I, Human

Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics gave us a set of principles for governing the behaviour of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Asimov also said:

“The Three Laws are the only way in which rational human beings can deal with robots - or anything else. But when I say that, I always remember (sadly) that human beings are not always rational!”

In “I, Human”, Léonie uses the Three Laws of Robotics to explore what it means to be a human with a disability, in a world of AI and smart technologies.

Prismatic

Do not all charms fly
At the mere touch of cold philosophy?

excerpt from Lamia
John Keats, 1819

Since the days of the first natural philosophers, science seems to revel in shining harsh unforgiving light on the wonders we filled our world with. No gnomes lurk in the mines, the rainbow unravelled, love and happiness a mere presence of the right chemicals... The fantastic realm of mythology and strange tales replaced with the dusty tedium we remember from science and math classes.

Although professionally firmly rooted in hard science, in Prismatic Frederik will use creative coding to explore this universe of apparent boredom. At first sight, dull rigid math, opaque domains of abstract knowledge, and tables of data are poor raw material. Throughout he will try to show that when handled with an appropriate lack of protocol, they reveal a hidden beauty. A world of a different kind of wonder, far removed from the 19th century rational universe of steam and electricity, much closer in awe to the romantics’ spirit-filled realm.

Extreme Typography on the Web

Now is the perfect time to push typography to new extremes in weight, width, and size. Growing support for variable fonts and color fonts are broadening the range of things we can do with type, while CSS grid and viewport units are giving web designers unprecedented control over how text integrates into a layout.

This presentation examines what happens to typefaces at these extremes, when the rules of letter-drawing begin to break down. I will show some historical examples of extreme designs, but will focus on exemplary contemporary designs with extra bold, extra condensed, and extra wide variants. I will also discuss the design process of my typeface Fit, designed expressly to fill as much space as possible, as well as some of the experimental variable and color fonts I have made as part of my Font of the Month Club.

Beyond Fonts: Elevating Lettering to Art

Join Australian artist Gemma O’Brien for a step-by-step look at her process of creating lettering for large-scale murals.

From collecting inspiration to sketching by hand, colouring on the iPad Pro, and painting the final piece, Gemma will share insights and tips of how she takes her designs off the page and into a physical space.

This session is perfect for designers who want to escape the screen and try their hand at calligraphy, lettering and painting.

Gemma's video of her talk in Berlin is password protected and only available for attendees of Berlin's fifth edition.

The Abridged History Of Having Fun \\/\\/ith Keyboards

Join Marcin on a tour of 150 years of people treating QWERTY keyboards not as data entry devices or literary partners, but as… instruments of creative expression. We’ll solve a typewriter mystery, learn basics of artyping, chat with Eliza and her (its?) friends, figure out the difference between ANSI, ASCII, and PETSCII art, meet the extended family of the Emoji Sheriff – and see what can we learn about ourselves and our relationship with machines in the process.

Build Bridges, Not Walls – Design for Users Across Cultures

As Internet access expands to the far corners of the world, product makers have the chance to see their work used by millions of people worldwide.

To create products for international users, we must be aware of the full range of human diversity with respect to language, culture and other forms of human difference. If the product doesn’t adapt to users’ differences, there’s a big danger where we think our work is great, but users in other countries finds it terrible, or worse, unusable.

Join this talk to hear how Jenny designed for users in Europe, North- and South America, Asia, and Southeast Asia.