It’s impossible to put into words what happened during the last couple of days and we’re overwhelmed with joy and gratitude for everyone involved in this project: 4 days, 2800 visitors, 40+ speakers, two parties and one bouncy castle – that was Forward Festival 2017 in Munich and Zurich.

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© jmvotography

 

Munich: Local heroes, amazing atmosphere and diverse workshops

 

The Forward Festival 2017 in Munich started with opening words by Jürgen Enninger, head of the Kompetenzteam Kultur- und Kreativwirtschaft and our co-founders Lukas and Othmar, followed by the first talk at the main stage by Moby Digg. The Munich-based design studio talked about their diverse projects, from visual identities to cultural events.

 

The first day further featured talks by interactive agency wild, which entertained the audience with their dry humor and Bavarian makers presented by BR Puls, showing that there are lots of innovative creative heads in the region.

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© jmvotography

 

The Swedish branding agency SNASK gave insights into their controversial projects and showed that sometimes all you need to do to be successful, is be yourself (and drink beer). They complemented their exciting talk with musical performances by their agency rockband.

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© jmvotography

 

After many inspiring talks the first day ended with a fun round of Hashtag Bingo by Karl Anders and the opening party with VÄG, B.Visible, VELI x VIWO & Moritz Butschek.

 

The Friday program was as diverse and exciting as the day before. Our personal highlights were the presentation by Vienna-based animation studio LWZ, featuring a little live performance with complementary colors. Swiss design legend Niklaus Troxler showed his poster design ouevre and Codec from Pfadfinderei brought a bit of Berlin spirit to Munich, presenting the studio’s work for electronic music artists.

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© jmvotography

 

The Forward Festival Munich ended with a fantastic talk by Stefan Sagmeister about happiness – with many references to The Happy Film and his personal life. A very intimate presentation that entertained all of us.

 

Both festival days also featured workshops with various topics: from modular lettering and creative techniques to useful brand experience and tactile perception.

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© jmvotography

 

Zurich: Impressive venue, exciting happenings and amazing hosts

 

We especially want to thank our amazing hosts FREITAG and Aroma, who not only provided us with an extraordinary event space, but also supported us immensely with setting up our festival in a third city and thus covering the whole DACH area.

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© jmvotography

 

We at Forward Festival specifically look for out-of-the-ordinary venues, that provide more than the basic necessities and most importantly convey a creative and exciting atmosphere. In the FREITAG F-actory and Aroma Studio @ NOERD we found exactly what we were looking for. The industrial look, the smell of washed truck tarpaulins, the design elements everywhere convinced us from the very beginning.

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© jmvotography

 

The festival featured talks by Forward regulars SNASK, Nychos and Stefan Sagmeister, but also many new faces, such as as Valentin Spiess, CEO at Basel-based i-art, a multidisciplinary company with a focus on interaction in public spaces.

 

Daniel Freitag himself gave insights into the structure and making of his company and Florian Kaps, the savior of Polaroid film and admirer of all things analog, went back to basics and used an overhead project to show Polaroid photos of his past.

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© jmvotography

 

The Creative Job Speed Dating presented by Pro Helvetia brought together future business partners in a relaxed atmosphere and was very well received by the attendees.

 

The expo area featured many interesting exhibitors, such as Creative Hub and an impressive booth by Adobe, as well as the Origin of an Idea art installation by MINI, where one could go through the idea-generation process going on in our heads.

© Werner Streitfelder
© Werner Streitfelder

 

Our conclusion: Gratitude and a couple of questions

 

Our gratitude for everyone involved in the Forward Festivals 2017 in endless and we’re extremely thankful for everyone who supported us throughout the years. With time comes change and so there were quite a few innovations this year (bigger expo area, more tracks, diverse happenings, etc.).

 

We’re constantly trying to improve the festival and what counts most to us is YOUR feedback. Let us know what you loved, hated, would have done differently or better in this short survey and win a ticket for a city of your choice for the Forward Festivals 2018.

 

>>Munich

>>Zurich

 

Lots of love from the Forward Festival team!

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© jmvotography