A Creative Conference with a Conscience

My take-aways from the past weekend.

Mental health

The most amazing creative minds are not immune to imposter syndrome, anxiety and failure. 

In his talk entitled; ‘It’s OK not to be OK!’, Thiago Maia from Cookie Studio, talked about his struggles, and the many lost pitches. “I had no vocabulary to explain how I was feeling” was a good reminder about the importance of language about mental health and emotions.

Burton Rest shared his personal journey of struggle and finding the light in photography, “we are all pre-programmed to prioritise short term achievements over long-term happiness.”

The most incredible paper artist Patrick Cabral shared, “if you keep on doing new things, you are always the subject of failure.” 

Education 

I really related to Matthew Encina’s talk about his non-linear career path, using his creativity for good and the fulfilment he gets out of teaching.

“The more we grow, the better position we are in to elevate one another.” Burton Rest.

Smart Sponsorship 

I was so impressed by the conference sponsors SM Malls who genuinely care about supporting the creative community and stood on stage to offer free spaces in their malls to creative studios who want an offline retail presence. Admirable.

Patience, NFTs and AI

Beeple is known for selling his NFT collection for $69million, it was amazing to see him create his ‘everydays’ artwork live on stage with input from the crowd.

“AI is a powerful new tool that artists will incorporate into their work to make new types of art we can’t even imagine.”

I like his emphasis on patience and the need to “focus on practising your craft as much as you can.”

Graphika Manila thank you for the inspiration I will be back next year.