I will reflect on the most successful design milestones during my 30 years in industrial design from studies & early beginnings at Native Design (UK) to 25 years of Global Design Leadership at Kärcher and the Design-to-Business success story at TEAMS.

I‘ll be talking about how we at TEAMS continuously create sustainable value growth by turning complexity into clarity and innovation  into  mesurable market impact for some of the world‘s leading brands.

What exactly does a designer do these days, when artificial intelligence can generate almost anything? At Dragon Rouge, we design brands and packaging – in other words, OBJECTS – that have to work in the real world: on the shelf, in the hand and in the mind of the consumer. During her talk, Zosia Rogula will walk us through two real creative processes: from the initial ideas, through research and design decisions, right up to the finished packaging. She’ll also explain why AI can be a great tool, but why it’s not worth handing over to it the best part of design: the joy of coming up with ideas.

In a world of globalization, repetitive aesthetics, and AI tools, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to create distinctive, authentic, and memorable brands. One way to avoid visual homogenization is to consciously draw on the local context—the place, history, language, community, architecture, or everyday life from which a brand originates or in which it operates.

During the lecture, Julek Wierzchowski and Mirek Kliś from Studio Otwarte will discuss the design process using selected examples of visual identities inspired by local culture. They will demonstrate how specific observations and references can be translated into contemporary branding systems—ones that resonate with local communities while remaining intriguing to outside audiences.

What remains human in a world increasingly shaped by automation? Perhaps our ability to remain unfinished – to doubt, change direction, create what does not yet exist, and become what could not have been predicted.

Our grandparents could do things most of us would never touch today, and we don’t miss them. Now AI is taking over skills that once belonged only to designers. Will we miss them, or let them go just as easily? And if design is no longer only ours, what kind of relationship are we building with these tools, and what does the designer become?

How does a rough idea become a cinematic world?

In this talk, Michal “Mike” Jelínek takes a behind-the-scenes look at the visual development of Terminator: Dark Fate, exploring how concepts evolve through sketching, iteration, storytelling, and collaboration.

At the heart of the process is exploration: deliberately following unexpected ideas, embracing ambiguity, and allowing concepts to change before deciding what they should become. Because in visual development, the first idea is rarely the interesting one.

My work starts from data – the same raw material AI feeds on – but ends in something physical, with weight, texture and presence. In this talk, I explore how material choices shape the meaning of data-driven artworks and turn abstract information into tangible, human experiences rooted in physical encounter. I also reflect on my experience and position as an artist creating lasting physical artifacts in an era of constant reiteration.

Design thinking is one of humanity’s fundamental competencies. For millions of years, it has allowed us to solve problems, adapt to the world, and create tools that change our lives. However, every technological revolution has sparked fear: from movable type, through photography and computers, all the way to artificial intelligence. During this talk, I’ll discuss how these tools have shaped the development of our civilization and how aesthetics and visual communication have evolved in tandem with their form and function. Finally, I’ll reflect on the opportunities AI offers the creative industry, the concerns it raises, and how to use it without losing human intent, authenticity, and meaning.

What makes a city work for children – and what can children teach us about the city itself? This talk looks at participatory design as a way to understand children’s everyday experiences of urban space, not simply to collect their ideas. Through practical examples, it explores how children’s perspectives can reveal overlooked spatial conditions and how these insights can be translated into architecture, public space and urban design.

You have a great project, you’re refining your concept, but when you share it with others, it turns out that it’s… not enough.
Developing a project is one thing. Another is everything that happens around it: emails, meetings, discussions, arguments, persuasion, and jostling for position.
Based on observations of thousands of people in the creative industry and our own work experience, we’ve identified mistakes that designers often make when presenting their ideas—whether in a team setting or when seeking allies for a new initiative.
We’ll discuss:

• Why the way you speak and write about your work matters more than the idea itself
• How to effectively find allies and partners for your ideas
• What’s one framework worth knowing and using in email communication

For a young design studio, winning an award can be the first major selling point in a conversation with a client. It can also mean an invoice for several thousand zlotys for the right to place a logo on packaging.
This presentation is a practical guide to what we’re really buying when we submit an entry. We’ll take a look at the fee schedules of the largest international and Polish competitions, examine how an award differs from a licensed trademark, and ask which accolades actually serve as a seal of quality for the consumer. Separately, we’ll examine how artificial intelligence is changing both sides of the table—both the preparation of entries to meet the jury’s criteria and the judging process itself. Finally, we’ll compare awards with grants—that is, funds awarded not for a finished product, but for an idea.
You’ll leave with five questions worth asking yourself before you pay the entry fee.

What does it mean to design slowly (especially when everyone wants things done quickly)? Why do we think we’re allowed to? And actually, what does “slowly” even mean? We cordially invite you to a talk where Mikołaj Nicer and Michał Maciukiewicz from Nicer Design will give a sneak peek at the studio’s latest project. It’ll be slow, but not too slow.

Creative work often starts with instinct – but instinct is hard to defend when a client asks why. In this talk, Augustinas Paukštė tells the story of building andstudio and learning to use research, testing and data not to replace creativity, but to protect it. Through real projects, visual experiments and a few failures, he’ll show how evidence can strengthen bold creative decisions – and where AI can genuinely help without becoming the creative director.

Light, water, plants, and food are the building blocks of every ecosystem—including the one we live in every day. Paulina researches, designs, and builds functional environments using these elements on various scales: from individual products, through urban systems, to landscapes and data from orbit. In a world where digital and physical tools change from one day to the next, biology points us in a lasting direction.

A lecture on drawing presented in the unique format of live drawing. Drawing as a means of perception and analysis, and a universal tool for finding inspiration

Using examples from our projects, I’ll show that responsible design doesn’t have to involve complicated technologies or grand declarations. Re:Design, Re:Use, and Re:Cycle are simple strategies that allow us to design more consciously—by making use of what already exists, giving materials a second life, and reducing unnecessary resource consumption.

15:45 – 16:00 – Karolina Piasecka – (Tytograj)
16:00 – 16:15 – Julia Słomkowska – (4the20s)
16:15 – 16:30 – Antonina Tucker – (Micro Arena)
16:30 – 16:45 – Michał Jachymek – (FOLLON)
16:45 – 17:00 – Wiktoria Stącel – (Od serca)

Objects – an integral part of our everyday lives. They are with us from the very first days of our lives; sometimes we miss them, sometimes we have too many of them. We are constantly buying them, receiving them, rearranging them, tidying them away, and thinking of them with affection or irritation. Some are exceptionally durable, whilst others quickly succumb to the passage of time. Over the years, they can gain and lose meaning and value.

How do the objects we surround ourselves with influence our emotions, our way of thinking and our creativity? This talk will attempt to examine the relationship between people and design – how form, material, colour or the memories associated with a particular object shape our everyday experiences. The starting point will also be the question of the role of personal objects in the design process and how they can become a source of inspiration, meaning and individual solutions.

How can you make sure the viewer remembers a scene, the audience connects with the brand, and the player truly immerses themselves in the story? Atanas Valkov—a composer, pianist, and music producer who has worked on Polish and international productions (including “The Last Family”, “The King”, Allegro’s “Polish Legends”, and the game “Bloodhunt”)—will discuss creating emotion for commercials, films, and games, as well as his own artistic explorations. In Piano Odysei, he combines improvisation with Japanese AI sound processing technology and the sonification of data from ESA space missions. In his new project, The Odd East, he returns to his Polish-Bulgarian roots and the music of the East.

Providing a holistic design and logistics service meant that every extravagant and lavish design decision I made was a problem for future Eryk to deal with. Join us on a recap of everything that went wrong in the process of pulling off an insanely ambitious boutique publishing project.

15:45 – 16:00 – Chaker Lahmadi – (Illustration & Animation Project for Medisept Lublin: Clean Lines, Animated Stories)
16:00 – 16:15 – Natalia Stateczna – (Lubelska hop cone)
16:15 – 16:30 – Jagoda Pilch – (Zestaw elementów do tworzenia scenografii Teatru Tańca – POSÉ)
16:30 – 16:45 – Maja Dzida, Martyna Milewska – (KIN kolektyw)
16:45 – 17:00 – Aleksandra Majewska – (Wulwa)

Guerrilla Marketing—or How to Stand Out from the Competition Without Spending a Fortune?

How can you promote your business in an unconventional and creative way? How can you create a “wow” effect and get people talking online? And how can you do all this without spending a million coins?
Are you tired of predictable, bland, cookie-cutter ads that no one notices? Do you want your brand to make a splash, even if you don’t have a huge marketing budget?

Guerrilla marketing is the art of making a splash without spending a fortune. Creativity, humor, the element of surprise, courage, and a sense of context all play a key role here. Instead of yet another banner or boring ad, you’ll learn to design campaigns that surprise, intrigue, make people stop in their tracks, evoke emotions, and practically beg to be photographed, recorded, and shared with friends.

“When creating advertising campaigns, promotional activities, multimedia content, TV commercials, and events, I always look for unconventional solutions while adapting to my clients’ needs and budgets. Drawing on over a dozen years of experience running a marketing agency, I’ve developed a training program full of inspiring and practical solutions that you can implement in your company as early as the day after the lecture.”

During this workshop, I’ll answer the following questions:
– How can you stand out from the competition without spending a fortune?
– How can you promote your company in an unconventional and creative way?
– How can you create a “wow” effect and get people talking online?
– Which AI tool should you use to create eye-catching posts?

Do you have a project that’s really taken off? It’s your best salesperson — provided it knows who to approach and what to say. During the workshop, you’ll turn a single commission into a value proposition for companies in the same industry and draft a message people will want to reply to. You’ll also identify triggers – reasons to reach out right now – and compile a list of 10 companies. No hard sell and no spam. Bring your laptop and one project.

Who it’s for: graphic designers, designers, photographers, filmmakers, copywriters, web developers and small studios with at least one commercial project that can be showcased.

What participants take away:
– a one-sentence value proposition, based on a case study,
– an initial message and two follow-ups,
– a list of triggers for their industry and where to find them,
– a list of 10 companies, including the decision-maker and a reason for contact,
– a 14-day outreach plan.

If you do this, customers will love your company—that’s social marketing and corporate social responsibility (CSR) in practice.

Is it possible to grow your business, build a strong brand, and increase sales while positively impacting the world around us? Yes! Customers are increasingly choosing companies that operate responsibly—supporting local communities, caring for the environment, and engaging in meaningful initiatives. Do you want customers to choose your company?

During this workshop, I’ll introduce the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and share specific examples of companies’ initiatives that have directly led to brand recognition, higher profits, and customer loyalty. Together, we’ll design sample CSR activities for your company. I’ll also show you how to effectively incorporate CSR into your marketing strategy.
Sometimes it takes very little for customers to love your company for its contribution to the local community, environmental initiatives, or charitable efforts.

During this workshop:
– We’ll use examples to show how to build brand recognition through corporate social responsibility (CSR)
– We’ll explore how CSR initiatives can help increase customer loyalty and engagement
– We’ll demonstrate how to effectively incorporate CSR into your company’s marketing

How can we approach heritage in a fresh way?
For us, visual identity is not just about branding—it’s a tool for amplifying local voices, memories, and materials. During the workshop, you’ll learn how local heritage can become the foundation for contemporary design—from city visual identities to festivals and local brands.

We’ll start with a few case studies showing how, at Studio Otwarte, we translate heritage and local identity into cohesive visual systems. We’ll also demonstrate how we use mood boards during the conceptual phase—as a tool for thinking and communication.
Next, participants will work in teams on their own design assignment—based on a randomly selected pair: place + function (e.g., “Lublin + jazz festival”).

Where does what we see end, and what we feel begin? There are no people here, no stories—only a space where one can slow down for a moment. On the wide screen, the viewer is immersed in a slow, abstract loop of light and shadow. The horizon appears and dissolves within it, as if searching for its own place. It is an invitation to quiet contemplation, in which the boundary between the external and the internal ceases to matter.

We invite you to watch Dr Piotr Tomaszewski’s animation, which will be shown on Level 0 near the main lobby during the conference.

Create your own unique item at East Creative 2026!

Come along to the screen-printing zone on level +1, where you can give the clothes in your wardrobe a new lease of life as designer pieces. Bring along a plain T-shirt, sweatshirt or cotton bag and create your own unique print featuring this year’s theme, designed by Dawid Ryski.

Remember to choose plain fabrics without thick seams or pockets in the area where the print will go. We’ll provide all the necessary inks, equipment and on-site technical support!

NO REGISTRATION REQUIRED!