Chasing Discomfort at Forward Festival Berlin
For five years, we went to Forward Festival and sat in the audience. This was the year we made it onstage.
Romano’s talk, “Chasing Discomfort”, traced his career and how ROCANI grew from a small development shop into a design and technology studio. Neither happened by staying in the seat that felt safe. Every step that moved us forward started with saying yes to something we weren’t ready for, and following the idea anyway. In the months leading up to the festival, chasing discomfort was our life.
One invitation, three ideas
A talk would have been the safe yes. But there were two ideas that had been sitting with us for years: taking ROCANI into a physical space with our first installation, and putting out our first merch collection. So when the invitation to speak came in, we asked for more. Alongside the talk, we pitched Forward an installation and a merch drop. Two big firsts on a festival deadline is exactly the kind of discomfort the talk was about, and all three made it to HKW.
Stepping outside the screen
We’ve been building digital worlds for a long time. At Forward, we took the opportunity to step outside the screen. For our first physical installation, the ROCANI Tower, we wanted to design ways of interacting with the whole body in mind. In the big hall at HKW, visitors flew a character using their body as the controller. After months of building the Tower, it was cathartic to watch people step in and bring it to life.
Our first merch collection
Forward was also the first time our merch left the studio. At the centre of the capsule collection is a flower that never grew anywhere. We generated it in Houdini with a custom procedural system, then printed it as a five-colour screen print, with each layer building up the depth that runs through ROCANI’s work.
The full collection drops online soon.
What we took home
Saying yes before you’re ready is how Romano built his career, and it’s how we built ROCANI. At Forward, the talk made the case, and the Tower and merch proved it.
As we head into the last quarter of 2026, we’re bringing it all together with a new strategy, a new website and the release of our brand world.
