We despatched a crack team of creatively oriented W+Kers – art director Karen Jane (aka KJ), talent manager Ashley (aka Shack-Attack), and head of studio and design, Maya (/////) – over to Dublin last week to check out the OFFSET design conference. Here's a roundup and some highlights from KJ: 

Last weekend Maya, Ashley and I were lucky enough to escape London and attend the Offset conference in Dublin, Ireland. Offset – which is held over 3 days – is a showcase of talks and interviews from a selection of acclaimed Irish and International designers, animators, illustrators, artists, photographers and advertising folk. The 2014 event saw 24 speakers take the stage and share their thoughts on working process, inspiration and influences. 

Housed in the relatively new Bord Gais theatre, the conference was smaller than I imagined it would be, but in a really good way – an intimate affair with a friendly feel rather than a vast sprawling event. 

Over the weekend we saw 18 x 1-hour talks, of which almost all yielded fruit of some kind or another. Here are just five of the highlights:

Marina Willer from Pentagram talked about embracing theories of 'out of control', which she applies to her practise of creating flexible identity systems with her team. She praised being 'not practical' in the expression of design and colour, her influences from her homeland of Brazil and how her children's view on the world was always refreshing and imaginative. Favourite quote from one of her twins: "Is is dark inside me?"

Jessica Walsh praised the benefits of creative play, following your gut, and getting off the computer to make stuff. And how this free working process can feed back into your daily practise and client work. She used examples of her impressive self-initiated typographic works, and numerous naked photoshoots from the Sagmeister & Walsh studio, alongside client pieces that were highly influenced by their play-infused processes.

Photographer Richard Mosse described his camera as 'the beast that ruined my life' and then proceeded to show us a trail of his documentary work that lead up to his incredible Infra Red series – a project featuring warring tribal fractions in the Congo, transformed into vivid colour through experimentation with Infrared film.

Neville Brody, design legend and Head of Communication Art & Design at the RCA talked about working process, education and how edges between different creative disciplines were blurring. He shared some work from his studio – such as the redesign of The Times, as well as the recent rebranding for the RCA undertaken with Margaret Calvert of roadside signage fame, and encouraged us to make trouble and not to be too nice.

Marion Banjtes, illustrator and typographer, talked of her love for obsessiveness, collecting pictures of sidewalks, and having something to say in your work. And pleaded "find something to say with the alphabets you create!" She then shared her vast selection of intricate work and explained how she was now going to work in a completely different way after releasing her monogram of work and closing that chapter of her creative career.

The full schedule of speakers is here. 

No matter what your connection to design is, I'd predict that it would be impossible to leave Offset without experiencing some manner of zap to the brain. For me as a designer, art director, and more recently mentor, this avalanche of information served as a great reminder of why I love what I do. There's nothing more inspiring than hearing people talk passionately about their work and what makes them tick, to remind you what your own version of that is. And ultimately, to reconnect with that.

Through these talks I was also reminded of numerous important things that are easy to forget when in the throes of a working day in a busy agency. So, in the name of my failing memory, I have jotted down a few things that I want to make sure I remember from the weekend. A note to self, if you will:

• Play more, question less
• It’s not all on you – it’s always team-work that gets to the best work
• Don't be polite with your work, don't be nice
• Get off the computer and make shit
• Adjust your working process to help you get to something exciting
• Keep stock of ideas/ techniques you have created that you can pull on later
• Always try to be doing stuff in new ways, don't repeat
• Identify what works for you and build on that – don't be afraid to kill your ideas
• Get involved within the community. The world is a design problem.

Cravendale returns to TV screens this spring with the launch of the new ‘Barry the Biscuit Boy’ campaign. A 30” TV spot kicks off the brand’s integrated campaign, complete with fresh, new packaging in store.

The ad communicates the irresistibly delicious flavor of Cravendale’s ‘filtered to be marvellous’ milk, cementing its reputation as the brand for serious milk lovers and appealing to Cravendale’s core family audience.
Inspired by fables of old, the ad takes Cravendale’s milk-related musings in a deliciously dark new direction, with the twisted tale of Barry the biscuit boy and his near fatal attraction to the cool charms of a refreshing lake of Cravendale.

Created in collaboration with Blink Ink, the film combines the visual flair of directors Andy Huang and Joe Mann with the talents of veteran puppeteers Johnny and Will to bring Barry and his milky world to life.

Wieden+Kennedy creative Ben Shaffery says: “We wanted to build a world that felt like nothing we’d seen before. By using a mix of puppetry, stop-motion and CG we were able to marry visually striking modern techniques with the warmth of old-school charm.”

Sophie Macaulay, brand manager at Cravendale said: “At Cravendale, we’re extremely proud of the cult following our adverts have received in the past, and we’re confident that this new ATL campaign will be equally well received. We wanted to use the new ATL to dial up Cravendale’s purpose as a marvellous milk and the role it plays in fuelling family betterness, while at the same time ensuring we surprise and delight our fanbase. We think Barry will certainly do that.”

Breaking on Saturday 29th March during Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway on ITV 1, the 30” ad aims to maximise the brand’s exposure amongst milk lovers as well as positioning Cravendale as the ultimate dunking partner. Alongside the TV and print executions, the campaign will be supported by social media activity featuring our very own social media baker, with baker extraordinaire Fancy Nancy engaging with Cravendale fans and creating edible masterpieces in response to cultural moments. The results will be shared on Cravendale’s channels as the campaign unfolds.

twitter.com/Cravendale

facebook.com/Cravendale 

milkmatters.co.uk