Fuse '95. Berlin, November 17th-19th. Fuse, the interactive typography magazine.
When I was invited to be a speaker at the FUSE conference in Berlin, the first thought I had was: Gee, this is Woodstock, man! And yes, when you look at the list of the invited speakers, you realize that typography and graphic design is a cult on its own. That type design isn't much different from songwriting and composing. A good typeface design can be a hit and score on the charts as a popsong does. The list of famous speakers and an audience of about a thousand heads on this three day conference is as much as a pop fopfestival to me.
So you want to be a rock and roll star... I packed my genuine Rickenbacker 330 (John Lennon's sixties style of guitar), my small travelling Vox amp and took off.
Arriving at the hall I first checked the arranged equipment. It all seemed to be allright, but I only could have a serious check the next day. One, two, testing...
The speakers had their own room, back stage in the building. They were hanging around, sipping on a glass of champaign, a beer or a coffee. Some had to recover a jet-lag and were lying on the sofa. The 'next' speaker was nervously assuring that all the slides were correctly placed in the carroussels and that the operator had the right video tape. It just felt like the 'old' dressing room.
As far as I am concerned Fuse95 was a good conference and a great concert. If anyone believed that typograhy was on its end this meeting would have changed his mind. The dicipline of typography is very well alive, just and well because of new technological developments and changing ways of communications. What I especially noticed is that all speakers, without exception, from young to 'old', from serious to playfull, all were aware of the big changes in their profession. They all anticipated with the shift from static 2d to dynamic 3d in their work somehow. All the presentations showed how attractive and inviting good graphic design and typography can be in interactive and digital environments.
So you want to be a rock and roll star... I plugged in, tuned up and played: A, B, C, D, E, F and G. A, B, C, D, E, F and G and one more time A, B, C, D, E, F and G.
The first seven characters of the alfabet are musical chords. You can play the loud or soft, gentle or rough, fast, slowly, minor, major, strong or weak, simple or complex. Music offers an unlimited range of expressions, just with seven letters. Something typography and design hasn't achieved yet!
Max Kisman.