Currently
Linz, Austria

Soonly
Vienna, Austria

Previously
Berlin, Germany

6 Months
6 Count(r)ies
6 Studios/Bureaus
'The Plan'

Has skills, will travel. Roving designer seeks temporary stints around Europe. Got a floor?
— Level Magazine

To sum up my thoughts, and the original concept and plan beyond: After one decade in design, and having already spent good amounts of that abroad, I intend becoming / being a 'Design Nomad', for half a year. 6 months. One month, one count(r)y, one agency/studio/bureau. From spring to fall 2010. Travel & Design. New places, new people, new projects.

Now the 'tricky' part. To make this possible, and real, I of course would need the help and support of different agencies/studios/bureaus 'willing' to work with me. ;) If you are interested in having me 'over' and temporary hiring / hosting me (for one month), or want / need more information on 'Design Nomad', please don't hesitate to let me (mail[at]davidhubner.com) know. Thank you.

Love the DAV!
— Julius Wiedemann (Editor Design, TASCHEN)

Dav(id Hubner) is an Austrian-born designer and design consultant, primarily specialising in branding, design and typography. Since 1999 he worked with various advertising agencies and design studios/bureaus, in Austria, the United Kingdom, Italy, Malta and Germany. His branding / identity work has been published in numerous notable magazines and books. (He may also still be better known by his former aliases 'formlos' and / or 'Forma'.)

→ Curriculum Vitæ → (Port)Folio (PDF)
→ davdesigned.com → twitter.com/davdesigned

So — Who would this
Dav dude be then?
'The (No)mad Man'

The diary of a (no)mad man
Previously On DesignNomad.org

Berlinz.
Sunday — July, 15

Back in (and around) Linz (AUT). The summer seems paused.
First and foremost once again 'Thank You' to Rob and Sonja, at Mota Italic. Thank you so much for having me over, for being great hosts, for serving me well. A couch to crash on and projects to work on. (My time in Berlin was how I would have imagined it, when I first naively noted my thoughts and started planning 'Design Nomad'. Couch surfing meets temporary placement. ;) Work and play. Consulting and design. Logos and identities. Samples and animations. Geometric blackletters and cyrillic pixels. FontLab and FreeHand. 1 folder and 166,6 MB in data. A good time. Thank you.

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Hot, Hot, Heat — Berlin is burnin'.
Sunday — July, 18

Berlin has been declared THE hottest place to be, last week. And this time not only in the sense of what was and is happening in typography, design, fashion, arts and music, but also and especially temperature-wise. Temperatures around almost 40 degrees (celsius) made Berlin the 'hottestestest' city in Germany, according to various news sources, and it sure felt like it. And no sea breeze. :/
Rob even bought a fan to (try to) cool down the Mota Italic 'Fabulous Bureau Of Invention & Innovation In The Field Of Typography'. ;) (That almost made up for the additional heat some fruity 'flavoured' mobile computers produce, on a normal day.) And to also use a third-person point of view, and blame it on the heat — 'Branding Dav' did what Branding Dav does best: Branding. ;)
I finally made delicious 'Palatschinken' (Austrian pancakes, named after the Czech 'Palačinky'), to at least make and be responsible for dinner once, while I am here. (All the other times I was very thankful — and the others rather should be too ;) — not to be the one to cook, as I may very well be one of the worst 'chefs' ever. But my Palatschinken sure are worth testing and tasting. ;)
I also attended my first (original) BTST — 'Berliner TypoStammTisch', this time entitled 'TypoStrandTisch' / 'TypoStammStrand', which — as the name may suggest — was not a typical 'StammTisch' indoors one, instead it was staged in a beach bar, in the middle of the city. (It sure was nice to be able to match some more faces to already known names.)
Quote of the week: The shop owner at the 'Späti' kioskshopthingplace, across the street, asking 'Haben Sie denn keine Marke?' ('Don't you have a brand?'), being slightly concerned about 'my' cigarette brand, and me not being able to make a choice. (Which I actually really don't have, here, as my brand is not available in Germany. But what is 'Branding Dav' without the 'Brand'? 'Ing. Dav'? Nooo. ;)
And I finally went to see the collection at the 'Buchstabenmuseum' ('Museum Of Letters'), located in what probably would easily qualify as THE most ugliest shopping centre / mall, in Germany (or at least Berlin).

And as a note: I will be leaving for Austria once again, coming Friday. One more week in Berlin. I still have a few 'Onda D'Oro' posters here with me. If you are interested in obtaining a copy, let me know. (Maybe I'll just leave them somewhere hidden in Berlin and posting hints on where to find them. The 'Design Nomad' treasure hunt. ;)

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Type & Tony — 20 days in Berlin, 15 at Mota Italic
Sunday — July, 11

Still having a good time at Mota Italic. (Sonja and Rob are great hosts. Thank you, very much.) Talking type. Doing design. (You may be able to see some of the things I did / designed, on motaitalic.com, in the very near future. So stay tuned.) Eating fine (mostly vegetarian) food. Drinking 'girly' beers. ;) (And also drinking uncountable cans of Red Bull. Of course one still has to represent his 'home' country, somehow. ;)
I had a very interesting conversation with Rob about what (in the beginning) inspired us enough to pursue a career in design. That very spark. The path of enlightenment. ;) My main reason to start and be involved with design, and work as a designer later on, back then, was a book called 'G1', a so titled 'trendbook for graphic design', compiled by Neville Brody and Lewis Blackwell, released in 1996. (And the 'Flyermania' book, from 1997, edited by a bunch of people, then already better known as 'Die Gestalten'.) And within that 'G1' compendium probably the most important single featured art/work was the 'Sissy' poster, by tDR / 'The Designers Republic'.
We were at the Germany / Spain game at an old east-German factory building, on the other side of the Spree. (And saw people jump off the bridge and into the river, at least until a police boat came by.) Well — You probably all know how that (game) ended :/, but it still was nice there. I liked it. (But as I previously noted, I am not really a football fan, at all, so, well. But I may be a fan of old buildings / warehouses.)
I also checked by the Berlin stop of the 'Tony Hawk & Friends' European tour, on Thursday. (Featuring the very best in skateboarding and music.) They had a maaassive mobile ramp brought / built into the Max·Schmeling·Halle. Tony and his all-star buddies all were great skaters, but Sandro Dias was freakin' awesome. Whoa. Niiice. (Too bad we missed the Emil Bulls. No 'Aftershowbackstagebeerdrinking', like my sister and I did with them at their concert in Traun, Austria, some years ago.) Two days later and still inspired and impressed by that demo I headed to the Bright tradeshow (for skateboarding / streetwear / sneakers), at the former Stasi headquarters. (German and International skate brands presenting their upcoming collections and new products. Make sure to remember the name 'Frends'. They will be releasing a fabulous range of headphones, soon.) To keep with what seems to have been the theme of this past week — 'Now Boarding: Berlin Is Riding The Heat Wave' ;), I've seen my first 3D movie: 'The Ultimate Wave Tahiti', at the IMAX. Liquid Chaos.

And to throw in some stats — The top visiting countries to the 'Design Nomad' site, since I arrived in Berlin: United States, Germany, United Kingdom, Italy, Austria. (Now if also some more design studios/bureaus in the UK and Italy would please show some more interest in being future 'Design Nomad' hosts. ;) That would be grand. Thank you.)

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(Almost) Two weeks of being a 'Design Nomad' in Berlin.
Sunday — July, 4

It sure feels good to be 'back' in Berlin, once again. I finally arrived at the Mota Italic 'headquarters' a week ago, after already spending about another week visiting my sister and probably being kind of 'the' rather typical tourist. Sunday afternoon/evening, while everyone else in this city (and the whole country, I guess) was watching the game, I tried to find my way through an almost empty Berlin. (Don't fear — I still was able to guess the score, as I heard people cheering and screaming whenever I passed by a cafe/bar. ;) And I am not a football fan, anyway.) I was greeted and welcomed by Rob and Sonja, and as a guest 'TypeOff. Dan'. ;) (Oh, and the house cat of course, who shall from now on also be known by the name of 'Muuutziii'. ;) We had tasty Indian dinner nearby and I was shown around a bit. The following monday would then officially be my first 'Design Nomad: Berlin' day, at Mota Italic. (Other words and names for me being a temporary 'guest designer', that have been coined in the most recent past — 'The Intern' and 'Slave'. But I personally prefer the 'Branding Dav' moniker. ;) I spent day one watching Rob design type, and discussing design and type with him; Sketching and scribbling some of my own; Researching; And adding some more entries to my 'Teux Deux' list. In the following days I already made heavy use of the fabulous 'Vesper' typeface. (It IS great, you should definitely check it out right now and get your own license — motaitalic.com.) And to sum up one week: Colours, shapes, types ←/ → balcony, red bull, cigarettes. ;)
And to quote another Austrian designer → 'Things I have learned done in my life Berlin so far': Walked and wandered through the city that sleeps less than New York; Been to the 'Pfaueninsel' (Peacock Island); Ate Berlin cuisine ala Currywurst; Accidentally made a mess of my bag and most of its contents using only the brute force and power of orange juice; Was at the 'Mauerpark' market and bought an east-German do-it-yourself guide to build my own 'Brettsegler' (Windsurfer) from 1974, and 'Italien' by Hermann Hesse; Designed various logotypes/identities and grids; Saw enough hipster art students; Met up and had interesting talks with other and even more 'Typophiles' (from all over Europe); Spent a friday night at an 'Italodisko' (Belle donne italiane ;) and a weekend by the (baltic) sea and an afternoon in Poland, and, and, and...

* Before I went on to Berlin I spent 1 1/2 weeks in northern Italy, and 1 week back in (even more northern ;) Austria, riding trains and buses, reading books and the Abitare magazine, writing texts and rethinking them, getting sunburnt and inspired, and working on personal projects. (And most of this on golden sand.) And of course thinking about how 'Design Nomad' would eventually turn out and evolve. (I wish I would have found a 'Design Nomad' host for Italy, then I could have stayed longer. And I realised again, I should spend waaay more time by the sea.)

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The slightly more accurate (planned) dates, for 'Design Nomad':
June, 4 — 14 → Italy (Friuli Venezia Giulia)
June, 22 — July, 23 → Germany (Berlin)
September, 1 — 30 → Austria (Vienna)

Level up.
'Design Nomad' has been featured (and linked to) in/on what was probably my all time favourite print magazine and still is a fabulous web resource — Level Mag: 'Has skills, will travel. Roving designer seeks temporary stints around Europe. Got a floor?' — levelmag.com/whatnot

'Country' to 'County'.
I have decided to open up and loosen my own 'restriction' to limit 'Design Nomad' to countries, but concentrate on counties instead. (Until now my thoughts were to stay in one country, for one month and then move on. And not return to that country, during 'Design Nomad'. Now this shall just be limited to/by counties.)

From 6 to 4. Fourever.
As you may have already noticed, about 10 weeks after I originally 'launched' designnomad.org, the (original) 'Design Nomad' plan (and schedule/timetable) has 'slightly' changed, due to various reasons and unforeseen circumstances*, and 'Design Nomad' now shall be one-third of a year: 4 Months — 4 Countries. *Feel free to continue reading, below, and you may be able to find some hints on what those reasons and circumstances may have been. ;)

Maybe not epic, but still a fail.
After 8 weeks I can certainly state / declare, the 'Erasmus For Young Entrepreneurs' program by the European Union is — a 'FAIL'. So far. (The system doesn't 'work'; The companies participating do not respond; The support of the local chambers of commerce / the EU is, well, not.) The idea itself would be / is great, but Europe doesn't seem 'ready'.

Waiting.
'Just' waiting currently sums up my activity with 'Design Nomad'. I am still awaiting some confirmations, to be able to finally add some more 'hosts' and 'spots' to my list. What I do find rather disappointing is the fact that out of all those mails and messages I sent out, I received less than a handful actual replies. We all are working in the field of 'Communication (Design)', but we ourself seem to be unable to communicate, it seems. This is quite saddening. (But maybe expecting more replies was too naive and idealistic.)

Balin.
/ˈbʌlɨn/, this should be pretty close to how my lovely little niece pronounces Berlin. And this is how I shall pronounce it from now on ;) as I am proud to present my 'Design Nomad' hosts for July — Mota Italic. I will spend my 'Summer In The City' in Berlin, typing and designing and maybe even designing type. Thanks a lot Rob and Sonja. Yay.
(And there is a fact I just can't leave untold and unmentioned at this point, as a dinner and talks with Rob, Sonja and quite a few other 'Typophiles' in Berlin, in December were the 'final' reasons for starting writing, sketching and planning for 'Design Nomad'.)
So — Berlin (July) and Vienna (September) for now. (I am still hoping for / and expecting some confirmations, but for now it's mainly waiting and waiting and waiting. ;)

28 days later. ;)
4 weeks in on the planning stage of the 'Design Nomad' project. Sadly enough the actual response rate so far is pretty low (and slow), to be sincere. A lot of people like the idea, but it seems way less people and companies are interested in really becoming 'Hosts' and actually supporting the project, by offering possible 'Spots'. Maybe it still is the aftermath of the financial and economic crisis. Sure feels like it. Firms still being more cautious concerning eventual and previously unplanned financial expenses. Of course this is understandable, but on the other hand this ('Design Nomad') may very well be a great (and maybe even a 'Once In A Lifetime') opportunity, not only for me ;), but for every studio/bureau involved. A better general and in detail view on pan-European design. Access to the knowledge, experience and talent of a passionate creative thinker working in design for more than a decade now. (Me that would be. ;) The option to build up and establish a new European design network. Don't miss out on your chance to be(come) an important part of 'Design Nomad'.

(T)WooHoo.
Within the last two weeks I made a lot of lists, I wrote and sent out a lot of messages, and I posted a lot of links. All related to 'Design Nomad'. My planned journey extraordinaire. Inspiration all over the place(s). I would like to sincerly thank everyone who liked the idea (and told me / stated so) and supported it, and / or wished me luck, so far. Thank you. (Still it's very hard and difficult to find actual 'host' companies, in various countries. But I guess it never was supposed to be easy, anyway. ;) In theory I think the next month will show how successful the 'Design Nomad' project and plan really will be. Until then I of course will try my best to fill up those blank fields, in the timetable / schedule list. (Hopefully the 'aid' of the 'Erasmus For Young Entrepreneurs' program, backed by the European Union, will help me with this, too. But I am still awaiting replies / confirmations.) And I am thankful for every hint of support. Spread the word, tell a friend, send a link — But keep in mind, yes, it's true, no one likes spammers. (I know, I myself may sometimes appear to cross the line when linking to designnomad.org too heavily — Pardon me. It never was intended as spam. And there is no commercial / financial 'goal', to 'Design Nomad', either.) Thank you.

News & Changes.
I have been accepted for the 'Erasmus For Young Entrepreneurs' exchange program by the European Union. (I posted about applying, previously. This may also bring some minor changes to the 'Design Nomad' project, as I may spend several months abroad, during this. I will of course post an updated timetable, soon.)

One week 'designnomad.org'.
~ 500 visitors, in 7 days, most recently from the United States, Germany, United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, France, Portugal, Brazil, Netherlands, Bulgaria, Russian Federation. (According to reinvigorate stats.) Thanks a lot, to those that supported 'Design Nomad', so far. Especially sixxa / 0717 who already confirmed my stay for September. Vienna. (And, Yes, I do count Austria as one of those countries as well. ;)

3 days later.
Thank you all for the support and kind words, so far. (I am very thankful for more than 150 visitors, within the first 3 days. And especially keeping in mind, that these days also were the first of 2010.) A nice start. I am still seeking agencies/studios/bureaus interested in working with / (temporary) hiring me. If you are interested, please let me know. (And additionally to my own 'Design Nomad' project, I now also applied for the 'Erasmus For Young Entrepreneurs' exchange program by the European Union.)

One.
A happy new year. Today I am officially launching designnomad.org. The saga starts. Now. ;) So stay tuned for updates and stories. (And please — Spread to word, and the link, to help me succeed. Thank you.)

Design Nomad, Dav(id Hubner), 2010
designnomad.org, davidhubner.com, davdesigned.com

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