Movement: TEDxUbud 2019

Join us for our eighth edition and a journey of storytelling, innovation, learning, change and more. We're returning to the beautiful Setia Darma House of Masks and Puppets with the theme of...

Everything in the world, and beyond, is constantly moving, in a state of ebb and flow, changing from one form to another.

Some of our movements are deliberate, as when we choose to travel, or dance. Other movements are beyond our control, or impossible to detect. Sometimes it’s not a pleasant sensation, as when we are forced into movement to escape something or have to push against the status quo to make a change.

When we say we are moved, we usually talk about emotion arising in our bodies, changing us in some way. When we talk about a movement, we talk about people working together to create social change or spread a new idea across the globe.

Movement is something we all share and participate in—a universal part of the human story as we cross the borders, lines and boundaries that structure our lives.

Behind the Design: Attendee gift bags for TEDxUbud

Our attendee gift bags are one of our favorite things to put together for our guests. When we start the process of thinking about what we want to give our attendees we want to make it as practical, beautiful and durable as possible. The last thing we want is for the attendee to get home after the event and throw everything into the trash.  

Starting with the bag itself, we ensure it's something people will want to use again and again. Some of our 'frequent flyer' attendees still use all their editions on a weekly basis. This year we created a backpack style, perfect for both men and women and for people on motorbikes every day. We also design the bag itself to have minimal branding; no one wants to be a walking billboard. 

Then we turn our attention to curating the contents of the bag. Everything is chosen to be useful at the event itself or to be something the attendees can use at home to remember the day by. We are very lucky to be in Bali- home to some of the world's most talented artisans and creators. 

This year we had a mixed nut and dried fruit snack by Bali Buda, a health food institution in Bali; Utama Spice's all natural and highly effective bug spray for dusk; Krakakoa's amazing Indonesian sustainably grown and fair trade chocolate; a beautiful bangle by Aum Rudraksha; a traditional Indonesian ikat sachet of cloves and screen printed bookmark with a prayer of creation by Threads of Life; and a set of wooden reusable cutlery to use at the event and then during ongoing travels. 

We chose to create a set of cutlery because while we could buy bamboo disposable cutlery for the event, we thought it would be a good way to also remind attendees of their impact on the environment and the role 'single use' anything plays in that. 

A waste report for TEDxUbud 2018

We've always worked with Eco Bali Recycling to manage our waste from TEDxUbud and make a strong commitment to reducing use of plastic and single-use items. However, this year was special as Eco Bali co-founder Paola Cannucciari helped us to plan a more assertive waste sorting system for attendees.

For the first time, we had an organic and food waste bin and a goal to divert as much trash as possible into recycling and compost instead of adding to Bali's horrible landfill problem. 

Paola and her team took all our waste away after the event and promised to send us a full report after they sorted and weighed the waste. True to her word, we received some great data back from the team and a renewed commitment to beating the benchmarks set this year in the future. 

Over a period of 7 hours, 650 people produced over 400 kilograms of waste! Over 85% of that was recycled or composted by the Eco Bali team.  It was also very encouraging to see plastic only made up 2.6% of the total waste generated. 

Behind the Design: TEDxUbud Speaker announcements

The theme for TEDxUbud for 2018 is Seen/Unseen. When we started casting around for ideas for this year's visual identity we kept coming back to the idea of optical illusions: images that appear and disappear; spectrums of light and what is invisible to the naked eye; and tools that let us see into and past the surface, like MRI and Xray machines.  Our exploration and research took us down some amazing rabbit holes. We found a pack of these cards featuring classic optical illusions that every graphic designer learns in their first year of school and we keep finding them all over our desks as we discover another card we love. 

We also made a choice to bring as much color as possible into the design for 2018, pulling on inspiration from infrared and ultra violet images. 

The speaker announcements came alive with a fun and dynamic vibe. We incorporated the iconic X in the background and the TED red in a few of the flyers. 

Behind the Design: Launching TEDxUbud 2018

Updated: In April 2018 we were very saddened to hear of the sudden passing of this very talented artist. We extend our condolences to his friends and family. 

The theme for the 2018 edition of TEDxUbud is Seen/Unseen. When we saw Gentur Suria's work, we immediately knew how we wanted to announce the TEDxUbud date and theme for 2018. 

The event itself will be exploring topics related to the visible and invisible, the tangible and intangible, of the world around us so it was interesting to explore a 'hidden in plain sight' announcement on TEDxUbud's social media. When we started to get feedback regarding how long it took people to understand what they were looking at, or when they told us the images disturbed them in some way, we realized it had worked perfectly. 

Behind the Design: The TEDxUbud Badges

Badges hold a special place in the design heart of our Co-founder and Creative Director, Daniela Burr. She says it's a perfect way of making an attendee feel special from the moment they step in through the door. This year the search for the perfect TEDxUbud badge began with the idea of laser-cut. 

In a nod to traditional Balinese shadow puppets and our venue, The House of Masks and Puppets, we created a badge that attendees could play with using a light source and project their names onto other surfaces once night fell. 

Designing for laser-cutting (handled by the wonderful team at 9Box) brought its own set of challenges. The only font suitable was a stencil font. We settled on Rufina. Rufina was created from dark-text on light-background combinations, making it sharper and arguably better for quick viewing in such a dark environment. Most of its letter strokes are separated on the hairline, which allows the same kind of “invisible” readability, and is sort of a pattern among well-designed stencils.

The lanyards were gorgeous strips of handmade batik silk using leftover fabric from the masterminds behind Quarzia. We threaded the silk through two holes for added stability and to stop the badges from flipping over. 

The big and very visible name badges are an important part of any TEDx event—they help people to get to know fellow attendees and build a sense of community. 

Behind the Design: TEDxUbud Gift Bags

Coming up with a new way to surprise attendees is one of the biggest challenges each year. In the past we've done an 'offering box' of gifts, experimented with typography, and had the program on the bag itself- all in the name of creating whole new and fresh experiences for the return TEDxUbud attendees. 

This year we wanted to use some bright colors and have a bigger bag; we were excited to work once again with Hatiku Indonesia to create something beautiful in canvas with leather accents. 

This year's program was created in homage to the venue, The House of Masks and Puppets. They doubled as a hand-fan for anyone feeling the heat and we tied them to the bags. 

Of course, once you have a bag you need amazing things to put in it! We always curate the gifts in line with the needs of attendees during the day- the last thing we want to do is provide an item destined for the bin once people get home.

This year we had the amazing good fortune to work with the team at Quarzia, an amazing artisanal company creating modern batik textiles, to create a silk sleeping mask for each attendee. 

We also had a drink bottle supplied by our presenting sponsor Zurich Indonesia to help reduce waste caused by plastic water bottles at events, organic Indonesia cacao nibs by Big Tree Farms to satisfy any cravings, and the all-natural bug spray by Utama Spice to keep the mosquitos at bay in our outdoor venue.