5 Key Takeaways from Semi Permanent 2023
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Last week, UMM made our annual pilgrimage across the Redfern train tracks to Semi Permanent at Carriageworks. Part of Vivid Sydney, Semi Permanent is a festival of creativity and design, and it’s a surefire way to get the team’s minds racing, filling up our tank with a generous helping of inspiration from some of the brightest minds in the industry. We heard from the likes of Chris Yee, Mona Chalabi and Felipe Carvalho, covering everything from visualising data to creating an epic title sequence for a Netflix drama.
The theme for 2023’s festival was ‘Reformation’. Curator Mitchell Oakley Smith explains, “We thought the world would seek to build itself back as it was, but it’s increasingly clear that our collective future cannot—nor should not—look anything like its past,” “We live amidst a once-in-a-generation chance to write past wrongs, reform seemingly immutable practices, and redesign the world in a shape we’d like to see.” Reforming the design world was certainly front of mind throughout the day, with a variety of totally unique, innovative and unexpected creative approaches and outputs showcased, but here are the team’s key takeaways from the day:
1. Don’t Gatekeep
Whether it’s sharing an idea, sharing a contact or sharing a resource, looking out for one another in the creative industry was a point that Founder and Creative Director, Chris Doyle spoke to that resonated with the team. The more you share, the more you learn. As Chris Doyle said, once you share, and giveaway ideas, that part of you is empty; fill it up with new learnings and rinse and repeat.
2. Upskill Yourself
In the same vein as ‘sharing is caring’, a common thread throughout the speakers was the use of Youtube tutorials and Reddit threads to upskill. The access we have to resources, free resources at that, means that learning how to 3D render or build an app has never been more accessible. There is such a wealth of information online, and what was once something that required a university degree is now possible to learn in the comfort of your home, and it was amazing to hear how many of the speakers were self-taught—totally inspiring.
3. Merge The Digital With The Physical
Throughout the talks, we saw a range of multi-disciplinary artists showcasing how they married their physical work with the online world. From the first speaker, Seb Chan, who digitalised an entire museum collection, to Samuel Leighton-Dore, who created a ceramic installation that married up with a QR code scanner AR filter—bridging the gap between the virtual and physical worlds was a key takeaway for the team.
4. Forge your Identity, Confidently
Whether it was repping the suburb of Eastwood or being proud in your queerness, a confident identity was integral to the speakers throughout the day. Creating work that represents you and your unique experiences and mastering your craft makes for a powerful finished product, and the proof really was in the pudding.
5. Ai Isn’t Going To Take Your Job
Emotions, opinions, differences, creativity—AI can never compete with or replace what is truly core to the shared human experience. Semi Permanent’s range of speakers and panels truly embodied this. While AI may aid the creative process, it will never replace it.
All in all, Semi Permanent 2023 poked and prodded each and every team member of UMM’s mind, challenging our process and inspiring a new way of thinking. From the PR team to the Creative team, we all walked away feeling ready to dive back into a year of projects with a fresh perspective. We can’t wait to see what next year holds!
Want to hear some more takeaways from Semi Permanent? Same place, same talk, 6 years earlier—check out our thoughts from 2017’s Semi Permanent here.
