Sitting down for an interview with Filippo Spiezia, founder of Digital Design Days conference, held in Geneva 11. – 13. February. Filippo is such a kind person and meeting him you can really get a good sense of what the conference is about…
MM: How did Digital Design Days start, when did you decide you were going to do it?
Filippo Spiezia: I always had in mind to build the best possible event in Italy, I was always thinking about this when I was working and watching conferences around the world. I always had in mind this idea to do something for Italy – for my country – better than any other event. So I could do it when I came back four years ago, when I came from my last working experience in Portland, Oregon. I had very good knowledge after working with them that I wanted to share through the event with my community.
MM: Unlike previous editions held in Milan, this one was in Geneva. When did you decide to change the location?
Filippo Spiezia: We had three editions so far in Milan. The event became immediately international and we were surprised by two factors essentially: one – that event became immediately international with 63 different countries listing, and second one is that 40 percent of our brands – brand managers, CEO’s, this kind of roles – wanted to know more about digital design. That was the reason to bring the event to Geneva, because Geneva is international city and there is a lot of corporate headquarters of international companies. We thought it would be perfect fit for business.
MM: After Geneva, what is next for DDD? Are you going global?
Filippo Spiezia: Officially, nothing so far, but we are in talks with different investors to bring the event in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Dubai.
MM: How would you define the one primary purpose of this event?
Filippo Spiezia: Just one? It’s hard to say. I would say inspiration in so many different ways, but by inspiration we also mean training or educating the people, growing, and the very important part of the event is also networking, sharing knowledge and above all – it’s sort of starting conversation between the people from all the industries around the design into the field of digital. So what does it mean? All the participants come from the totally transversal industries, but they are all interested in digital design – so what can be done? We want to show the best possible speakers from our community to learn and improve what they are doing.
MM: How do you envision the purpose of design in future society?
Filippo Spiezia: Design is becoming an essential part of every company, every industry. We had different talks about a lot of different topics. So it’s always difficult to find just one purpose, but for example I can say design is essential to build the soul of the company, or the trust of the company. If we are talking about New York Times – they are the most trusted news company through design. Or Pepsi – they totally revolutionized the company: the first step of each single process of the one of the biggest companies in the world is starting from design, from any point of view. All the processes in the company are starting from the design and are led by design.
MM: Where does inspiration come from for you?
Filippo Spiezia: Everywhere. It comes from the daily life. Whenever you don’t expect it, the idea arrives. It’s essentially made of all of your thoughts that resonate on the issue – and then suddenly they become the inspiration. You can be everywhere. What do I do to get the inspiration? I come to work in the city. That’s the place where I get more inspiration.
MM: What do you say is the biggest impact of design?
Filippo Spiezia: I would say, the first word that come up in mind is usability – it’s essential to understand the true nature of the product, of the company, or whatever it is.
Next event: Digital Design Days Milano – a 3-day experience that gathers thousands of the world’s best professionals with the brightest creative minds in the industry and the best international brands in one place to grow business through digital design thinking – will be held from 10th to 12th October 2019. As said, it will be the great opportunity for learning, growth, networking and collecting inspirational moments.
