by MarkLives (@marklives) This year, Design Indaba celebrates its 25th edition. A panel of agency and media execs who’ve been regular attendees tackle: What impact has Design Indaba had on the thinking, attitude and leadership of agency and marketing creatives and executives? Has it evolved and inspired you to research new ways of doing and thinking? Has it changed how you perceive the industry? Have there been any personal highlights, and where should the event pivot next — what can it do to add meaning to the industry and to one personally? First up in our #BigQ panel is Grid’s Jineil Kandasamy.
Jineil Kandasamy
At the tender age of 32, Jineil Kandasamy (@jineilk) was made creative director and partner at Grid Worldwide, obtaining this recognition through his fearless thinking and passion for creativity. It’s his love and enthusiasm for using ideas to solve business problems that has led him to recreate some of the biggest brands locally and around the world ie Destination Brand Qatar, Liberty, KFC etc and he is the recipient of various international awards.
As a young creative, how do you find inspiration in a world of chaos? Simple. Stop being a designer.
Yes, we do design but we are not designers. The world around us has fundamentally changed. If we challenge ourselves to create more and more meaning in everything we do, then we can’t limit ourselves to one discipline. Creativity lives in every solution so we have the biggest opportunity to make a difference anywhere.
Understand the economics of creativity. What is the shortest distance between ideation to meaningful customer engagement? Living in the NOW, creativity needs to solve business problems. It’s not about one industry but rather about how we connect the dots around us with multiple disciplines that will give us real solutions. However, you only connect the dots to collect.
What’s the lens in which you view the world? It’s everything you absorb around you.
Push the boundaries
Design Indaba has continued to push the boundaries of what we think creativity is defined by. It’s about looking at industries that have nothing to do with design but will inevitably affect design in the future. It’s a reminder to those in and out of the creative industry that we’re not limited to our disciplines but rather what magic may be created when industries collide. We can’t stay relevant by continuing to use the same thinking, thus always challenging/inspiring creative leadership to set new standards and innovate outside of our industry.
The world is engaging with content and information differently, and we need to be relevant to our customers’ engagement.
Design Indaba has made me realise that the context of the work is more important than the work itself. I have started asking questions such as: Is the context of the work showing up at the right place and right time? What is my work doing? What is its impact? How do I frame my work so that it’s pushing up against something important? More than ever before, creativity today has the opportunity to make the biggest impact in our world. It’s shown me what a powerful tool we have to make a difference.
I remember my first Design Indaba in 2014. As any young creative, you want to be lifted with inspiration. Thomas Heatherwick grew my love for architecture and design all round. From ideation to execution, his projects retained their brilliance. He never settled because of process and his inspiration wasn’t left at inspiration; it was made a reality.
Value
Don’t be about hours; be about measurable value. Emotional, functional and business value.
I believe Design Indaba can be more than just three days of inspiration but rather a tool that I can include in my business throughout the year. I want it to be the cultural engine that drives 21st century thinking and creativity value. How do we use Design Indaba expertise to create more meaningful creative and business outcomes in South Africa?
— MarkLives.com is a proud media supporter of Design Indaba 2020, taking place 26–28 February 2020 in Cape Town, South Africa. Book your tickets online for the main conference or the live simulcast to multiple cities around South Africa.
See also
Launched in 2016, “The Big Q” is a regular column on MarkLives in which we ask key advertising and marketing industry execs for their thoughts on relevant issues facing the industry. If you’d like to be part of our pool of panellists, please contact editor Herman Manson via email (2mark at marklives dot com) or Twitter (@marklives). Suggestions for questions are also welcomed.
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