Adobe Max Talk: Irma Boom & Stefan Sagmeister

IRMA BOOM:

• Makes books as a physical 3D object.
• - can use every detail all together, weight, smell, all of it, to make it something specific. 
• Printed matter is out public knowledge it's our culture that is preserved in a library. See book making as a cultural act. 
• Can only appreciate the book once it's printed and bound to become something. 
• Each book is a nw invention a new start, that's why they all look different. 
• Books are made to be read, to use, to hold in your hands. 
• Can't assimilate books on flat screen. 
• Each detail needs to follow an idea, the right paper, the right thickness, etc. 
• 'You say obsessive, I call it focus.' 
• Makes mini models to see how text and image are distributed, you see the whole process. Making in mini like an architect would. 
• I don't think about the other, or how it would be received. When you start thinking of this you think in compromises. You should think of you as an autonomous acting person. 
• - No compromise is crucial element to her work. 
• You can only be creative if you get rust and freedom, these create responsibility. 

STEFAN SAGMEISTER:

• Way of thinking about a project, how to come up with new ideas, can get ideas from anything you see. When thinking of new things you develop new mental pathways - these can help you in the future. 
• Demonstrated this idea through logo made for music hall. Saw a car, took mask of the music hall used these along with considered colour palette to develop a logo that alters (responsive logo). 
  - Really unique shapes and ideas, looks interesting and is even more interesting when you know how it's made. 
• Give yourself rules and restrictions to force new ideas.
  - Reminded me of first year, think about how this can influence own practice. 
• Have an object, think of a different use for it, keep doing this, exhaust it of ideas. Can create new ways of thinking with an exercise like this.
  - Again Sagmeister is talking a lot about practice and how to help your practice with small exercises.
• Experiment on people, half of group stayed inside and had to come up with ideas for the object. Other half went on a walk and did the same. The group that went on a walk came up with 3x as many ideas as those who stayed inside. 
  - This shows how changing your environment can have an impact on your mindset and therefore your workflow.
• Don't use other people's design work when coming up with ideas, you'll make work that looks like theirs, not new work.
• Avoid Pinterest and It's Nice That
  - Thought this was interesting as we're encouraged to look at other people's work.
  - I think you can use these sites but need to use them well, use them for keeping current and contemporary but use other techniques, like Sagmeister has explained, to generate new and exciting ideas.