That Was The Week That Was — 3rd May 2026

Monday morning saw us head to Düsseldorf for Beyond Tellerrand, celebrating its fifteenth anniversary, for which I’d created all the graphic design.

What makes this conference feel unlike any other is the level of care that runs through it. That’s entirely down to Marc Thiele, but it shows up everywhere—in the details, in the people, in the atmosphere.

The posters, generated using a system I’d built in TouchDesigner, seemed to land well—judging by the scramble to grab them at the end of Tuesday. There’s something satisfying about seeing a system—something slightly abstract—become an object people physically want to take away.

Tuesday began less gracefully. A fire alarm just before six had us all standing across the road from the hotel, me in Budd pyjamas and Bowhill and Elliot slippers, spotting the occasional person still inside, peering out through the windows as if this might all pass them by. I was later told I “couldn’t have looked more British,” which felt about right.

The culprit was a toaster. Breakfast cancelled.

So Lisa and I took the Metro to Bazzar Caffè, a place we’d visited before—great coffee, surrounded by an almost obsessive display of vintage machines in a beautiful art nouveau setting. Again, that same sense of care in the details.

One of the highlights was dinner with James White and Naomi Atkinson. I’d found a Korean place, Kochi, via OpenTable. After walking through what felt like a slightly questionable area—accompanied by “where the hell are you taking us Bren?”—we arrived somewhere unexpectedly beautiful.

At the centre of the table was a rotisserie where we placed the skewers ourselves, watching them turn, timing each piece of meat. There was something quietly perfect about it—the act of paying attention made part of the experience.

At the end of the meal we were given Korean lolly ices, along with a coin for the grab machines in the foyer. Lisa almost won a packet of ramen, but it slipped at the last moment—almost certainly by design.

Which, in its own way, felt like the opposite of everything else that week.