Fail Better Talks
It’s daring to take risks in design, and talking about them when it all goes pear-shaped is even more ballsy. In an effort to de-stigmatise failure in the creative industries, three friends and I founded Fail Better: a monthly talk series that celebrates all things imperfect. We all make mistakes, so why not learn from each others blunders? Hosted at various locations around London, our talks are a platform for gutsy graduates, tutors and professional creatives to spill the beans on the worst work they’ve ever created. So far, our events have featured the setbacks, clangers, flops and downright design disasters of over 25 speakers from a wide range of disciplines; graphic design, film, photography, animation, fashion design and creative writing. We've been blown over by the willingness of some of the biggest names in the industry to bare all, and let us in on some of the lessons they've learned the hard way. Our events have featured talks by Anthony Burrill, Craig Oldham, Sarah Boris and Paul Mellor, as well as designers from the BBC, Penguin Books, the National Theatre and Google. Some of our favourite stories have included a series of not-so-subtle rejection emails received from clients, some surprising symptoms of surrendering to stress and causing major offence with a minor spelling mistake. There’s no greater hindrance to the creative process than a crippling fear of failure, so let’s crush our trepidations with a series of hilarious anecdotes, a touch of schadenfreude and lots of laughter. Fail Better advocates more risk taking in design. Good things happen to brave people. After all, what’s the worst that could happen? …You could end up being one of our speakers. “What if we reimagine failure as one of the surest routes to creative success, instead of the road to perdition? Perhaps the mistakes and circumstances that join forces to create failure are not your mortal enemy but are, in fact, the key elements in producing something new and exciting” - Erik Kessels Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/failbettertalks