a huge success, held in a beautiful location. It served as a vibrant platform for established and emerging creatives. I can't wait to hear more about the next edition in Amsterdam. Now, with upcoming Forward Festivals in Berlin and Vienna on the horizon, the creative journey continues.

Forward Festival Berlin, 29-30 August
Forward Festival Vienna, 3-4 October

Design events this week

Developerweek Management 2024
Wednesday 29 May - Thursday 6 June,
San Francisco, USA

DeveloperWeek Management 2024 – is the premier conference & expo for engineering managers, dev team leads, and technical executives

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AI Dev Summit 2024
Wednesday 29 May - Thursday 6 June
San Francisco, USA

AI Dev Summit is the world’s largest artificial intelligence dev event with tracks covering chatbots, machine learning, open source AI libraries, AI for the enterprise, and deep AI / neural networks.

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Multi-persona Journey Maps: One Map, Many Perspectives
Wednesday 29 May
Online 📡

Join the event to learn more about multiple-persona journey maps, what they can be like, and when it’s best to use them. During the webinar, we’ll share our approach to building multi-persona maps and will showcase two examples to provide you with a clear understanding of how multi-persona maps work in practice.

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Dutch Innovation Days
Thursday, 30 May and Friday, 31 May 2024
Enschede, The Netherlands 🇳🇱

The art, science and technology festival about innovation for good. With 4 tracks, 2 venues and 1000 tinkerers, fire-starters, rebels and curious people. Through curated transformative insights and unlikely but valuable connections, Dutch Innovation Days empowers you to lead the way to much-needed change and make a real impact.

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Now24
Saturday 1 June
Paris, France 🇫🇷

Now24 conference brings together graphic design and typography enthusiasts. Now24 seeks to explain how typography has a visible impact on the world around us. Come to Paris on June first to listen a mix of inspiring speakers evoking topics as broad as graphic design, web design, motion design, publishing, visual identity, communication and type design. ‍

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Next week

The Design Conference
Wednesday, 5 to Friday, 7 June 2024
Brisbane, Australia 🇦🇺

The Design Conference is an event for creatives. Each year they navigate the future of design, including how you can be an active participant. Attendees are offered an opportunity to evolve their practice through an elevated way of thinking. From professional insights and advice to anecdotes of self-care and growth, this experience is designed to help you find your path, expand your mind and learn from those who came before you.

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Design Matters Tokyo 
Wednesday, 5 and Thursday, 6 June
Tokyo, Japan 🇯🇵 

Design Matters Tokyo is a two-day conference focused on digital design, bringing together designers from Japan and around the world to share knowledge, inspiration and network. It is the sister event to the Design Matters conference in Copenhagen, Denmark.

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CSS Day 
Thursday, 6 and Friday, 7 June
Amsterdam, The Netherlands 🇳🇱

CSS Day started out in 2013 as a single-day, laser-focused, advanced CSS conference, and we started intertwining design sessions a few years ago. Their attendees and speakers are a mix of CSS designers, developers, spec writers and browser vendors, who take pride in what they know and do. They're a conference with an informal vibe and plenty of breaks, where each person can approach one another. Did I say its the 10th anniversary edition of the event 🥳

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Birmingham Design Festival
Thursday, 6 June to Saturday, 8 June
Birmingham, United Kingdom 🇬🇧

The Birmingham Design Festival 2024, a three-day celebration of design across various disciplines from local, national and international talents, will be held from June 6th to 8th across multiple venues in Birmingham. With a focus on "Process", the festival offers over 80 speakers, 100 events, workshops, exhibitions and a chance to network with leading designers. The Birmingham Design Shop, located in the Jewellery Quarter, will also be open throughout the festival offering design products and serving as a hub for the design community. Tickets go on sale May 1st, with some events free and others requiring purchase.

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By Design Conference
Saturday, 8 June 2024
Bratislava, Slovakia 🇸🇰

Conference for designers, entrepreneurs and creatives. By Design Conference explores and celebrates endings! Endings are often overlooked, yet they are just as important as beginnings, if not more so. Be part of the 10th and final edition of By Design Conference and find new perspectives on how to end things.

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Waving from Delft,
Thomas ✌️

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