The Ten Best Things to See at Vivid Ideas 2014

While functioning as an umbrella for some massive creative industries events — such as Semi-Permanent and Good Design — Vivid Ideas is still hogging plenty of star speakers and events for its own signature program. Here's a handful of our very favourites. Catch (most of) the action at the Vivid Ideas Exchange on level six of the MCA and let the creative trends of the moment collide satisfyingly on the go-kart track of your mind.

Australian Interiors: Objects, Furnitures, Textiles mini-conference

As your mother might well have told you, it’s what’s on the inside that counts. Fourteen professional designers, retailers, bloggers and photographers will get together to talk about what’s lately been happening to Australian interiors. The first session, titled ‘Local Aesthetics on a Global Stage’, focuses on what makes our bars and restaurants unique yet world-class; the second, ‘Show and Tell’, gives you the chance to meet eight leading designers who’ll be delivering high-speed presentations on their work; and the third, ‘Sharing Style’, is all about how to turn your concept into a social media hit. Key players on the program include Russel Koskela, Penelope Seidler and DesignByThem directors Sarah Gibson and Nicholas Karlovasitis.

May 24, 10am at Vivid Ideas Exchange, Museum of Contemporary Art. Tickets from $55.

Inside the Rover

Robert Pattinson is speaking at Vivid Ideas. This is not a joke. Although not known predominantly for his intellectual achievements, Pattinson is part of the all-round clever Australian project The Rover. Playing in competition at the Sydney Film Festival, it is the latest film from Animal Kingdom director David Michod and takes place in a dystopian near-future where the world's downtrodden flock to Australia's new gold rush. Stars Pattinson and Guy Pearce, together with Michod and producer Liz Watts, will speak about the film at Sydney Town Hall. It'll be worth tolerating the Twihards to hear this tale.

8 June, 3pm at Sydney Town Hall. Tickets $45 A reserve/$25 B reserve..

Ubisoft Montreal Presents Developing Games: From Indie to Blockbuster - Child of Light and Watch Dogs

This event is essentially a means for event partners Ubisoft Montreal to spruik their wares, but hey, it works for us. Jean-Francois Poirier, producer of Child of Light, and Kevin Shortt, lead story designer for Watch Dogs will be speaking about the production process behind these two very different 2014 releases. Watch Dogs is a blockbuster where you play a hacker with some handy parkour skills in an open-world Chicago, while Child of Light is Ubisoft Montreal's experiment with indie game aesthetics. It's your chance to see some preview content, get the behind-the-scenes stories and maybe find out that game hint that will make all the difference.

25 May, 3.30pm at Vivid Ideas Exchange, MCA. Tickets $15.

The Internet of Things: From Electric Dreams to Digital Reality mini conference

Smart watches, Google glasses and intelligent barbecues — it seems that being a humble, everyday object just isn’t good enough anymore. Where the internet has long been confined to computers and phones, it’s becoming increasingly inescapable. So Vivid Ideas, in conjunction with Optus-Innov8 Seed, has decided we should get on board. In a big way. A bunch of cutting-edge home-grown startups, including MooresCloud, LIFX and Ninja Blocks, will be letting us know what they’ve discovered in the process of coming up with a concept, sourcing the cash to see it through and selling it to the world. The session will then wind up with a series of pitches presented by hopeful newbies.

June 4, 1.30pm at Vivid Ideas Exchange, Museum of Contemporary Art. Tickets $20/$40.

Aria Presents in Conversation: How to Get to Number One

Number One. It’s every pop musician’s Holy Grail. But that’s not to say that everyone’s willing to do whatever it takes to get there. Issues like artistic integrity and keeping your clothes on stand in the way sometimes. Every now and again, however, an artist seems to crack the code — to write songs that don’t compromise sincerity and yet still become the hottest new kid on the block. What exactly does it take? Should you be doing anything other than busking and popping your songs on iTunes? ARIA wants you to find out. So, they’ve organised beat-master Flume (2013 triple j Australian Album of the Year and winner of four ARIA Awards), producer Eric J. Dubowsky (Chet Faker, Bluejuice) and industry player Nathan McLay (Future Classic) to spill the beans.

May 29, 9pm at Vivid Ideas Exchange, Museum of Contemporary Art. Tickets $18.

Electrolapse BYOB

All that ideating can really take it out of you. Fortunately, on its second weekend, Vivid Ideas throws up this two-day event to engage us visually rather than intellectually. BYOB (Bring Your Own Beamer, not booze) is an international event movement where artists congregate with their projectors in tow, filling every wall space with their latest digital imaginings, including feats of 3D projection mapping and interactive interfaces. This local iteration is being put on by the knowledgeable folks from Electrofringe, and they've even roped in original BYOBer Rafael Rozendaal — the New York-based founder and internet artist — for the lineup. Get set to see the cavern of Pier 2/3 in a whole new way.

May 31, 5pm and June 1, 4pm at Pier 2/3, Hickson Road, Walsh Bay. Tickets $15.

Skylar Tibbits: On Shaping Future Manufacturing

Do you still feel a shiver of excitement (and fear) whenever someone mentions the words '3D' and 'printing' in proximity? Turns out you’re a whole dimension behind the times. Meet Skylar Tibbits, worldwide head honcho of the 4D printing movement. He spends his time designing what our future’s going to look like: creating products that can put themselves together, respond to stimuli and even repair themselves after an injury. Tibbits is confident that manufacturing and business are going to appear as utterly different beasts as the years pass. He’ll be giving a talk to inspire forward-thinking entrepreneurs, tech nerds, designers, new media addicts and anyone who loves robots. The following day, join him for a masterclass.

June 2, Vivid Ideas Exchange, Museum of Contemporary Art. Tickets from $22.50.

Karen Walker and Mikhael Gherman in Conversation

Whether it's casting grande dames in candy-coloured shades or conveying feminine fashion without a single fussy bow, Karen Walker is a designer we pretty much all love to love. And love to pretend is Australian. Actually, she's from New Zealand, and has many an opinion on how that's shaped her creative life. Here she's in conversation with her work and life partner — advertising guru Mikhail Gherman — so it should be a more comfortable, free-flowing on-stage Q&A than most. Come back to the Vivid Ideas Exchange at 9pm weeknights for more intriguing 'In Conversation' pairings.

June 6, 9pm at Vivid Ideas Exchange, MCA. Tickets $18.

Gadi Amit: On Designing Devices We Love

One of the problems of the earliest wearable technologies was that you wouldn’t exactly want to, well, wear them. Clever they might have been, but comfortable and liable to match your outfit? Unlikely. Enter San Francisco-based designer Gadi Amit. As president of NewDealDesign, he’s committed to developing devices that are smart and fashionable. FitBit trackers, the Lytro camera and the Netgear router are all his babies. He’ll be delivering a talk made for designers, developers and creatives interested in knowing more about wearable tech and the concept of the constantly measured and monitored self. You can also catch him at a masterclass on June 5.

June 4, 6.30pm at Vivid Ideas Exchange, MCA. Tickets from $22.50.

3D Printing and New Generation Technologies Interactive Workshop

If you’ve been fantasising about printing your own pizzas, investing in a self-brushing 3D-printed mouth guard or replacing your oh-so-20th century laser jet with a desktop 3D number, Vivid’s 3D Printing and New Generation Technologies Interactive Workshop is for you. It’s your chance to experience the very latest in creative technologies hands-on. Be prepared to design, scan, click and pop your ideas into multidimensional perfection.

May 28, 8.30pm at Vivid Ideas Exchange, Museum of Contemporary Art. Tickets $40.

By Jasmine Crittenden and Rima Sabina Aouf.