No one leaves the Virgin Islands without a good reason. This paradisiacal territory of the Caribbean Sea is the perfect base of operations for David Carson. From there, who is considered one of the best graphic designers in the world can, in addition to working remotely, enjoy one of his greatest passions: surfing. Of course, when there is a compelling reason, he does not hesitate to take a plane no matter how far the destination is. He just did it to attend the OFFF festival in Barcelona, ??which brings together the main voices of the creative industry from the five continents until March 25 at the Disseny Hub and which once again hangs the sold out poster.
“It is without a doubt one of the reference events in the sector. I can’t miss something like this, ”says the American, who will present his career this Friday during a presentation. There are many who hope to drink from his knowledge and learn first-hand about his day-to-day work, but the one from Texas advances what he believes is the key to his success: “working with the heart. If you want to be a good designer, you must generate an emotional reaction in the recipient”.
That’s precisely what he tried to do for some of former President Barack Obama’s campaign posters. The result was such that his fame, already notorious, spread beyond the sector. “It was something that I did with great pride and that I would not have done for anyone. With Trump I would not have agreed, ”admits the designer while he attends to two admirers who stop him to take a picture. “This man is legendary. His work is pure inspiration for all of us, ”acknowledges one of them. Carson smiles sheepishly at such praise and insists on the importance of being humble. “The true future is them, the youth. They have a lot to say and they are the ones we should listen to.”
Pep Salazar, co-director of the festival together with Héctor Ayuso, is “very satisfied” that Carson attends the Barcelona event and anticipates that more than seventy speakers will participate in these days. “The experiences of all of them are very valuable. Throughout twenty-three editions we have noticed how the world has evolved. We have seen the birth of smartphones, social networks and other technological tools that are now common but that were not always so and at the time we anticipated ”, he points out.
This year “what is sounding more strongly as a trend in the creative field is artificial intelligence,” says the organizer. Joshua Davis agrees with him. The digital artist religiously attends OFFF every year, to the point that he is presented as one of the godfathers. “I only missed a year due to the pandemic but I have been coming here since 2000. I dare to say that it is the biggest festival in the world of the sector. And, unlike others, what is interesting is that it is not only a place to exhibit the work of each one, but it is a space in which trends are jointly analyzed and an attempt is made to anticipate where the shots will go. for the following years”.
Davis defines himself as “an artist who adapts to change.” His beginnings were as a traditional painter. “It is what most people expected from me when I finished Fine Arts. But I wanted to create something that hadn’t been seen before and would blow people away. I put the brushes aside and used technology until I came up with a new concept: art made with programming”. The American is clear that “the world belongs to the brave” and, therefore, he advances “we don’t have to put AI aside. There are many who are afraid that this trend will advance and end up taking their jobs. I’m not saying that can’t happen, I don’t have a crystal ball. But I am convinced that looking the other way will not make things better. Let’s take advantage of these new technologies as we have been doing for years to create something great”.
Marta Cerdà is also in favor of it. The Barcelona-based designer and illustrator used AI to create the first cover of 2023 for La Vanguardia’s Lifestyle Magazine. She used Dall·e 2, one of the best-known imaging tools that is open to everyone. “You just have to write a text or prompt explaining what you want and in a matter of seconds four very different images are generated between them. It should be said that the system is still in beta phase and no matter how limited and detailed the text may be, the number of interpretations is infinite. That means that you have to generate a lot of images for the AI ??to end up understanding what you have in mind. I, for example, used a total of 6,700 to reach the final result”.
Gemma O’Brien, for her part, believes that she is “a good source of inspiration.” The Australian designer is known both for her murals and for her striking graphics and illustrative letters that have not only captivated the general public but also big brands such as Apple, Nike or Google. Her influence is such that some of her work is in the permanent collection of the Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum in New York. Still, she admits, “To this day I don’t see myself using AI for a final project. And I’m not saying this just because it’s recent and still in constant development, but because I like networking and working side by side with people. That doesn’t mean that I don’t use it to find good ideas”.
The designer Javier Jaén will not miss this creative appointment either. Linked to the cultural world for years, his name made headlines after his iconic poster for the film Madres paralleles, by Almodóvar, in which a nipple is shown dripping with milk, was censored in networks.
His is a symbolic language in which “everyday life to express great ideas” prevails. Something that “I try to do with different tools, including AI. It is something very new and its full potential has yet to be seen, but one thing is clear: renew or die ”, he concludes.
