VANCOUVER—Free your mind, and the rest will follow.

That was the advice, in a nutshell, given by Omer Arbel during the most recent CreativeMornings/Vancouver.

The industrial designer is the creative director of Bocci, a contemporary furniture and housewares design company based in Vancouver. He is also the designer of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic medals - arguably the most unique and beautiful olympic medals ever designed.

During this abbreviated talk at CreativeMornings, he shared his creative process through the a case study focusing on a unique way of displaying art pieces for a Vancouver gallery. Instead of hanging pieces on a wall, the solution was creating a room-sized organic sculpture (made from hay bales, insulation foam and white paint) to house the art.


However, Arbel's team didn't set out to use these materials, it happened through an exploratory process, he explained.

His approach to finding a solution is different from the typical process. "Trying to realize your vision using resources around you is backwards and inefficient," he said. In fact, Arbel says he finds "inspiration in process".


By freeing the mind, and not envisioning the final product, but focusing on process, the result will surely be something unexpected. This is when Arbel goes in and edits; he sees himself as more of a curator than a creator.

The next CreativeMornings/Vancouver will take place on Sept. 7, and will feature dancer & choreographer Crystal Pite.