Brand Creative on the Design MENA Summit 2018, Hosted by Commercial Interior Design and Middle East Architect

Brand Creative attended the 2018 Design MENA Summit, the 6^th edition of the annual event hosted by Commercial Interior Design and Middle East Architect. Each year some of the top speakers and influencers of the Architecture and Interior Design Industry are invited to come and talk to discuss their practice and also the issues facing designers in the current climate. The event also coincided with the release of Commercial Interior Design Magazine’s Power List so it was great to see the magazine for the first time with Brand Creative’s Creative Director Carla in the top 20!

There were some great takeaways from the talks this year as we gained insight into the creative process of other design firms. The Brand Creative team could fully relate to the founders of Design Studio David/Nicholas during their keynote on Design & Identity as they described their practice and the challenges they are up against.

We also learned about the history of Moroccan architecture from Driss Kettani and saw a stunning body of recent work from his firm Driss Kettani Architecture. His designs are breathtakingly beautiful, working harmoniously with the surrounding environment to optimise the light and dimension throughout the interior space.

This year’s panel talks were particularly interesting to attend for the Brand Creative team, as the key topics were on the culturally relevant issues of sustainability and social impact in design.

In the morning was a discussion on ‘Considering the Social Impact of Urban Design’, where the panel addressed the responsibility of designers and urban planners to consider the context of a development. Some interesting points were raised, in particular the notion that community satisfaction should be prioritised in public spaces to have a positive impact on the community. We fully agree, and apply this thinking to our practice at Brand Creative by approaching our design process from a customer point of view, considering the comfort and functionality of a space above the visual aesthetic.

In the afternoon, the discussion was ‘A Sense of Locality-Contextual is Sustainable’, going in on the misconception of what sustainability is about and questioning whether some developments have missed the mark when it comes to offering a sense of locality in their work. The inclusion of locally sourced materials is particularly important, not only from a sustainable aspect but also to contribute to a sense of place and to support local manufacturers. It was agreed that as designers, we should propose sustainable options as much as possible to enable the client to make responsible decisions. This is as applicable in architecture as it is to the designers at Brand Creative, and something we are committed to working towards

Design MENA Summit, thanks for the inspiration & see you next year!

      "Brand Creative on the Design MENA Summit 2018, Hosted by Commercial Interior Design and Middle East Architect", written by Helen Ampen, Brand Strategist at Brand Creative. Images from Commercial Interior Design