Foundry LIVE | Creative Conference September 2019

Foundry Live September 2019

The Stream team attended the last Foundry Live event for 2019 recently. Thank you to the Foundry for showcasing some wonderfully inspiring speakers this year. This event had a distinctive student focus, with topics on designer burn out and stresses in the industry; internships, portfolio preparation and most importantly how to value creative work.


The first speaker, Marcel Jacobs, design lead at Mentally Friendly, gave an inspiring talk on being the best designer you can be. He is connected to the effect that design has on people, as motivation for working in the industry. Marcel spoke about measuring your progress with highs and lows and to view any uncertainty as an unexplored opportunity. He finished his talk with a memorable comment, “you are not stupid, the world, is just complex”.

Second up was architect Todd Henderson, from the Launceston office of Cumulus Studio. Cumulus collaborates with artists and branding designers, to complete architectural projects. Todd started his talk by introducing his team and the way they work through the design process. He then showcased some interesting Cumulus projects such as Willie Smith’s Apple Shed, Lady Gowrie Tasmania and Devil’s Corner Cellar Door and Lookout.

Andy Ryan Live 2019After lunch, the third speaker, Andy Wright from Streamtime and Never Not Creative hit the stage. Andy is a seasoned designer and is passionate about improving the value of the creative industry. He spoke about how affected the design industry is by our environment, pressure, deadlines and economic fragility. Andy then went on to speak about the pros and cons of creative internships; and, introduced a fantastic opportunity for graduates called the ‘World’s Greatest Internship’ where they have the opportunity to intern at top creative companies around the world.

Chi Ryan Foundry Live 2019Chi Ryan was the final speaker of the day. Chi is Strategy Director at PwC Digital and has worked as a visual designer in companies around the world. She now calls herself a ‘trans-disciplinary designer’ as she incorporates visual, spatial and experience design with emerging technologies into her work. She spoke of her design journey and how she approaches her design projects with the question “why should we?” in an effort to find the best solutions possible.

“Be kinder to yourself, and bring ‘all of you’ into everything you do”
“There are no rules for inventing the future”

Chi Ryan

The day ended with a Q&A session and we got to take home some great new ideas, and a cool little Foundry-branded cookie as a snack for the way home.