Speakers Of Kyoorious DesignYatra 2014

Ajaz Ahmed experienced the Internet revolution far from the Silicon Valley scene. He started AKQA in a London basement in 1994 when he was only 21. Soon WPP agreed to buy the agency for about $540 million. Now Ahmed, 39, is leaving his position as chairman to retake the reins as CEO of the sprawling digital agency, which has eight offices and more than 1,100 employees worldwide. The plan is to preserve the shop's independent spirit under the WPP umbrella, while delivering "innovation and creativity at scale." Prophetically, Ahmed's newest project is "Velocity," a book he wrote with Stefan Olander, VP of digital sport at Nike, as a guide for prospering in the digital age. While crisscrossing the globe in the wake of the WPP deal, Ahmed shared with ClickZ his dreams for AKQA and memories of his early days as a young Digital Mad Man.

David Berman, FGDC, R.G.D. helps organizations get great things done, through the motivation and techniques he provides for applying strategy, design, ethics, and creative branding and communications to business problems. He has over 25 years of experience in design and strategic communications, including Web design and software interface development. As an internationally-acclaimed expert speaker, facilitator, communications strategist, graphic designer, typographer and ethics chair, his thought-provoking speaking and professional development engagements have brought him to over 10 countries in the past few years. David is a senior strategic consultant to many of Canada’s largest Web sites. His clients include IBM, the International Space Station, the Canadian government, the World Bank, and the Aga Khan Foundation.

David Law is a founding partner and executive creative director of branding agency SomeOne, which he set up in 2005 alongside partners Simon Manchipp and Gary Holt. With over 18 years in the branding industry, David currently advises clients such as Chivas, Pernod Ricard, Comparethemarket.com, Eurostar, Heineken, Land Securities, yoo, Nestlé, Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Royal Museums Greenwich. Before helping establish SomeOne, David founded and ran NoOne, a subsidiary of HHCL Advertising, with Simon Manchipp running design programmes for the Arts Council, England and S7 Airlines amongst others. Prior to this David was Design Director for Coley Porter Bell, part of the WPP network. During that time his clients included Cadbury Schweppes, Virgin, Unilever, Seagrams, Nestlé, GWR Radio, British Telecom, ICI Dulux & American Express.

A prolific designer, illustrator, and artist, Ivan has created memorable, iconic images for literally hundreds of clients. As a founding partner of Chermayeff & Geismar with Tom Geismar, he has played a significant role in establishing the firm's worldwide reputation. His trademarks, posters, publications and art installations for contemporary buildings are widely recognized and have received nearly every award bestowed by the profession, including gold medals from the American Institute of Graphic Arts and the Society of Illustrators. Ivan has been responsible for over a dozen identity programs in Turkey and organized an exhibition at the Pera Museum in Istanbul showing 50 years of the firm's graphic design work in 2007. He received the Yale Arts Medal, the President's Fellow Award from the Rhode Island School of Design, and the Industrial Art Medal from the American Institute of Architects. A past president of the AIGA and elected to the Art Directors Club Hall of Fame, he also served for two decades as a trustee of the Museum of Modern Art. In 2014, Ivan Chermayeff received the prestigious National Design Award for Lifetime Achievement. Ivan Chermayeff studied at Harvard University, the Institute of Design in Chicago, and graduated from Yale University, School of Art and Architecture.

Karsh Kale is one of global music’s brightest stars. In the past 12 years as a solo recording artist, producer, composer, live performer and DJ, Karsh has set the world of electronic fusion on fire and has helped to create a genre of new music and culture that continues to influence an entire generation. His body of work has been cause for fans and critics alike to claim Kale as a pioneer and a trail blazer, not only opening doors for his own career but for an entire scene to emerge in the world of electronica and fusion music. Karsh Kale has also developed a reputation as a genre bending collaborator and a world renowned tabla player and musician, exploring the worlds of electronica, Indian classical music, rock, jazz fusion and hip hop which has led him to work with some of the most renowned artists from around the globe. Kale continues to reinvent his ever-evolving sound and has established himself as one of the world’s most sought after fusion artists.

Liam Paton is a composer and sound designer working for the broadcast, fashion and computer games industries. After graduating from the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts in 2001, Liam has been working in London on commercials and idents for clients including Adidas, Audi, Canal + and Paul Smith. He has also recently finished the title music for Charlie Brooker's Channel 4 series 'Black Mirror'. Nominated at both the Music & Sound Design Award and the Develop Awards, Okabu is Liam's first complete computer game soundtrack, completed at the end of 2011.

Holly is the Awards Director at D&AD, an international charitable organisation that sits right at the heart of the creative industries. She develops and manages the strategy and operations for the D&AD Professional Awards, one of the largest international shows for creative excellence, The White Pencil, D&AD’s sustainability initiative, plus a whole lot more – international partnerships, publications, exhibitions and large scale events to name a few. The role involves a great deal of project management and event production, but Holly remains most keen on the business development element, building relationships (having been instrumental in building the D&AD offer for India) and expanding our existing products in order that the D&AD brand remains relevant to new and future generations of creatives.

Born and raised in Tokyo, Mori started out as a copywriter with Hakuhodo in 1986. Driven by his passion to communicate, he undertook all sorts of tiny jobs with creative freedom. He also produced big campaigns which reached millions. Before he knew it, he was a veteran of 20 years, with many international and domestic awards under his belt. His passion for great advertising continues to drive him.
Mori has sat on the jury at Cannes 2003, AdFest 2005, Asia Advertising Award, One Show, D&AD in 2006 and 2008, and chaired The Chillies in 2007. Recently, he was the speaker at Spikes 2013, AdFest 2013 and will be speaking at Cannes2014. Being a member of the global creative community, Mori loves Sushi, Sumo, Karaoke and Karate, naturally.

Dot is a designer, maker and gamer who enjoys exploring everyday life’s paradoxes through his projects. Dot trained in Thailand as an architect, then graduated from Royal College of Art’s Design Interactions. His works have been exhibited internationally including London, Tokyo, Paris, Dublin, Ljubljana, Bangkok, Rotterdam, Moscow and New York. He was a visiting tutor at Royal College of Art. He received First prize from Future of Money Design Award in 2011 and Special Jury Award from BIO23, Biennial of Design, Ljubljana 2012. Now he is partner and designer at Umbrellium which creates and commercialises participatory products and services that empower people to transform their cities.

Never one to simply accept the status quo, Jonathan continually provokes and questions the world, inspiring Pearlfisher to create design that makes the future better. An award-winning designer and advocate of the power of creativity to inspire change, Jonathan has been responsible for creating some of the world’s most loved Challenger and Iconic brands, and for leading a successful series of #challengersandicons interviews with the people behind the brands of the future who understand the need to harness creativity and bold ideas to create success. Jonathan champions the art of brand design through all aspects of his career, including in his role as Trustee of the Haller Foundation. A continuous advocate of the power of a good idea, Jonathan speaks regularly on the brand, design and innovation conference circuit, on such prestigious platforms as PSFK and the World Future Trends Summit.

Mat Heinl is CEO of Moving Brands. Mat has been instrumental to the global growth of the business, joining the business as a Junior Designer after graduating from Central St Martins with a BA Hons, and progressing to the role of Chief Creative Officer, in which he was responsible for the overall quality of creative output. Mat has lead several projects at a global, regional and startup level, including the HP brand transformation. He works consultatively with business leaders to embed design thinking, working with companies like Barclaycard, Norton & Sons and Madefire to identify opportunities for innovation and growth.

Natasha’s practice has been notable for crossing media genres, drawing on references from a diverse range of cultural, historical, aesthetic, and technological sources. Her work encompasses brand identities, environmental design, multi-scale exhibitions, signage systems, print, motion and interactive graphics, created in collaborations with universities and professional organizations, museums and galleries, and retail and fashion brands. Her clients have included Nike, Harvard Art Museums, Guggenheim Museum/Foundation, OMA, REX, Wexner Center for the Arts, Kate Spade, Target, Puma, Kiki de Montparnasse, SoHo/Tribeca Grand Hotels, AIGA, MIT Architecture, Vitra, NYU Kids at Langone, the Slought Foundation, Tess Giberson, AIA New Practices Committee, Chanel, Nuit Blanche New York, and Prism.

Simon‘s SomeOne has been behind the recent Royal Opera House rebrand, the re-grouping of the National Maritime Museum (the largest in the world), the Royal Observatory (The Home of Time) and the Queen’s House (The birthplace of British architectural classicism) as Royal Museums Greenwich, the rebrand of the progressive high speed european train company Eurostar, and the launch of Telefónica Digital’s ‘Tu | Me’ brand. Most recently SomeOne has been behind the launch of Africa’s newest and most exciting low-cost airline, FastJet.
Simon has been in the business of design for over 20 years. He is a member of the D&AD Executive Committee, an external assessor at Central St. Martins School of Art & Design, London, has written a short course on Typography and is a widely awarded and published voice on design and progressive branding. He is also called Al Pacino, ‘Cappucino’ to his face, but thats another story.

Stalin K. is a documentary filmmaker, media trainer and human rights activist from Gujarat, India. Stalin has directed 15 documentaries and has won several international awards for his films. He has produced six community radio programs, designed more than 20 rights-based campaigns and conducted over 300 trainings in film making and participatory video, street theatre, radio production, and development communications. As an activist, he has been deeply involved in the relief efforts of the 2002 Gujarat riots, and of the Kutch earthquake of 2001, during which time he helped to create a community radio program that was instrumental in delivering information to the victims.

Todd Rovak is Managing Partner at Fahrenheit 212 and the architect behind the unique theory, capabilities and talent that drive the company’s innovation process. He oversees F212’s ability to predictably unlock growth on behalf of both Fortune 500 companies and institutional investors, and is responsible for the commercial impact of the company’s work. Since joining Fahrenheit 212 in 2009, Todd has developed successful innovation pipelines across a wide array of industries, including financial services, payments, utilities, media, consumer electronics, CPG, technology and retail. His impressive track record led to Todd quickly becoming the firm’s youngest partner in 2011, and later taking on the role of Strategy Practice Lead. In 2013, Todd was named Managing Partner and is now tasked with leading the firm’s evolution and scale.

Silent Studios is a design, direction and music studio based in London. Our output combines image and sound to create beautifully crafted work for bespoke surroundings, installations and experiences. Founded by Creative Director Nathan Prince and Composer Liam Paton, Silent Studios has grown to become a versatile creative house blurring the boundaries between art, design, music and interactive projects. We work with business and culture, delivering innovative content for brands such as Adidas, Burberry and Google, non-profit organisations like The British Fashion Council and Shelter, as well as agencies and production companies including Mother, The Mill and Partizan Films.