Cardiff Design Festival Awards

What better way to explore the current design coming from Cardiff than to attend the Design Festival Awards. It was a stylish affair, hosted by ex CBBC puppet host extraordinaire Chris Corcoran who revelled in the banter between the creative disciplines. The night took a turn to the surreal when Ragora Khart took to the stage and stunned with their eccentric music, and Gypsie dance moves supported by a belly dancer in character. It was an enjoyable evening, and a great opportunity to view the latest and greatest from Cardiff in a shortlist slide show.
Possibly the highlight of the night from a design perspective was the inspiration talk from Greyworld's Andrew Shobe. I was amazed by the installation concepts alone, but the technicality of the implementation was unbelievable.




These balls are able to ascend up the wires and fall in such a way that can make words and shapes. It is the realisation of a great idea that impresses me most about this installation.



The statue outside the Tate in London plays on the idea of making more out of something that is considered a bit stagnant as a piece of public art (a bronze statue). It is an animatronic figure that can change pose and even mimic the pose of passers by, making more of an impression than the static piece ever could.



Running a stick against railings produces an interesting sound in its own right, but tuning the railings to a song is an exciting twist to this. The fact that it looks so anonymous could give a bored pedestrian a shock if they decide to run a stick across them, producing a tune. The creative thinking behind Greyworld is another class, and inspires me to be more creative in my work.