FITC began as a pure Flash event back in 2002. Since then it has evolved into a complete Design and Technology event that encompasses a wide array of crafts including Flash, Processing, motion graphics and design. With a lot of recent progress in the interactive world, topics surrounding Flash have become fairly heated and there has been some very exciting developments as a result. So when I heard that FITC was throwing down in the Bay Area, I jumped on the opportunity and convinced my lovely StruckAxiom peeps to send me.

Having never been to an FITC event I wasn’t really sure what to expect. Mostly, I was expecting crowds of people and packed presentations. I was very pleased to find that the rooms never quite filled up and every session I went to was very personable.

Some hot topics at the conference were motion detection, voice recognition, processing, programmatic art, 3D, PixelBender, Unity, Cinder, Open Frameworks, multiuser Flash applications and Flash on mobile devices. Needless to say there was an abundance of talent and knowledge under one roof.

There were a couple common themes at this FITC. One of those themes is the acceptance of failure. Failure can lead to some beautiful, unexpected results and at the very least, knowledge. Also: step outside your comfort zone. Don’t spend all your time in one specialty, explore fresh boundaries and learn new things. Lastly, collaborate without an ego, find fun in your work and be passionate about what you do.

Some memorable moments for me were Ralph Hauwert’s in depth, sometimes confusing, interpretations of his work, Robert Hodgin’s mind blowing Processing and Cinder experiments, Shaun Hamontree’s wacky but hilarious and inspirational presentation of MK12’s in-house work, Didier Brun’s in-depth session on voice recognition in flash and of course Yugo Nakamura’s closing presentation. There wasn’t a presentation that I went to that wasn’t inspirational.

I learned more at this conference than I expected. I was also exposed to more expertise than ever. I will absolutely attend FITC again if given the chance. Best of all, I took a bunch of notes(mostly links to great resources).
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Last week I flew across the country and the border to visit our friends up North for FITC 08. Since this was my first time attending the conference, I had two goals: Recharge my inspiration tank, and meet Scott Hansen.

It’s difficult to capture all the thoughts and ideas I was able to take away from attending FITC Toronto, so I’ll quote Erik Natzke to sum it up: “I’m not sure where I’m going, but I am sure enjoying getting there.” Here’s a sporadic list of my favorite sessions and thoughts on each:

Photo: Cut&Paste via Raul Dario Acosta

Cut&Paste: The Toronto team of Justin Broadbent and Alex Kurina STOMPED Guillo Echevarria and Edward Ubiera from New York in a tag-team style design contest. It was a small crowd compared to other Cut&Paste events but it’s always fun to see other designers processes, and how much better you are at using shortcuts.

Evan Roth (Department of Homeland Graffiti): I didn’t get to see this session as I was napping off jet-lag but Shaun came back raving about the cool LED lights and high powered projectors, so I wanted to link to Evan’s projects with the Graffiti Research Lab. Watch Graffiti Research Lab L.A.S.E.R Tag

Photo: Erik Natzke via Bram Timmer

Erik Natzke (Beyond The Knowledge: The Art of Playing): Tied with Hodgin for most inspirational session. Natzke walked through his simple approach to experimenting in Flash, showing how he creates his works of art. Even looking through his blog you can see the evolution of the circle and ribbon style he uses. Turn up your volume and watch Sunday Preview.

Mario Klingemann (The Pixel Whisperer): He designed the Aviary Peacock pattern application. We’ve all run into applications that try to do everything without doing anything well (Myspace comes to mind). “Aviary is a suite of rich internet applications geared for artists of all genres. From image editing to typography to music to 3D to video…” they’re focusing on releasing individual apps (like Peacock for patterns), perfecting each one before moving on to the next.

Photo: GrupoW via Magda Olszanowski

Daniel Granatta and Ulises Valencia of GrupoW (The Madness of Interaction): Daniel and Ulises laughed about the difficulties they had raising one million clicks for the “Let’s Save Fermin” campaign. The user was asked to donate a “click” to save Fermin. The trouble was, users were clicking everything *except* the “Donate A Click” button.

Photo: GMUNK via Magda Olszanowski

GMUNK (GMUNKICKDOWN ‘08): He’s a compulsive mouse clicker and starts drinking early in the morning (observations from his session). Oh yea, and he does some really sweet motion work.

James Paterson (Modulating A Lot): Strangely inspiring mix of hand drawn animations and a less than consistent maturity level.

Photo: Scott Hansen via sharkvsbear.com

Scott Hansen (ISO50: Blending Analogue & Digital): I DID meet Scott Hansen, when he walked up beside me at a book display. My quick thinking prompted me to purchase Past is Prologue (the same album I already had digitally) and ask him to sign it. Smooth. Hansen is a designer who I’ve admired, since I first started using Photoshop, for his ability to blend organic shapes and textures with Bauhaus style. Also, I’m lucky that my boyfriend admires his work as well, otherwise it would be (more) awkward when I refer to him as Scott Handsome.

Davis Eriksson (North Kingdom – An Inside View): There’s an easter egg on the Coke-Zero game where you can see the girls inside the locker room before you enter. No one has found it yet.

Grant Skinner (My Favourite Things): Perlin Noise is the best thing since the abacus.

Rob Chiu/The Ronin and Chris Hewitt/Dstrukt (Cinematic Motion Design): These guys like to talk and talk and talk…and they ended up getting cut off by people setting up for Hodgin’s session. They collaborate from across the ocean (New York and London) while experimenting with motion and videography. Also, Chris likes sharks and hopes to be eaten by one at some point. That’s nice.

Photo: Robert Hodgin via Isabel Foo

Robert Hodgin (Breaking Away): I began learning Processing in January but couldn’t visualize where to go with it. After seeing Hodgin’s experimental work with Processing, my book is off the shelf again. Check out the short study on flight patterns he did with Nando Costa. I’d love to see a code battle between Hodgin and Natzke.

Overall, the conference was interesting, fun, and time well spent. Thanks to Struck for sending me on this trip.