Northwest Film Forum

Seattle is in the midst of a design renaissance.

Armed with a post-recession resourcefulness and a region-defining focus on technology, a multitude of Northwest creatives across multiple disciplines are creating spare, thoughtful, and sophisticated design solutions that are fast achieving world class recognition. The result is a cohesive design vision—contemporary and relevant—that is redefining our once insular city as a major player in the global design dialogue.

From photographers to product designers, from fashion stylists to digital designers, the current favored approach is one of minimal simplicity and sleek functionality. Is this merely a trend based on aesthetics or is it deeper rooted, the result of a shared design philosophy that is somehow linked between disciplines? Is it nostalgia for the Swiss minimalism of the sixties, the playful deconstructionist tendencies of post modernism that started in the seventies; or, is it a slow building backlash to the maximalist clamor of Seattle’s grunge heyday in the nineties? Is it economic? Does the sensitivity to materiality and experience so prevalent in the contemporary design realm stem from a consciousness of resources instilled during the lean days of the recession?

Members of the design firm Civilization will moderate a panel that includes graphic designer Sean Wolcott (of Rationale), strategist Cameron Cambell (of Methodologie), architectural designer and product designer Rachel Ravitch, interior designer Brian Paquette, and product and furniture designer Jamie Iacoli to discuss how the current design climate is defining our present and shaping our future.