What: New Zealand’s biggest art and creative industries showcase.
When: 26-27 August 2011
Where: Aotea Centre, Auckland
This Friday and Saturday I, and hundreds of other creative types, will be merrily making my way to the Aotea Centre for We Can Create.
Essentially, it’s a conference, run by The Church – who have brought the international creative showcase, Semi-Permanent, to New Zealand for the last seven years. This year, they are steering the ship their own way under the “WCC” banner.
My Picks for We Can Create 2011:
Sara Blake – Zho (New York)
This producer of pretty combines traditional art with digital to create beautiful illustrations. Her unique style is influenced by sources such as fashion, music, nature and tattoo design, and I think she’ll be a hit with any fans of Audrey Kawasaki out there.
Extra for experts: Sara is having a mini exhibition as a We Can Create side event.
Tuesday 23 August, 5 -7pm, (that’s tomorrow!)
Alleluya Bar & Cafe, St Kevins Arcade,
183 Karangahape Rd, Auckland
Kris Sowersby – Klim Type Foundry (Wellington)
Whanganui School of Design-trained Kris Sowersby has picked up an enviable collection of Certificates of Excellence from The Type Designer’s Club in New York.
His excellent eye for the movement and flow of characters within a typeface has culminated in a series of beautiful, historically informed typefaces for Klim Type Foundry – founded by himself in 2005.
One thing I’ve always admired about Kris is his openness in sharing his creative process and the construction behind his work. On the Klim website, you can find scans of his sketchbooks showing the thought behind typefaces and some of the commercial lettering and logotypes also visible in their finished form.
Extra for experts: This article written by Kris for I Love Typography, Newzald: From Moleskine to Market details the creation of Newzald, from inspiration through to the end result and even naming the typeface.
This is a fascinating article for the type-obsessed or even the lower-key type fan. Excellent prep for his opening presentation this Friday.
Honorable Mentions
I’m also looking forward to seeing presentations from:
Rafaël Rozendaal (Brazil), for whom “the internet is his canvas” – I don’t know much about this guy, but his presentation could be dazzling or painful. Definitely keen to find out.
Patrick Reynolds (New Zealand), photography! I’m sold!
Frank Kozik (San Francisco), I would dearly love to hear him explore his work in “reviving the lost art of the concert poster”, but somehow I think we’ll be hearing about vinyl toys. Nothing wrong with that either!
TL, DR
For those of you who may have thought this post was too long, but DID read, gold star and kitten hugs to you!
If you still haven’t pounced on a ticket to We Can Create, drop me a Tumblr message or an email (anthea.whittle@gmail.com) to find out how you can get a wee discount on your ticket. I’d love to see you there!