What’s Happening at Config 2024? | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Config 2024 brought together product builders, designers, artists, and inventors for a conference focused on creativity, technology, and unconventional thinking. Figma’s coverage highlights talks, workshops, community activities, and behind-the-scenes moments from the event. The central message is that meaningful innovation comes from authentic perspectives, outside influences, experimentation, and the freedom to play.

Conference Community and Programming

• Config featured both in-person and virtual programming, including:
  • “Design of Everything”
  • New feature recaps
  • Friends of Figma
  • Figma EDU
  • “Figma like the pros”
  • Daily conference recaps
• Attendees came from around the world, supported by speakers, staff, and volunteers.
• Figma encouraged viewers to revisit sessions through its YouTube playlist and announced Config APAC for July 2.

Designing Beyond Expectations

• Karla Mickens Cole and Nashilu “Nash” Mouen of The Browser Company discussed designing for a world that resists conformity.
• Working on the Arc browser, they argued that products should carry the “fingerprints” of their creators—their experiences, identities, and perspectives.
• Nash emphasized that designers should look beyond technology for inspiration, drawing from unexpected sources, stories, and culture.

AI, Digital Art, and Criticism

• Artist Refik Anadol described his digital artwork Unsupervised, which uses AI to reinterpret MoMA’s archive.
• He framed the project as an exploration of “the possible dreams of the machine.”
• Responding to criticism that his work simplifies data, Anadol questioned who the critics are and what perspectives shape their judgments.
• His comments reflected the broader challenge of establishing digital and AI-assisted art within the traditional art world.

Creativity Through Play and Failure

• Inventor and YouTuber Simone Giertz presented humorous projects such as a toothbrush-brushing helmet, a slapping alarm clock, a soup-feeding robot, and a drone hair cutter.
• After leaving her startup, she found that striving for excellence was not helping and instead gave herself permission to play.
• She stressed that difficulty does not necessarily equal importance.
• Giertz also discussed overcoming self-deprecation and building a professional identity through her product design company, Yetch.
• Her brainstorming exercise—finding unusual uses for a brick—encouraged attendees to embrace strange and creative ideas.
• She concluded that creating her own career was her favorite invention.

Design, Merchandise, and Hands-On Experiences

• The conference floor offered opportunities for attendees to connect, explore exhibits, and shop at the Figma Store.
• Attendees praised the quirky, distinctive character of the event merchandise.
• In the Maker Space, participants customized tote bags with patches and received personalized aura portraits.

Config 2024’s activities reinforce a practical creative philosophy: designers should draw from life beyond their field, experiment without fear of failure, and build work that reflects their individual perspectives.