Semi Permanent has a reputation for being a staple in a designer’s year planner, and this event was no exception.

As Louise noted, an overall theme does tend to surface, but for me this year it was the importance of conducting your own side projects. I think this has emerged out of recessionary times, during which tighter budgets perhaps squeezed out the opportunities for creative exploration. Designers crave this freedom so have had to invent it for themselves more so than previously. And seeing the passion with which these designers spoke about their novelty projects was an encouraging reminder of how important they are.

I agree with Louise about Jessica Hische – the latest hot young thing out of New York. Her interdisciplinary style, ability to craft and maturity beyond her years is a breath of fresh air. I loved her words of wisdom on billing – “I never charge by the hour because you’re punished for efficiency.”

Karen Walker was a disappointment, just quietly. Fidgeting self-consciously throughout the interview-format discussion, she seemed to have only contributed a few words before interjecting mid-conversation with “time’s up” as soon as she saw the cue appear. Her husband Mikhail did his best to energise the discussion – and retain some respect for the brand – and but it needed two to tango.

In an effort to keep things positive I’ll resist to pass comment on Sarah Estens from Frost Design.

Dick and Otis Frizzell do warrant acknowledgment however. They were well prepared and, although spoke quite separately, offered a cohesive presentation all up. Dick’s honesty and Kiwi humour went down well with the (perhaps initially sceptical) audience – his parting statement striking a chord in particular: “Just make the bloody logo bigger and move on.”

One of Semi Permanent’s draw-cards is its diversity of speakers, demonstrated well with Adrian Shaughnessy’s emphasis on the profession of design, rather than portfolio pieces as such. He spoke around ‘10 Paradoxes of being a designer’, including:

‘There’s no such thing as bad clients, only bad designers.’

and

‘The best way to self-promote is to avoid talking about yourself.’

Each of which gave audience members – whether budding junior designers or seasoned creative directors – something to think about.

All up, it was a brilliantly run, energising couple of days which left me amped to pick up some of those self-initiated projects that had somehow taken a back seat.

Semi Permanent was excellent this year, when it came time to fill in the feedback form I genuinely had nothing to suggest for improvement.

Favourite Speakers?

Jessica Hische – her genuine passion for her work, her admitted nerdiness and fondness for buying too many domain names (www.iamobsessedwithmycats.com) summed up in a crush which spread theatre-wide.

Duncan Speakman – inciting the audience to listen a little closer. We’re so used to being guided to _look_ at the world differently, that his ideas were really refreshing.

Dick and Otis Frizzell – who portrayed kiwi attitudes and enthusiasm genuinely and with humour which was well received. Major respect for that duo.

Nicolas Roope – Nick’s work had more particular relevance to my line of work, so his presentation struck a chord with me. In particular Poke’s focus on the user and their triggers when it comes to online engagement.

The standout theme I picked up on was collaboration – working with your team, your industry, and your clients to improve ideas and produce exceptional work.

This year at Semi-Permanent was a mixed bag with those endowed with eloquent communication balancing out those with more, awkward approaches.

What was consistent however was the quality in work. Every person who spoke had a plethora of projects that they were both obviously passionate about and which demonstrated their entitlement as leaders of their respective areas.

Jessica Hische appears to be the crowd favorite. She was simply charismatic and down to earth. A talented woman who made more than a few designers a little dizzy at her achievements so early in her career.

I think it’s wonderful how SP brings younger designers over as the majority of the audience are students. There is nothing more encouraging than seeing someone you can relate to while studying who is making a name for themselves.

I’d agree with Louise that Jessica Hische was a strong addition to Semi-Permanent this year. Her humble enthusiasm and down-to-earth presentation blew all those over-inflated egos we’ve seen over the years out of the water, reminding us how important attitude and passion are.

Dick and Otis Frizzell were both entertaining and inspiring – it was wonderful to have a positive and inspiring Kiwi contribution amidst such a broadly international and diverse range of speakers.

Yes there were a few disappointments, but as always, most of us left the conference with our design batteries recharged and fresh perspectives surrounding what we do. I found that there was a strong theme running through the presentations of “being true to oneself”, whether that was an intended theme or merely a prevalent attitude displayed by successful designers.

This was my first Semi Permanent. As a punter or speaker… I had no idea what to expect. I’m one of those ‘applied art’ people. I use paint and pencils and hand cut stencils etc I’m pretty much a computer retard, so I thought Semi P wasn’t about me, or for me (Wrong) I actually almost declined the oppertunity to speak, because I figured it was so far away from where I was at (not to mention feeling out of my depth, with spaeakers who were so…flash) but I had the whole thing pegged wrong. It’s not all about computers and graphic design. it’s about creative minds.
The diferent diciplins covered by the speakers were many and varied. The speakers were amazing. I too (along with the above contributors)thought that Jessica and Duncan were the hightlights of the weekend. A Typographer/illustrator and a sound artist… Different as chalk and cheese, but just as inspirational.
It felt like a big ‘theme’ for the event was the power of collaboration. I’ve always been a big flag waver for the power of two. Find someone amazing and clever and do something with them. It makes you both look good!
All in all I gotta say it was a well produced event. All the international speakers (without exception) thought it was awesome. Jessica reckoned it ‘Kicked Sydney’s Semis Ass’.
I stumbled across a FaceBook thread yesterday where this guy was whinging about the event. He was complaining that a sound artist had no place at SemiPermanent because he wasn’t a designer. What a dick. Open your mind, Twerp.
It’s about inspiration… Hearing someone speak pasionately about what they’re good at… Creatively.
It worked for me. And again, I was pretty honored to be on the bill with such an amazing bunch of ‘heads’.
I’ll go next year.

ps. I got to meet Jessica and Duncan. They were both totally cool. So was sarah, Adrienne, Nick, Katrin and Storm… But Storm was such a wierd grumpy old looney, it was hard to actually have a conversation.

Cher

Was another great event, quite possibly the best, not too much to add in terms of speakers. Met many of them at the after party as well as hanging around after the even on the final day.

I enjoyed listening to Duncan and welcome speakers from different areas of design in the future.

Going to the Wordsby side event also set the mood for what was a great weekend. Thank-you to the Church and everyone involved in putting together another superb SP event.

YAAAAYYY, Otis is here :) Loved your presentation, dude.

Yeah I agree Zoe – Karen Walker wasn’t quite as awesome as I was hoping, and Sarah from Frost was a wee bit awkward. But I reckon designers are designers, and not public speakers, and I think it’s freakin’ amazing that so many are capable of delivering such a remarkable and engaging presentation.

And yay for Te Radar aswell!