World's creatives flock to DHub Barcelona for avant-garde industry summit

Barcelona’s Design Museum, DHub, is hosting a new edition of OFFF Festival, turning the Catalan capital into the epicenter of avant-garde creativity. 

The 26th edition of the world’s most important industry event for the digital design and creativity sectors, OFFF Barcelona will bring together the most innovative and outstanding international and local talent from April 16-18.

Nearly 5,000 people will enjoy a program that brings together 95 creatives from different disciplines, experiences, and creative contexts who will expose their creative processes in talks, workshops and masterclasses. 

The activities focus on discliplines such as in 3D design, CGI, papercraft, set-design, website building, AI-powered design tools, post-production filmmaking, and plenty more.

Pep Salazar, director of the festival, described the event as "a place where people come to be inspired by speakers, speakers in the design industry," in an interview with Catalan News, but emphasised that "it's a community above all."

Events free for the public

After the success of opening up some free activities for the public last year, OFFF brings The Screen back once again, a ‘mapping’ experience that will project visual art spectacles onto the façade of the DHub from 9-11pm each night of the festival.

La Plaça Design Market will also be open to the public during the days of the festival, a traditional street market, but with a creative design twist, held on the lake in the Elisava Gardens of the DHub. It will bring together a curated selection of 15 local and international design projects, offering a diverse range of creative products, including books, clothing, accessories, and more. 

Avant-garde creativity

People come to OFFF Barcelona to learn "new trends, new tendencies, new visions," in their industry, but also to find "new things to get inspired by," according to festival director Salazar.

New tools are also showcased, "because we have these software industries here, so they develop new tools and they explain how to use these new tools," he adds.

Masterclasses in subjects such as 3D design, CGI, set-design, website building, AI-powered design tools, post-production filmmaking, and plenty more take place over the three days. 

Among the speakers are global leaders in creativity and visual innovation, such as teamLab, a Japanese collective recognized for its immersive digital installations, and Moment Factory, a pioneering studio in the creation of multimedia experiences and large-scale audiovisual environments for clients such as Real Madrid and Madonna.

Other leading design, branding, and motion studios and agencies taking part are FutureDeluxe, Uncommon, Hamill Industries, and Base Design, which will provide their vision on the processes and trends that are defining contemporary creativity.