#design

2050. Digital world. AI dominates our lives. A sudden power outage: No internet anymore, complete darkness at night. A major task is to create a paper-based communication network for information exchange by rediscovering earlier layout techniques.

2050. We drive electric cars. Everything is digital on tablets, mobile phones, and glasses. AI dominates our thinking and our vision. For decades, only a few have warned about the necessary measures to save energy and develop renewable energies. Suddenly, everything comes to a standstill. A massive power outage. The system collapses. Enough! No internet. No credit card payments. No radio. No chilled cool drinks. Total darkness at night. A major task now is to create a paper-based communication network to exchange information. This requires rediscovering and using forgotten writing techniques, analog photography, linocuts, potato prints, colored pencil drawings and so on.

The workshop will discuss the consequences, but also the opportunities, of this crisis and develop a concept for a poster campaign on paper and flyers. There is no ‚finished‘ result – the focus is on the process. The goal is cross-curricular teamwork, exploring new ‚old‘ paths. Both, conceptually and practically. What new freedoms and creative possibilities will arise in the future. Content for the campaign will be developed and discussed in the workshop and translated into striking messages. Possible topics would include a return to traditional, analog meetings between people: discussions, readings, or concerts, or finally, an active rethink considering our lifestyle etc.

In my professional life as an artdirector at a newspaper in Berlin digital is paramount. Design and writing itself are becoming increasingly unimportant. Hence the idea of a total blackout and a return to old forms of communication, which I believe are more creative, communicative and environmentally friendly.

More information: https://summer-university.udk-berlin.de/?id=646

With Sabine Wilms (designer)