By Sam Johnson
Forward Festival is a 2-day event in Vienna that brings together people from across the creative industries, with talks, workshops and plenty of chances to collaborate, get inspired and meet new people.
I flew out on Wednesday, a day early, to get my bearings in a new city and squeeze in a trip to the Museum of Applied Arts (the MAK). It was the perfect pre-festival inspiration stop. I ended up seeing everything from historic woodcarvings, to modern art viewed from the point of view of a golf cart, to the surprisingly fascinating history of lace decoration in Vienna.
When the festival actually kicked off, the energy was great. Even outside there was a live band playing, which instantly set the tone. After some wandering, mingling and chatting to exhibitors, it was time for the talks. There were so many amazing speakers from all around the world, covering every corner of the industry. Rather than breaking down each one individually, I wanted to share my top four takeaways.
1 – Have fun!
Form Play, from Brighton, had a refreshing approach to animation: resonance over reach. They talked about doubling down on the kind of work that actually entertains and connects with people. How do we find something that resonates? It all comes back to our process and making sure we’re having fun at every stage. Their three steps were simple: PLAY → LEARN → CREATE.
Stockholm-based Snask also hammered this point home… and their talk was basically a performance in itself. They showed so much work that genuinely looked like fun to make. Their waterproof trainer campaign? Did they feature a hardcore athlete battling harsh weather? No. Did they show an inspiring moment of triumph in the rain? No. They made a hilarious video about a professional puddle-jumper. So good.
Julia Hoffmann from Google Creative Lab added a quote that I know will stick with me:
‘Brand guidelines are a springboard, not a straitjacket.’ Such a great reminder that creativity shouldn’t be boxed in, even when we’re working within a brand.
2 – How designers change the world
Aurélia de Azambuja really shifted my perspective when looking at the role of designers today. It’s easy to fall into the mindset of ‘I’m just making an ad’ or ‘It’s just another brand’, but she reminded us that what we create actually shapes the world around us. The tone we choose, the characters we show, the diversity we include (or don’t) all adds up.
She also encouraged us to take inspiration from the ‘mundane’ things around us. Unexpected colour combinations, weird patterns, interesting typefaces in everyday life – it’s all creative material if we pay attention.
Another point that stayed with me was how our design skills can help elevate good causes, especially smaller charities that don’t get enough design attention. Even doing the odd pro-bono project can make a real difference.
She talked about how the best design should create an emotional response. Snask summed this up perfectly with: ‘Make enemies, gain fans.’
This is a reminder that we shouldn’t expect everyone to love our work. Sometimes the strongest ideas divide opinion, but they also attract the right people.
3 – Our perspective and how we approach client projects
Daily Dialogue from Munich talked about their ethos: collaboration, NOT service. I loved this. So many marketers talk about ‘services’ they offer, but approaching projects as genuine collaboration creates a much healthier, more creative dynamic.
Found Studio from London introduced a scale that every project sits on: opportunity ↔ challenge.
- Projects full of opportunity give us freedom to try new things and push boundaries.
- Projects that sit more on the challenge side might be more restrictive, but that can actually sharpen our skills and help us perfect what we’re doing within a tighter scope.
Both ends of the scale come with benefits.
And in both cases, letting go of a bit of control can lead to really surprising results. When we experiment and set some parameters for ourselves, we can create outcomes that genuinely surprise us, which is kind of the joy of creative work.
4 – A refreshing approach to AI
I’ll admit, when I first saw that one of the main sponsors was an AI video-generation service, I was a bit sceptical. I wasn’t sure how heavily AI was going to be pushed, or how the creative community would respond to it.
But honestly, most speakers approached AI in such a balanced way. The general message was that AI is here whether we like it or not, and if we want to keep up, it needs to be a layer in our process, but never the final result. Examples included using AI to write code for realistic ink splashes, quickly concept ideas or moodboards, or gather research and data.
Basically: view AI as a tool, not a shortcut.
XK Studio summed it up brilliantly by sharing the three qualities that separate us from AI: taste, care and desire.
These are 3 things that AI will never have, so we need to make sure every project is curated with taste, executed with care and inspires desire.
Conclusion
I’d recommend Forward Festival to anyone in the creative industry – not just designers. Hearing so many different voices and approaches is genuinely refreshing. If you want inspiration, a new way of looking at projects, or just a reminder of why we do what we do, it’s absolutely worth going.
Sam Johnson is a Motion Designer at Big Orange Media.