Hasta La Ideas

After 16 years in Berlin, the annual TYPO Design Conference is returning to London for a three-day inspirationfest and creative boot camp that kicks off on October 20. And don’t let the “typo” title fool you. Along with typography, the deliberately broad program will include aspects of visual communication, film, emerging media, design, education, technology, and information. “Our aim is for people to leave the event with strong talking points, controversies, new favorites and, most importantly, new perspectives and knowledge,” says conference director Robin Richmond. Among the speakers that will tackle this year’s theme of “places” are Neville Brody (Royal College of Art), Michael Bierut (Pentagram), Chip Kidd (Knopf), and—would you believe?—artist Lawrence Weiner. The agenda also has plenty of new faces (read: design minds to whom you haven’t already constructed elaborate shrines in your basement), such as the dynamic duo pictured at right. That’s Togbe Ngoryifia Céphas Kosi Bansah, King of Hohoe, Ghana, and designer Julian Zimmerman. King Bansah works as an automotive mechanic in Ludwigshafen, Germany, and governs his people in the African Volta region from there. As part of his undergraduate thesis, Zimmerman created a corporate identity for the king. Their joint presentation at last year’s TYPO Berlin Design Conference brought many delegates to tears and garnered standing ovations.
(Photo: Gerhard Kassner)

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