The French Institute Alliance Française is located a stone’s throw from Central Park in the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Housed in a beautiful and historic building, it hosts an extensive range of cultural events and will welcome us once again for an unforgettable experience during this conference.

Location

Join us in experiencing the essence of New York City by wandering through its most iconic streets and vibrant neighborhoods, including Chinatown, Soho, Little Italy, Harlem, and Brooklyn Heights.

Sightseeing


                        "The Big Apple" will serve as the perfect environment for forging lasting connections and meaningful relationships. Take advantage of the numerous networking opportunities planned throughout the conference, providing spaces to exchange ideas, insights, and experiences with like-minded professionals from around the globe. Embrace the chance to collaborate, learn from others, and broaden your professional network in this vibrant setting.
                    

Networking

Join us for vibrant get-togethers that promise to ignite creativity and foster the birth of disruptive ideas in the digital world. Celebrate in the lively atmosphere, engage in stimulating conversations, and come out inspired to drive change in your respective fields.

Parties

The immersive events that will enhance your conference experience.


                Talks, networking, activities, and parties. Learn from global influential leaders, connect with like-minded peers, and shape the future of the digital industry.
            

An intimate get-together tailored for Design Leaders, UX/UI Designers, and Digital Creatives in “The Big Apple” to discuss the current state of digital design and the future of our creative community. Let's delve into insightful conversations exploring AI's integration with design methodologies, essential UX/UI tools, case studies and emerging technologies. Together, we'll navigate the complexities and potentials of AI, shaping the future of design with honesty, integrity, and a shared passion for innovation.

Talks, networking, activities, and parties. Learn from global influential leaders, connect with like-minded peers, and shape the future of the digital industry.

An intimate get-together tailored for Design Leaders, UX/UI Designers, and Digital Creatives in “The Big Apple” to discuss the current state of digital design and the future of our creative community. Let's delve into insightful conversations exploring AI's integration with design methodologies, essential UX/UI tools, case studies and emerging technologies. Together, we'll navigate the complexities and potentials of AI, shaping the future of design with honesty, integrity, and a shared passion for innovation.

Check out the best moments from past conferences

Meet the creatives behind the best projects on the web right now.

Special thanks to our amazing partners for their support!

An Inspiring Experience

In this talk Studio Freight presents their findings and advice for building trust with clients and designing outcomes to align with the studio vision.

You can’t build trust with a hammer

Studio Freight

Patrick Torres

As a multidisciplinary designer, I have had the privilege of immersing myself in both product design and the visual/brand design fields. The development of AI has been involved in different stages in these two fields. 
 In Product Design, AI primarily facilitates the development phase by bridging the gap between design concepts and final implementation (providing examples i.e. design tool translate design elements to code, Squarespace AI generate content for website publish readiness, etc.); in Visual Design, AI plays a pivotal role in the initial discovery phase. It empowers designers to draw inspiration from extensive datasets, and even iterates brainstorming ideas with visualization that virtually collaborated from global creative talents (providing examples i.e. my own creative process and the AI tools I use). 
 Whether enhancing the efficiency of product design or enriching the exploration of visual design, AI liberates designers from a purely production-oriented mindset. It transforms the creative process, enabling designers to channel their creativity towards inspiration and innovation.

How AI makes changes to the creative process in digital design, and shifts digital designers’ focus from production to inspiration

Robinhood

Athena Tian

Raxo

Oscar Rivera

In an era of AI-generated imagery and algorithm-driven design, it’s hard not to imagine a dystopian future for creatives. I’ve spent the last year with clenched buttcheeks bombarded with headlines of robots coming for our jobs, the alarming proliferation of new tools (and required upskilling), and a looming existential question of what it even means to be a creative. 
 In this talk, I’ll share how I harnessed that fear and anxiety in a productive and meaningful way, merging my creative process with machine learning, getting out of my burnout, and reframing generative AI to be a collaborator and not *the enemy*.

How I learned to stop worrying & love the AI overlords

Google

Mick Champayne

Porto Rocha

Felipe Rocha

We will explore how to balance the needs of advertisers and users, align business objectives with user-centered design, and resolve internal team tensions. Learn how design can creatively find solutions that satisfy all stakeholders and foster collaboration to achieve greater outcomes in digital product design. Audience key takeaways: Learn to identify, understand, and approach opposing goals in digital design projects more effectively. Discover the power and benefits of including design in the early stages of goal alignment and strategy setting. Understand the value of collaboration in design processes and how to leverage diverse perspectives to resolve conflicts. Take away practical tips that you can apply in your projects to promote alignment, even when goals conflict.

Designing for Competing Goals

The New York Times

Ziyun Liang


                        Last year at Locomotive®, we embarked on a transformative journey, completely rebranding our agency after a decade with the same look. (Yes, that train track logo...) We knew it was time for a fresh take on our digital presence, so we dove into reinventing our visual identity. Rebranding yourself is always a wild ride—balancing bold concepts with self-critique is no easy feat. To keep our ideas fresh and our brand sharp, we teamed up with some good old trusted friends, creating a new identity that truly reflects our growth and where we stand today. Join me as I share the behind-the-scenes story of crafting this unique brand and designing a website that matches our team's creativity. From rejected concepts and failures to the deep reflections that shaped our visuals, I'll take you on a journey from day one to day 300 of this fun, yet sometimes challenging, transformation.
                    

Rebranding Your Digital Agency is Fun! (Is it, though?)

Locomotive

Dust Leblanc

A better way to create and do business 
 When the internet was new it was a Wild West of opportunity, creative expression, and freedom. Over time, we have built standards, systems, KPIs, and algorithms into seemingly everything in our quest for optimization and performance. As a byproduct, we have lost some of the soul that made us all fall in love with this tool. 
 There's no need to put the genie back in the bottle, we need to embrace change and the evolution of our industry; but do so in a way that allows for experimentation, passion, and learning, all while accounting for goals and growth. Let's explore and create with childlike passion and discover how an "early internet mindset" can amplify your business or product and energize your audience.

Wild & Whimsy: The Early Internet Mindset

Rogue Studio

Britton Stipetic

Bürocratik

Adriano Esteves

Leo Porto

Join Pablo Stanley, founder of Musho & Lummi—AI design tools—as he explores the impact of the Dunning-Kruger Effect on his journey as a designer and entrepreneur. Discover how initial ingenuity can spark adventurous innovation in the dynamic world of design and AI!

The Dunning-Kruger Effect in Design

Musho & Lummi

Pablo Stanley

“The Cursor of”, delves into the transformative power of mixed reality and its impact on web design, highlighting how human taste and skills are essential in harnessing these technologies. This talk offers an in-depth exploration of MR, AR, and VR, and their applications in UI design, 3D design, WebGL/WebGPU development, and spatial computing. 
 Experience a live demo with the Apple Vision Pro, showcasing immersive examples of manipulating website elements and environments in real-time. Discover how MR and spatial computing are revolutionizing user experiences and paving the way for spatial websites. Gain insights and tools to harness MR in your web design projects, preparing you for the future of spatial digital art.

"The Cursor of Mixed Reality," the rise of the talk trilogy

Independent

Niccolò Miranda

Times Two

Keene Niemack

Marco Coppeto


                        Generative AI has opened the door to creating instantaneous output in multiple forms: video, sound, text and imagery. By leveraging this new technology, designers can craft products that evoke emotions and resonate on a deeper level. Join Trista Yard, Group Creative Director at Huge, as she explores techniques for designing sensory experiences using AI tools.
                    

Designing for the Senses: Digital Experiences in the Age of AI

Huge

Trista Yard


                        In today’s ever-changing world, AI brings both opportunities and challenges for visual artists. In this talk, we’ll delve into the heart of our craft. Through my two art projects, halfof8.com and fuji.halfof8.com, both awarded recently as SOTD, I’ll share how creativity drives me and how it can impact us all.
                        1. We’ll start by understanding the essence of Half of a Journal and then peek behind the scenes to see how it’s made. 2. Without making grand claims, I’ll also discuss how this project influenced me. 3. Lastly, we will look behind the scenes at the Half of Mt Fuji project and my attempt to use AI for the sake of automation.

                        My aim isn’t just to share my journey but to spark that same creative fire in each of you.
                    

Crafted Art Projects: Exploring the Purpose of Artistic Expression in the Age of AI.

Half of 8, JetBrains

Anton Sokolov

Victor Costa

Although many Designers, Developers and Project Managers would rather put headphones on and work undisturbed, the nature of agency work involves closely collaborating with clients. And, let’s face it, navigating these relationships steadfastly and harmoniously is the key to success. In this talk, Marc-André and Romain will explore these everyday relationships, covering key client personas and offering battle-tested creative approaches that will make everyone happy (yes, it’s possible).

Fun Ways toConnect and ExploreSightseeingNetworkingParties