FITC (Flash in the Can) is one of the largest and longest running events for the design and technology community. The 2009 Toronto event celebrated what it means to “live, think and play outside the lines” this year, with three days packed full of inspiring sessions focused on the art and craft of interactive design and technology.

Interestingly, the “Flash in the Can” name is a reference to Adobe’s Flash software and CAN – taken from Canada. The inaugural festival previously focused strictly on Flash. However, the scope of events has broadened to include motion design, creative inspiration, mobile and gaming technologies as well as other forms of interactive and digital media technologies such as Flex, Air and others.

Traveling to the event in Toronto (a great city, my first time there) was a great opportunity to check out Toronto and the interactive design and technology industry there, to network and to give me some food for thought for when I move to Canada at the start of 2010.

Pre-Conference Day: Workshops and the Get a Job event

I attended R Blank’s workshop “Practical ActionScript 3“, which covered the fundamental changes in ActionScript 3. The workshop aimed to teach attendees the core changes in AS3 and how to execute all basic functionality (such as loading external music, keep using your FlashVars, and parse through huge XML files) while getting a handle on some of the new terms and concepts available in AS3. Blank also presented a session titled “Get Off Your Ass and Start Using AS3 Already!“, which although I did not attend I am happy to say that I’ve been using AS3 ever since.  If you haven’t gotten off you ass and started using AS3 yet, do it!

During the workshop’s lunch break I took some time to explore the Get a Job event in which a number of leading agencies presented and set up booth to talk to potential talent about future opportunities. During this time, I got to talk to some of the people at great places such as First Born Multimedia, Henderson Bas, Grow Interactive, Relish and Fuel Industries.

The conference itself split sessions into four main streams: Creative, Technical, Business and Panel. There was also some showcase sessions. While I personally chose to attend mainly creative and some technical streams as that content was more relevant and interesting to me, there were some great business and panel sessions that I attended also. If anything, it was sometimes hard to decide what sessions to attend as there could be four all happening simultaneously. The way in which the conference center in the Toronto Hilton hotel was set up allowed attendees to switch between sessions if you so desired, meaning that you could sit in on half of one session at the back of the room and slip out of that to catch half of another session.

 
The Conference:

Listed below are the sessions that I enjoyed most during the 3-day conference. In no particular order:

Zachary Lieberman (thesystemis.com) & Golan Levin (flong.com, Twitter): “Art, Gesture, Computation, Framework.”

“A glimpse, maybe, of possible near futures (and near misses!) in interactive art and design.” 

Lieberman and Levin discussed implementing advanced technology to try and help every day people in their everyday lives. One of the more eye-opening aspects of their presentation focused on an eye-tracking program that they tested with an ex-graffiti artist who is paralyzed due to the debilitating effects of Lou Gehrig’s Disease. The software enables him to draw and communicate through eye movements. The duo also presented a range of collaborative and solo projects, and described their “open mouth”

 strategy – As a viewers interest or awe increases, their mouth opens further. They suggested that as the mouth opens, access to the heart opens also. This strategy was demonstrated with sequential photos of a child viewing one of their installations. Another concept that they touched on was DIWO (do it with others) – meaning that it is better for all involved and for the outcome of a project if there is collaboration and sharing of skills. Also eye-opening (but in a completely different way than their earlier demonstration, pardon the pun! – You’ll know what I mean when you view the installation) was the Double-Taker (Snout) interactive installation.

Joshua Davis (joshuadavis.com | Once Upon A Forrest | Twitter): “Space.” 

When I first got involved in digital media in 2000, Davis was the first person in the design and technology industry that I remember thinking was more like a rock star than a designer. That aside, I would consider myself to be one of the many admirer’s of his work. During this engaging and animated presentation, Davis explained how flash technology has enabled him to do “rapid prototyping” sketches. Something that may have taken months with traditional sketching, now takes him a matter of days, thanks to technology.

Camille Utterback (camilleutterback.com): “Responding to Bodies: My Work is Watching You.”

Internationally acclaimed artist, Camille demonstrated the process behind some of of her interactive installations and reactive sculptures. Interestingly, she still uses Director for some of her projects. 

Joshua Hirsch (Big Spaceship | BSS Labs | Twitter): “Big Spaceship: Digital Creative Agency.”

Joshua’s session illustrated the importance of looking into internal projects and experiments, and discussed other important aspects of the Big Spaceship’s approach and process – a focus on collaboration between disciplines, the importance of culture and work environment, and making time to explore alternative techniques and new technologies. Teams at Big Spaceship are organized by projects instead of by job titles.  

Big Spaceship’s work philosophy includes:

• There is no one creative person or overall Creative Director. Everyone can contribute to project ideas and is considered creative.
• They experiment constantly, including experimenting with internal projects – not only client work. 
• Fun begets quality.

I really liked their Hope vs. Despair project that acts as a physical representation of a Twitter mood detector (see image below). Finally, one slide from the presentation in particular stood out: “Don’t hire assholes. No matter how talented.”

Marcos Chin (marcoschin.com): “Pretty Pictures.”

In Marcos’ own words “I believe that content and concept are very important in the creation of a successful illustration; I absolutely love beautiful pictures, but I think that a beautiful image with a strong idea can be even more engaging.”

Marcos, who is best known for his illustrations for the ubiquitous advertising campaign Lavalife showed samples of some of the work that he has done for clients including Time, Rolling Stone, and The New York Times. He gave the audience an insight into his image-making process using Illustrator and talked about his experiences of balancing his personal projects with his commercial illustration work.

Carole Guevin (Netdiver): “Online, The Brand is YOU!“

Read more about Carole’s presentation in her article on Netdiver. You can also download her presentation slides as a PDF from the Netdiver site.

“Reality Cheque: Running a Freelance Business.”

This discussion was aimed at freelancers and contained information about how to set your rates, contracts, taxes and incorporation. Panelists were: Dana DiTomaso (LakeStreet Communications | Twitter), Kendra Gadzala (www.gadzala.com), Nadine Lessio (nadinelessio.com  | Twitter) and Stacey Mulcahy (bitchwhocodes.com | Twitter). Moderated by Ann-Marie Cheung (FlashGoddess.com | Twitter).

Joseph Corr & Mathew Ray (Crispin Porter + Bogusky): “Digital Experiences Beyond the Monitor.”

Joseph and Mathew shared the “100 foot experience” of large, interactive installations in destinations including Europe’s largest billboard (Liverpool), domes in Dubai and video projections on the Grand Tower in Jakarta. “Having access to some of the biggest toys in the world is one of the best parts of working with large clients. But, knowing which platforms to incorporate into a campaign, and how to architect a solution to not just support, but take advantage of them can be a complicated task. Lo-fi and homebuilt executions are also possibilities, and often are potential endeavours for students or teams interested in speculative projects.”

The duo spoke about Microsoft’s “I’m a PC” advertising campaign project that allowed users to upload video of themselves explaining how they use their PC. Some of these clips were posted to billboards in Times Square, New York. Users who submitted a video could also text their username to a short code (when they were in Times Square, for example, or else when they were looking at a live web cam of the billboards). The technology would then would pull up their video clip on demand. The duo ended by recommending designers explore getting into interactive displays now, if they haven’t already as they both expect to see more and more of them as consumer demand increases. Entry costs into this area are not as high as you might think – Look at the video of the $2 multi-touch as an example:

MK12 (mk12.com): “Dame Judy Dench Could Kick My Mothers Ass™.”

Shaun Hamontree discussed MK12’s journey designing and executing the main titles and smart table sequences for the latest in the James Bond saga “Quantum of Solace.” Watch the finished intro sequence below:

Thierry Loa (hellohello.bz): “Life, Work and Philosophy.”

Colin Moock (Moock.org | Blog): “Your Phone is Your Controller (and Other Multi-user Adventures.”

Moock explored the world of multi-user experiences, demo-ing an interactive game where the audience could turn their phones into a multi-player game controller.

Matt Lambert (1st Avenue Machine | dieLamb | Twitter): “Technology Paving the Way for Story Telling.” 

Matt discussed the thin line between telling stories while still attempting to create work that is visually and technically impressive. Matt brought the audience back to video editing in the early naughties (2000’s) and observed that at a certain point, the art of storytelling was eclipsed by experimentation with the new technologies at hand. Similarly, Flash designers and developers lost sight of end users and focused more on exploiting the technology. The challenge we face as communicators – whether a Flash designer, developer or film-maker, Matt suggested, was to avoid becoming pigeon-holed in technique or technicalities and for content and concept to precede execution. I couldn’t agree more, concept and content can be lost in digital media projects in favor of “making it look cool.”

View a sample of Matt’s work - Discovery Channel’s EMEA “Footprint”:

View the making of the Footprint video on nofatclips.com

Jared Ficklin (Frog Design | Twitter): “Seeing Sound.”

View a video of Jared demonstrating the Ruben’s tube effect:

Mikey Richardson (AmeobaCorp | Mikeyrichardson.ca | Twitter): “The Things I’ve Learned About Being Creative.”

Mikey discussed some of the lessons that he has learned in terms of creative thinking and demonstrated the value of research, strategy, constantly collecting ideas and visuals, and experimentation. He also discussed specific techniques for coming up with new ideas. Richardson went on to explain the creative philosophy that is used at his design firm AmoebaCorp, which from the sound of things is an really inspiring and creative place to work at. I liked how Mikey emphasized the value of small things that can be overlooked by creatives sometimes, such as “being unfashionable” (see slide below), as vital components in the creative process. His slides were very engaging and well designed also.

View a list of all of the presentations at FITC Toronto 2009.
  

In conclusion:

A really enjoyable and inspiring event. The quality of the presentations and the speakers that were chosen to present at the event were second to none; industry people that know what they’re doing and what they’re talking about. I also liked the opportunities for networking. The people that I spoke to were approachable, accessible and enthusiastic. The networking aspect of the event was invaluable, especially for someone who is not from Toronto and who will be moving to Canada in the near future.

Remember to pace yourself if you are going to any FITC or conference events – we’re talking a full 3 days of conference sessions and then onto the parties each night – 3 days from from 9 a.m. until 1a.m. every day (depending on how late you stay out until at the infamous FITC parties, which I found were a good way to talk to other people that you didn’t meet or see during the day and to unwind after a day-long of sessions).
  

Final words:

Engaging, inspiring, motivating, challenging and lastly, refreshing to see how friendly the Flash / Design / Technology community is worldwide.

- Niamh. @nredmond

MORE INFORMATION: UPCOMING FITC EVENTS, RELATED LINKS AND PHOTOS.

Future FITC events:

If like me, you would like to attend a FITC event again, or possibly for the first time, be sure to check out their website, which details all upcoming events. On the upcoming schedule list right now is FITC Mobile in September 2009 (the early-bird tickets are available until July 17th 2009), the FITC Un-conference event that is part of Adobe Max and FITC Edmonton, both in October 2009.

Related links:

The official FITC Toronto 2009 blog

Big Spaceship’s Labs | FITC Toronto 2009 Link Dump

Photos:

- The official FITC Flickr stream.

- My photos from the event are available to view in my Flickr stream.

Art by Joshua Davis:

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This entry was posted on Friday, July 10th, 2009 at 8:36 pm and is filed under Design, Development, Film. You can keep updated on the conversation by subscribing to the comments feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.