Designers from six of the top design houses in the Middle East participated in this curated event held at the stunning Baden-Württemberg Haus Pavilion at the EXPO, where Iryna Poladko, an expert from Mira Vision Board, went through a series of activities designed to bring out the ‘person’ within. The timing of this workshop could not have been more perfect, particularly when the world is stirring into action after the remnants of a global pandemic, one that has raised a lot of questions about the corporate lifestyle, and the need for greater focus on humanity and the self within.
The design houses included SAY Studio, Roar, Bluehaus, Eight Inc, SBID and GAJ, and post refreshments at the beautifully decked VIP Lounge (which also happens to be furnished by the workshop sponsor, Interstuhl), the designers settled into a workspace that highlighted the greater theme, one of a comfortable, humanistic and flexible approach to working.
Mira Vision Boards create comprehensive kits aimed to help you build a vision for your life. A fun, arts and crafts style exercise allows you to even add images and phrases that represent the life you desire onto a velcro canvas, touching on areas, such as health, wealth, family, relationships, friendships, career, business, home, personal growth and much more, eventually mapping out your goals in a visual way.
A thoroughly enjoyable evening ensued, where our expert guided the designers through the various stages of sketching out their dreams, visions, thoughts, favourite geographies and countries, getting them to dig into their inner self and discover their dreams and aspirations. Amidst sketching, writing, drawing and a headiness of sticker induced craft, the culminating project was a beautiful collage of each designer’s life vision as seen through their unique viewpoint.
“Using catchwords and phrases amidst visuals really helped me in this project, as I feel catchwords can navigate us back to a certain point in our lives,” says Swati Rokade, Associate at GAJ. “I feel like I was ‘designing’ my life, how I wished it to be in the future.”
Carina Lima, Lead Interior Designer at SBID, felt that this exercise helped her step back and get perspective on the bigger picture. “Various aspects of our lives can be improved upon, and this vision board activity really helped to highlight those parts, encouraging and reminding me to take some action and make it happen!”
Nemanja Ribic, Interior Designer at Bluehaus, admitted that this was probably the first time that he was ever curating a vision board about himself and it truly resonated with his personality, and what he would like to achieve. Darko Krstevski, Program Director at Eight Inc, had a similar experience. “I really loved making this vision board as it forced me to think about the things I want to do, and how to organise and make them happen! It was also such an enjoyable social event, allowing us to engage with our peers from the industry in such a creative, fun way.”
For Love That Design, this workshop was definitely a most unique experience and one that we hope to engage in frequently. Interstuhl really pulled out all the stops, fostering an environment of true passion and creativity. Vijay Nambiar, Senior Interior Designer at SAY Studio, concurs. “This is one of the most interesting workshops that I have ever been a part of. Never thought I would be making a vision board for myself, so thank you, Interstuhl, for that opportunity. I think this exercise has really helped me in a rare, special way.”
“Interstuhl wanted to engage further with these designers and their respective companies while also trying something different, new and fun at the same time,” says Brian Dowling, Director, Interstuhl GCC. “We felt that using the space at BW Haus at the EXPO was a perfect chance to strengthen our relationship with designers in a positive and very creative way. The event was a great success with massive engagement and lots of fun had by all.”
