The Art Directors Club of Europe (ADCE) returns to the Disseny Hub Barcelona from 9 – 11 November 2017 with an enriching program of conferences, workshops, exhibitions and networking and the 26th edition of the ADCE Best of European Design and Advertising Awards.

The next industrial revolution will be a creative one – this is the good newsKris Hoet, Chief Innovation Officer at Happiness Anywhere and this year’s curator stated “but you will need to rethink how you work if you want to play a part in it. That’s where creative Imagineering comes in.”

Headlining the fourth European Creativity Festival, on Friday 10 November, will be the lecture and workshop series titled ‘Imagineering Creative Intelligence’, where some of the top creative names will explore the relationship between imagination, technology and creativity – divided into three topics:

Imagineering Ideas:

· Fernanda Romano, Strategy and Creative Director of Malagueta Group, will argue that artificial intelligence will not replace creatives.

· Steve Vranakis, Google Creative Lab and D&AD President, will demonstrate why we should all aspire to be creative activists.

Imagineering Business:

· Tom De Bruyne, Founder of Sue Amsterdam, will share strategies for creating a killer creative culture.

· Helge Tenno, Transformation Strategist at Jokull AS, will share techniques for bridging the gap between company vision and reality.

Imagineering Experiences:

· Luna Maurer, Founder of Studio Moniker will interrogate the social effects of technology.

· Julio Obelleiro, Founder of Wildbytes, will show how to use expected technologies to turn bold ideas into unexpected surprises.

On Saturday 11 the main stage will be taken by ‘High Potentials’, an innovative talent-scouting show that pairs new talent with the directors of agencies such as DDB Hamburg, Grabarz & Partner, Jónsson & Le’macks and S,C,P,F… A fresh crop of young creatives will have the unique opportunity to showcase themselves in a “speed dating” round with Creative and HR Directors from all over Europe.

Saturday 11 November is also dedicated to hands-on learning and showcasing some of the most exciting talents from all around the world, with attendees encouraged to go outside their comfort zone by choosing one of seven diverse creative workshops. Attendees can choose to explore and push the boundaries of data visualization and visual storytelling with Domestic Data Streamers, join Triggers for an experiment with decision-making-tools, or delve into Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning with Jamshid Alamuti. Some of the speakers of Day 1 will be also running a workshop: Fernanda Romano will encourage attendees to think like an entrepreneur, create like a designer and act like a hacker while Julio Obelleiro will share his knowledge of experiential innovation.

For those looking for something truly unique, Icelandic creatives Gagarín will explore emerging technologies of virtual, augmented and mixed realities, while ELISAVA offers a hands-on, technological experience on new materials as creative boosters.

Exhibitions, installations and screenings around the topic of technology and creativity round out the Festival offerings. Friday evening will see the opening of a pop-up exhibition featuring self-portraits from 20 renowned illustrators from around the world: ‘SELF’ looks to inspire and provoke an aimless conversation on how artists define themselves in the selfie era. The opening will feature a live demonstration by London based artist Patrick Tresset of human portraits drawn by robotic agents. Attendees will also have the opportunity to delve into the daily lives of Giorgia Lupi and Stefanie Posavec through the data themed postcards featured in the Dear Data exhibition.

This year the Festival is hosting the 26th edition of the ADCE Best of European Design and Advertising Awards, the only international competition to gather awarded works from the most prestigious national European competitions. Agencies and individuals are judged by 62 top creatives from all across Europe, including Steve Vranakis, Dörte Spengler-Ahrens and ADCE President Ami Hasan.

Founded in 1990, the Art Directors Club of Europe (ADCE) is a not-for-profit association that represents more than 5,000 professionals and strives to foster excellence in graphic design and advertising creativity at a European scale. Headquartered in Barcelona comprised of 21 professional clubs and associations of graphic design and advertising from 20 European countries: Austria, Cyprus, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Georgia, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Russia, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Ukraine.