Symposium

Location
Date

Sun 29.9.18 / 10am–5pm

Within the frame of the Weltformat symposium, designers will be discussing the Weltformat festival theme Tools & Rules. In three thematic blocks, they will investigate the various aspects of the topic from different perspectives.

The international speakers – including some of this year's workshop leaders – will examine the festival theme Tools & Rules in three thematic blocks: Using and Misusing Tools, Type and Techniques and Professional (R)evolutions. They will also present their own work in relation to the topics discussed. The symposium and the panel discussions are hosted by the designers and design researchers Miriam Koban and Jonas Berthod. The symposium will be held in English.

Type and Techniques

The panel Type and Techniques highlights the relationship between type design and technology. In his typeface Ciao Massimilano Audretsch reflects the characteristics of the emphasis (higher-deeper, louder-quieter, longer-shorter). The font is generated from the spoken word and features a variety of styles. The type designer Selina Bernet effortlessly combines tradition with contemporary design. The fonts she creates often go back to historical models, which she develops further for digital application and distribution. The design studio Dinamo, which designs and distributes fonts, talks about variable fonts and how new technologies influence the development of types. Jungmyung Lee experiments with font design and storytelling. The typefaces of the Jung Lee Type Foundry tell stories and evoke emotions among users and readers. 

10am – noon

1

Dinamo

2

Selina Bernet

3

Massimiliano Audretsch

4

Jungmyung Lee

5

Discussion

noon – 1pm

Lunch break with Otto

During the lunch break, soup is offered for CHF 10.–.

Using and Misusing Tools

The panel Using and Misusing Tools examines the potential of specifically developed design tools and concepts. With a critical eye, the designer Ines Cox analyses the relationship between design and technology and points out their mutual interdependence. In contrast, the designer Anja Kaiser operates in an activist environment and talks about how she incorporates topics such as feminism, gender roles and asymmetrical power structures into her work. The multidisciplinary designer Jürg Lehni develops artistic processes in soft- and hardware, and subsequently explores and unveils their poetic and creative potential. Software developer Ted Davis presents the tool basil.js – an open source scripting library – and shows how it affects the work of designers. 

1pm – 3pm

1

Jürg Lehni

2

Ines Cox

3

Anja Kaiser

4

Ted Davis

5

Discussion

3pm – 3.30pm

Coffee break

Professional (R)evolutions

The job profile and professional environment of designers is constantly evolving. Technical innovations, design standards and socio-economic progesses have shaped the profession of graphic artists since the end of the 19th century. The thematic block Professional (R)evolutions discusses these developments with a focus on the current challenges in the context of digitalisation and new technologies.

The design duo Johnson/Kingston talks about the importance of digital tools, coding and generative design in regards to the concepts they develop. Type designer and software developer Petr van Blokland highlights challenges designers will be facing in the future and the role automated processes will play. Artist Sofia Crespo sees in technical tools such as artificial intelligence and machine learning a great promise for artistic practice as well. Her interest in bio-inspired technologies is visible in her work Neural Zoo, which she describes as «a zoological and botanical collection of nature that doesn’t exist.» Johanna Siebein of Studio Laucke Siebein talks about the implementation of their design concepts and shows which rules need to be broken in order to inspire the public to new viewing habits.

​3.30pm – 5pm

1

Johnson/Kingston

2

Petr van Blokland

3

Sofia Crespo

4

Johanna Siebein

5

Discussion



Tickets

The number of tickets is limited. Tickets are available on site or online.

Organisation / Moderation

Miriam Koban (designer and design researcher) and Jonas Berthod (designer, design researcher and lecturer, London)

Partner

Syndicom – Gewerkschaft Medien und Kommunikation