Design Thinking Drinks at Digital Eskimo

The Igloo was buzzing with design thinkers discovering their inner child and outer greenie at our Design Thinking Drinks event last Wednesday night.

The drinks, which are held every 2 months, provide a forum for the Sydney design community to come together and connect and discuss design’s application to the wider world. We were delighted to be asked to host the event, which previously has been hosted by prominent companies in the space, including Second Road and Westpac.

Setting the vibe for the evening was DE’s principal David Gravina, who kicked things off with an inspiring overview of Digital Eskimo – from the meaning of our name to how the ethos that underpins our considered approach to design infuses every aspect of what we do, both inside and outside our studio.

Digital Eskimo alumni Penny Hagen then took the floor to present the highlights and questions that have emerged from her pHD research on design research methods, participation and social technology.

This was followed by a lively discussion which you can read more of over at Kimberley Crofts awesome blog. Afterwards the guests were invited to explore four installations we set up for the night. 

Our meeting room was transformed into an interactive case study & video arcade, where guests competed for the top score in Water Worx, the iPad game that we recently created with the Powerhouse Museum. Congratulations to Alex from Second Road who reached an impressive 4490 points (topping Dave’s best of 4,300 he managed during the game’s design and testing phase!)

Our Agents of Change installation was also on display inviting the Design Thinkers to add post-it notes to the tail of the Opportunity Kite providing info about the messy problems they find inspiring, the blocks they’re facing and the tools they would like to have to tackle them. The excellent feedback we received will feed directly into the Change Agent project that is underway with the Creative Industries Innovation Centre at UTS.

We also evolved the Sketch Lab, our re-purposed architects table, projector, custom infrared pen and Wii remotes, into ‘SketchedIn’ – an interactive networking tool – especially for the night. Guests were able to draw collaborative profiles of people they either met on the night or were acquainted with . It was a fun, creative way to get people connecting and learning more about each other. Check out the results on Flickr.

Thank you to Deborah Kneeshaw, Diana Adorno & Opher-Yom Tov for providing us with the opportunity to host the event. It was great to see such a passionate turn out from the design community, whose enthusiasm to learn, share and play on the night was inspiring. If you’re keen to hear about upcoming Design Thinking Drinks, send an email to Diana.

Thanks also to the Powerhouse Museum for generously loaning out the iPads from the Ecologic exhibition for us to use on the night.

And finally, big ups to all the Eskimos who helped bring the night together and made it such a success- we couldn’t have done it without you!

Photos of the evening

Sketch notes of Penny’s presentation by Ben Crothers

Gallery of SketchedIN profile pages

We’re compiling the video of the night this week so check back.