Over the past few days, October 6, 7, and 8, Albert Bachiller and I, Marc Calvet, as representatives of the Digital Solutions design team, had the privilege of experiencing Digital Design Days (DDD) in Milan firsthand. This event is one of the most significant in the realm of digital design, bringing together professionals from around the globe. It was three days filled with inspiring talks, innovation, and fresh ideas on how technology and creativity can merge to elevate us to new heights, with tangible examples of how technology and design can be combined to create unique experiences.
The talks covered an incredibly diverse range of topics, from digital artist Maxim Zhestkov, who explained how his intrinsic creative process led him to craft masterpieces like the PlayStation 5 advertisement, to Mariola Bruszewska, the design lead behind 2023 Spotify Wrapped, who detailed how she conceived last year’s campaign for the music giant.
The central theme of all the talks was placing the user at the heart of everything. The goal is to create digital interfaces and experiences so natural and intuitive that users don’t even have to think about it. Additionally, we explored many new tools designed to streamline and personalize this process, with a special focus on generating dynamic, immersive content from vast amounts of data.
AI also played an omnipresent role in most of the talks, illustrating how it is revolutionizing many aspects and transforming creativity. It is no longer merely a tool for automating tasks; it now expedites prototype design and even generates visualizations and designs with just a few clicks. That said, it was also emphasized that AI does not replace human creativity but rather complements and enhances it.
Another highlight was augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). More and more brands are using these technologies to offer impactful experiences to users. Through practical examples, we saw that AR and VR are not just for video games, they can transform the way we interact with products, services, and even with people.
Our personal “Top 3” talks, selected from over 20 sessions during the three days of the event, based on our interests and their relevance to our daily work, were:
Jonathan Kim (Rare Volume)
He discussed the current moment, where design increasingly leans towards scalable and secure solutions driven by major tech companies, and where his firm, Rare Volume, strives to balance aesthetics with functionality. As creative professionals, they believe in placing equal importance on beauty and utility, leveraging their expertise in design and engineering to create projects that are both highly functional and visually impactful. We were particularly impressed by their work in developing virtual environments based on extensive data, such as the Glòries Tower observation deck, where atmospheric data (temperature, wind, waves, etc.) gathered from the city is transformed into spectacular visualizations.
Eric Jordan & Tony Novak (2advanced Studios)
2advanced Studios is a legendary web agency from the era when Flash ruled the internet. Its website served as a benchmark and source of inspiration for web designers in the early 2000s.
In their talk, the two heads of the agency delved into the complexities that have been artificially introduced into the world of web design. They argued that, in the pursuit of a simpler and more efficient web, sacrifices have been made, and continue to be made, that have led to an “epidemic” of dull and monotonous designs, stifling creativity and expression. They called for a return to the origins, when anything was possible and we weren’t boxed in by the “dictatorship” of templates and proprietary design systems (Material Design, iOS Guidelines, etc.). It was an inspiring intervention that made us reflect deeply on how we should approach our work in the future.
Maxwell Reed (Kingdom of Something)
Kingdom of Something is a small design studio based in the Netherlands. In their talk, they explored how the power of animation and micro-animations can be harnessed to enhance digital products and experiences. By employing simple animation techniques, it’s possible to trigger dopamine, empathy, and a wide range of emotions in users. The session demonstrated how leading brands use these techniques to stand out and outpace their competition. Notably, we were impressed by the ingenious use of gamification and motivation by Duolingo.
Attending Digital Design Days 2024 was a tremendous opportunity to closely explore the latest trends in digital design and discover how to incorporate them into our projects. Over the course of three days, we witnessed how innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and virtual reality are reshaping the digital landscape, providing us with tools that expand creative possibilities and enhance user interaction. This experience has sparked new ideas to improve the quality and relevance of our projects, ensuring they truly connect with users and helping us stay at the forefront of an ever-evolving sector.
