Last part, I promise. Just wanted to drop a few lines about the smaller things that were going on these five days in Portugal.

For example was there an interactive 'Space Invaders' game on a huuuge touchscreen – instead of a joystick, you had to throw rubber balls at the aliens. There was Humvee/DJ podium from which two guys were playing electronica almost the entire festival – with a maximum audience of maybe 20. There were a couple of smaller installations, mostly focused on user interaction, a long row of tables with designers selling books, t-shirts and artwork (only few things were really cool though), and a 'chill out zone' where you could play Xbox or just recharge your laptop. The sanitary facilities consisted of a massive array of port-a-potties, where on the first day you had to wash your hands with bottled water cause they hadn't installed any sinks yet. Getting food (toast sandwiches, baguettes) or drinks (water, beer, Red Bull) was almost impossible due to never ending queues and a stupid system where you had to first buy vouchers which you could then 'trade' for the product of your choice. As I've said before, the bad organization of catering, the toilets and the horrible acoustics were the three major downsides of the festival.

A lot of the designers, even though they had their own 'VIP Room', could be seen walking around the premise and watching lectures, always distinguishable by their big badges instead of wristbands. So you could actually get up close and personal with the creative masterminds if you wanted to – I saw a lot of them talking to visitors/admirers throughout these three days. Some of the designers even stated in their lectures that you should just approach them off-stage if you had a question or just wanted to chat. And so I could observe Stefan Sagmeister being followed around, almost molested by two female groupies the entire time. He didn't seem to mind too much – they were pretty good-looking and for some reason he didn't show up Saturday morning for one of the discussion Panels... I could also see that the energetic Joshua Davis looks pretty tired and worn out from up close. I even managed to talk to Si Scott for a couple of minutes – by the way, him and me look pretty alike, if I were to shrink a bit and gain a little weight I could pose as his friggin' stunt double – and I might be getting a custom tattoo by him... We'll see :)

All in all, I'm very happy and grateful that I had the opportunity to go to this very recommendable 'cause interesting and inspiring event. It was very very worth it. Thanks Bleed!