After two years, Dutch Digital Design was back at the SXSW stage with six representatives of its partner agencies. ‘The Future of Experiences’ was an afternoon full of inspiration, where speakers shared their views on the future and developments of interactive experiences, such as the metaverse.
Almost 200 visitors attended the event on 14 March at the grounds of the famous South by South West (SXSW) festival in Austin, Texas. Dutch Digital Design is a regular host at SXSW and it surely made a great comeback this year as the festival went back to its original physical format. See some pictures here and a great video with a recap here.
Part of the Dutch trade mission
The Dutch Digital Design event was part of the Dutch trade mission New Dutch Wave, which was supported by CreativeNL. The session was moderated by Claartje Vogel (journalist) and Bert Hagendoorn (Dutch Digital Design). At the start of the event, the Dutch strength of collaboration with each other was emphasized. Examples included this very event, the work of the Dutch Digital Design foundation, the trade mission, and various collaborations with other missions.
Six speakers presenting
Ruben van Bambost (Fabrique) kicked off the day by using examples to discuss the opportunities for design that is better suited to people. He was followed by Esther O'Callaghan (Hundo), who talked about the future of working, Generation Z and the metaverse. Dani Polak (code d'azur) presented how combining creativity and technology can bring magic to projects. Cees Dingler (Capitola) showed strong examples of the possibilities with AR and VR. Arne Koefoed (Wink) presented the Feelgood Fireworks project and his view on future experiences, after which Viet Hoang (Your Majesty) discussed the future of fashion in the metaverse.
Panel and networking
The second part of the event was a panel that further explored the topic. Led by Claartje Vogel, it included panelists Karlijn Marchildon (VanMoof), Constantine Gavrykov (Adidas), Michael Valentin (of Danish agency Signifly) and Mia Berggren (leading Swedish agency North Kingdom). They shared take-aways from the presentations and their own views on the future. The day concluded with a networking reception with all attendees.
Dutch collaboration
New Dutch Wave presented itself this edition in the form of a touring company, which makes it easy to connect with international visitors. In order to realize this, New Dutch Wave worked closely with fellow international delegations from Germany, Austria, Denmark, UK and Canada. This led to a multi-day programme with numerous events, in which Dutch participants could connect with each other, but especially with international contacts.