Giveaways /// Win a VIP Double Pass to Semi-Permanent

EEEEEP! I'm getting excited. Semi Permanent is just under three weeks away and if you know what's up you'll understand my comparison to that being essentially the same as the countdown to Christmas. If you haven't already got your ticket.. pull finger, man. Semi Permanent is without a doubt going to sell out and it's not something you'll want to miss.

Concrete Playground has a VIP double pass to give away to one of our lucky subscribers:

To enter, make sure you are subscribed to Concrete Playground, then email [email protected] with 'Semi-Permanent' in the subject line by Monday 7 May 2012, 5pm. The winner will be notified by email soon after.

If you still need convincing, have a geez below at the who's who of this year's speakers, they're all top notch. Trust me, it'll be worth wiggling out of work on the Friday for.

Alex Trochut - Barcelona

Typography lovers, get excited, this guy is just a little bit boss. If you're not familiar with the works of Alex Trochut, do a quick google, his body of work is enough to get even the most patriotic Helvetica fans going a little giddy. Trochut's illustrations, designs and of course, typography takes the modern notion of minimalism and shakes it right up.

Working to the philosophy that "more is more" his work is heavily detailed. Trochut carefully balances indulgence in design with restrained control, resulting in an eclectic and impressive body of work. He also has a very brag worthy client list, including Nike, The Rolling Stones, Nixon, British Airways, Coca-Cola, The Guardian, Non Format, Wieden + Kennedy, Saatchi and Saatchi, BBH, Fallon and Beautiful Decay.

Tomas Gabzdil Libertiny - Industrial Design

How's that for a provocative installation, eh? Wasps and a bright red meshy looking human - you're forgiven for thinking "what the?". Tomas Gabzdil is renowned for a boundary pushing approach to his sculptural and industrial design.

In 2001, he was awarded George Soros's Open Society Institute Scholarship to study at The University of Washington in Seattle where he explored painting and sculpture. Shortly afterwards, he continued his study at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava in painting and conceptual design. Since 2007 he has been focused on exploring design strategies in art and science.

When I was visiting New York two years ago I was lucky enough to see an exhibition of his at the Museum of Modern Art. His creations are abstract and thought provoking. Undoubtedly his talk at Semi Permanent will provide an interesting context to his thought processes. Along with MoMa, his works have also been shown at Museum Boijmans van Beuningen and the Cincinatti Art Museum.

Southsouthwest - Melbourne

Along with being an agency with a very cool name, Southsouthwest boasts an impressive client list and a truly creative approach to Graphic Design. In their own words Southsouthwest was "founded from a need. A need to create. A need to establish new relationships. A need to share and keep learning. Our focus is varied. Which keeps the possibilities open. Our value lies in the discussion. The discussion of the outside, for the inside. We are, in essence, people from the land. This sense of the land is what keeps us together. Keeps us huddled." Touche.

Kelli Anderson - New York

With a sensitivity to viewer expectations, Kelli Anderson is a designer who believes that design can subvert the everyday through surreal, absurd experiences. To a non-arty person, her works provide perfect ammunition for those annoying conversations where people start saying "how is that even art?", but for those of us who totally just get it, her works are genius, fun and intelligent. From interactive paper projects to layered, experimental websites to a paper record player, her projects refuse to behave in the expected way.

In 2008, Kelli worked with a large group of collaborators to create a perfectly counterfeited NY Times, which caught bleary-eyed commuters off guard with stories from a progressive utopian future. Hats off to that little stunt. She also recently created a paper record player that garnered major attention from numerous media outlets including Mashable, Kottke, Slashdot, Make:, PCWorld, Wired, and NPR. Both of these are example of Kelli's desire to surprise her audiences through the absurd. No doubts about this one having an entertaining talk up her sleeve.

Swifty - London

Dubbed the "Godfather of the Sampling Generation", Ian Swift, has been something of a big name within the music and design scene for the past two decades. Erik Spiekermann and Neville Brody pinned Swifty as a rising star of typography quite early on, which definitely gives you some art class cred. His experimentation into unique fonts and bold sampling techniques have extended the boundaries of modern graphic design, while his distinctive album sleeve and club flyer designs are responsible for pioneering the UK Acid Jazz movement's signature style.

Swifty has held the role of creative designer for magazines such as Straight No Chaser and Area. He has also designed covers for countless musicians through his work with labels Talkin Loud, Mo Wax and Source 360, produced animation for television, designed a camo clothing line, as well as founded his own company Swifty Toypographix through which he has published several books.

Stefano De Luigi - Milan

Of all the styles of photography that I admire, there's a real confronting element to documentary photography that I've come to really respect. Stefano De Luigi is a leader within this field. He has an ability to capture and provoke with his photography, and the opportunity to hear him speak is something I'm hugely looking forward to. Stefano is a familiar contributor to many international magazines, although he is probably best known for his long term projects which include Blanco; visions of blindness, which was awarded with the second prize at World Press Photo 2011.

Stefano De Luigi has won the World Press Photo three times in different categories (1998, 2007, 2009) and the Moving Walls of Soros Foundation in 2009. In 2010, the project T.I.A. on the African continent won the 1 st prize at Days Japan and the Getty Grant for Editorial Photography. Stefano De Luigi work has been regulary published on Stern, Geo, Le Monde Magazine, Sunday Time Magazine, Newsweek and The New Yorker. I've definitely got him pinned as a stand out and undoubtedly insightful speaker at Semi Permanent.

Gmunk - Los Angeles

When your name is Bradley G Munkowitz, Gmunk is an inevitable (and pretty sweet) nickname. Beginning his professional career as an Interactive Designer at London-based Vir2L Studios Europe, Gmunk has spent the last several years crafting immersive web experiences and winning a raft of awards for web excellence and innovation. Perhaps the work Gmunk is most well known for is his involvement with the TRON Legacy. He spent the entirety of 2010 playing in the darkness at Digital Domain leading a black-ops team of GFX All-Stars to concept, design and execute over 12 minutes of holographic content for the feature film.

Benja Harney - Sydney

Benja Harney is a top pick for me from this year's speaker list. Using paper as his main medium, he is a true master of craft. It's as if pop up books were his thing and rather than grow out of them, he's managed to turn it into a signature, truly kick-ass aesthetic. It's pretty easy to get lost when you have a browse through Benja's website archive; the refinement of his works is quite simply outstanding and you'll find yourself marvelling that it's all handcrafted from paper. Benja's business Paperform is dedicated to high end paper construction. His skills have been employed across advertising, magazine illustration, fashion, packaging, invitations and fine art.

Hi-ReS! - London

With experience rooted in graphic design, fine art, product design, film and music, Hi-Res! founders, Alexandra Jugovic and Florian Schmitt eventually decided to comine all these separate disciplines in one medium and start to experiment with Adobe's Flash technology. From this desire to push collaborative boundaries, an agency of outstanding ability was formed. They have since achieved the highest accolades for digital media, including D&AD Silver Cannes Cyberlions, Clios, One Shows, BAFTA and Webby Awards. Working with brands such as Dolce&Gabbana, Jagermeister, Chanel and The Economist, Hi-Res! say they are far from getting bored and are continually on the pursuit of excellence within their creative realm.

Ron English - New York

Coiner of the term POPaganda, Ron English is one of the most prolific and recognisable artists on the art scene. He's given himself a bit of a rebel rep within the art world, going full force with unforgettably cheeky and slightly controversial images. Cast your mind back a few years to the Michael Moore doco Supersize Me. Remember MC Supersized on the front cover? That's just one of the reworked pop icons that English has become well known for. Abraham Obama? Another gem. Apparently that particular image of the two US Presidents was widely discussed as directly impacting the 2008 election, but that's a whole other discussion on American psyche I guess.. Other characters carousing through English's art, in paintings, billboards and sculpture include three-eyed rabbits, udderly delicious cowgirls and grinning skulls, blending stunning visuals with the bitingly humorous undertones of America's Premier Pop Iconoclast.

The Monkeys - Sydney

No, not the band. Better. Scott Nowell and Justin Drape from the Sydney based advertising agency, The Monkeys, will take the stage in what is looking set to be an fun and insightful talk about their body of provocative and entertaining work. The Monkeys, who have won the best Australian ad agency for the past two years, have been described as "a bunch of bloody dreamers", and they're cool with that. Creating ideas that flirt with boundaries and test limitations is the norm for this lot, and the breadth of work that stretches from advertising and entertainment, right through to technology is evidence of this stir-it-up-and-see-what-happens attitude.

Stolen Girlfriends Club - Auckland

Stolen Girlfriends Club was founded in 2005 by three friends Dan Gosling, Luke Harwood and Marc Moore. You may remember the now iconic printed tee "stay alive in '05"; the first of many tee prints that would become hot items on the NZ fashion scene. The trio have backgrounds in surfing but no formal design training. They set out to design the clothes they couldn't find in the market and have since not only filled that niche, but truly taken over. Stolen Girlfriends Club is now stocked in over 13 countries around the world. Their presence is ever expanding among the world's most fashion forward bloggers, celebrities, musicians and innovators. If you were at their fashion week show in September 2011 when the models did a synchronised mid-catwalk strip from their 80s bridal gear into the new season garments, you'll be familiar with the risque surprise antics one can come to expect from the label's creators.

Mofitt Mofitt - Sydney

They're twin brothers. Andrew and Mark Mofitt. Name suddenly makes sense, eh? The brothers came together in a creative partnership to form an agency that could solve creative problems for multinational brands. And when we're talking creative solutions to problems, think broad. Everything and anything can be considered an option when these two brains are at work. With a client list including Qantas, Jetstar, 3 Mobile, Voadafone, Westfield, Luxotica, Microsoft, Warner Music, Westpac, Maquarie Bank, BT Financial, Marcs, Carla Zampatti, Sydney Theatre Company and Sydney Film Festival (phew, take a breath), it's not hard to see how they have propelled to the forefront of the industry since their inception in July 2010.

Special - Auckland

Oh, that old DUCK from the Viaduct! Yeah, you know the one, don't pretend you didn't FB snap that thing. Who the dickens was the brainchild behind that? Some clever wee kiwi kids, of course. Special Group are a creatively led independent advertising and design agency who entered the industry in September 2007. Starting off with no clients and one desk, the rapid growth they've seen to the now buzzing hum of 20 is reflective of a company doin' it right. Their ethos is simple "produce world class advertising and design work their our clients..in a way that strips away the operational layers of a traditional big agency".

Wallpaper* Magazine - London

Yes, we all love Wallpaper*, it almost has coffee table book status, so it's with quite a decent dose of excitement that that current art director, Meirion Pritchard, will take to the stage and offer some insight into this much adored mag. Following on from a BA in Graphic Design at Kingston University in 2001, Meirion veered into magazines and worked at Redwood publishing and on Harvey Nichols magazine. Sporadic stints followed on Richardson magazine in New York where he became the European Editor. In 2003, having improved his design and partying skills, Meirion joined Wallpaper* and Tony Chambers' team who were tasked with the magazine's re-design.

In 2007 Meirion became Art Director of Wallpaper*. During this time Meirion and his team have continued to push the creative boundaries of print, ensuring that the Wallpaper* name is synonymous with design excellence. Anyone who frequently purchases the mag, and has an appreciation for good stock, will agree that they're on the mark every time.

Industrial Light & Magic - San Francisco

And last but not least, an industry old timer. For over 30 years Industrial Light & Magic, a division of Lucasfilms, has set the standard for visual effects. In the process they have created some of the most stunning images in film history. ILM is truly at the forefront of the digital revolution and they continue to break new ground in visual effects.

Visual effects Director Christian Alzmann will take the stage at Semi Permanent in what will no doubt be a super engaging and wow-zing talk. Alzmann has been responsible for the execution major feature films including Cowboys & Aliens, Rango, The Last Airbender and Terminator Salvation.

Christian will also be producing a workshop on Thursday 17 May for people who want a deeper experience in the art of effects and film production.