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London Design Festival 2024 Reflection

Date
September 23, 2024
Category
News

This September we opened up our studio for two days, showcasing some of our Studio, Labs and Ventures projects and hosting talks. And it was one of those moments where I was like ‘why have we waited so long to do this?’.

We made the decision late July, giving us two months to decide what we were going to do. What started as us just opening up the office for talks with some project work laid out, turned into us clearing out the entire space; food, drinks, a DJ and a two day exhibition. And it was absolutely worth it. 

Reflection 

Firstly, we got to reflect on just how many products we’ve taken to market over the years and choose which we wanted to include. In the end 28 studio projects were exhibited. From packaging to fitness tech products that we have designed for brands from Delhi to San Francisco. We also had more detailed insights into our latest Lab project; Mindful AI: a proposition of playful phygital products to support the mental health and creativity of children 5-10 years in the future. Seeing everything presented in one place brought home to me how we’ve evolved as a studio over the years and I’m excited for the direction we are heading in.

Connections

Bringing people together has always been a passion of mine. Whether it’s having people over for dinner or starting an open conversation online; the unexpected connections that you make by bringing strangers together can be really fascinating. Our intimate Thursday talks were a great example. With plenty of time for Q&A, we dug into topics including the challenges around the cost of sustainability and how AI will impact the role of the designer. It was an amazing opportunity to pick the brains of the amazing Insiya Jaferjee, co-founder of material innovation company Shellworks and Lex Fefegha, creative coder at Google along with Morrama design leads Juliette Bouilly and Ben Melvin. I feel a talk series coming on…

Teamwork

Nothing that comes out of the Morrama studio is the product of one single person. We collaborate on everything and our LDF exhibit was no different. From design and planning to the heavy lifting and clear up, everyone just got stuck in and we had a great time. Having an opportunity to be creative off-brief always gets us excited.

Family

Having friends and family join us for food and drinks on Thursday evening made the day even more special. The support that my wife has given me since the early days of Morrama has been fundamental to where we are today. And having my son swing by was the icing on the cake. We work hard at Morrama, we take our work seriously because we are passionate about design, but at the end of the day, family comes first. 

Today it’s back to work, but I’ll do my best to keep this little ball of positive energy from last week with me for as long as I can.

More imagery from our event can be found on our Linkedin here.

Author

Jo Barnard

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