Daily News

From Home Furnishing Business

NeoCon 2024 Registration at THE MART in Chicago Now Open

April 3, 2024  by HFBusiness Staff in Business Strategy, Designer Weekly, Industry   

Recognized as a major global platform for influential thought leaders from diverse backgrounds, NeoCon’s stellar lineup (including an Academy Award-winning designer, a global art powerhouse and the leading entertainment design leader) offers inspiration that sparks vital discourse. Design will be explored from all angles; demonstrating how to harness creativity to enhance visual storytelling and truly affect how we work and live.

Gensler’s Global Entertainment Leader, Bob Weis, will headline Monday’s keynote presentation, titled “Leveraging the Power of Storytelling in the Places We Create” (presented by IIDA and sponsored by the Wall Street Journal). “I’m excited to be a keynote speaker at this year’s NeoCon, because this gathering of creators truly underscores the importance of communal experiences that inspire,” says Weis.

“I’ll share insights from my tenures at Walt Disney Imagineering and Gensler to show how we, as designers, can uniquely provide that inspiration by transforming commercial environments into truly memorable experiences that spark emotion.”

British-Nigerian Multi-disciplinary Artist and Designer, Yinka Ilori will helm Tuesday’s keynote, presented by ASID and sponsored by Momentum Textiles & Wallcovering. In “The Power of Affirmation” ASID CEO Khoi Vo and IIDA’s Executive Vice President/CEO, Cheryl Durst will join Ilori for a “fireside chat” style presentation, covering topics from how design can celebrate cultural identities, to how it can elevate the individual while unifying the masses.

Ilori remarks, “I am always looking for new ways to use art and design to tell new stories and bring communities together, all while highlighting my vibrant heritage. My textiles and wallcoverings collection with NeoCon exhibitor Momentum presented the opportunity to do this and expand my creativity into the modern workplace. I'm thrilled to be able to bring this collection to life and dive even deeper into my design perspective during the talk.”

Continuing the storytelling theme, 2x Academy Award-winning Costume Designer Ruth E. Carter will take the stage on Wednesday with a keynote presentation titled “Designing Afrofuturism: The Art of Storytelling through Costume Design,” presented by AIA Chicago. Known for her work on a number of Spike Lee films and for making history as the first Black person to win two Academy Awards in the Costume Design category for a film and its sequel (Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), Carter will share how she crafted narratives through the building of immersive worlds.

“From concept to creation, designing is a passionate adventure in storytelling,” Carter remarks. “At NeoCon, I look forward to sharing my process of creating wearable art through the lens of Afrofuturism and bringing out the storyteller within us all,” she adds.

Complementing the impactful keynote presentations, NeoCon 2024's Featured Presentations, running each afternoon, are headlined by a notable group of NeoCon thought leaders, designers, change-makers, and visionaries and feature distinguished speakers from leading design firms like Gensler, HKS, and CannonDesign, alongside industry partners. Each program is meticulously crafted to explore the latest trends in design and the workplace, while also delving into more technical and action-oriented topics, including AI and diversity, equity, and inclusion practices.

NeoCon will offer more than 60 CEU-accredited programs and workshops accessible to registered NeoCon attendees. Virtual CEU programming will be available on demand through September 13 programming is available to explore at neocon.com.