Form and Sign – Global Communication
The 15th Ulm Symposium asks the question whether the growing digital networking, the advance of globalisation, and the fading of cultural boundaries cause the development and use of forms and signs to change.
Different worlds, different goals? Different ways and products? Different users? Internationally known experts in the fields of semiotics, psychology, and cultural, media, and communication research, practising industrial, graphic, and product designers as well as specialists in advertising, marketing, and industry will present papers and discuss these aspects in a broader context.
Different professions, backgrounds, and attitudes will facilitate a diverse approach. The interaction of a multitude of positions and the examination of their bounds is taken as a basis to discuss the major importance of global communication. The responsibility of the designing individual is gaining importance with the growing accessibility of products all over the world. The ever increasing sophistication of technical expertise, the rapid development, and the use of new media call for designers, clients, and users to reflect on the fundamental principles and the meaning of their actions. It will be the task of this year's International Design Forum Ulm to raise people's awareness for this situation and to examine it closely.
