Topic:

Change and Exchange:

Preparing for the Future of Graphic Design

Brief description:

With over 40 years of experience as a graphic designer in Amsterdam and Berlin – working on visual identities in large agencies, independently, and currently as a professor at the Art Academy and co-founder of the studio Onck West – I have witnessed constant shifts in collaboration, technology, and sociocultural attitudes. From analog methods to AI tools, our field is in flux, making the future both uncertain and exciting. Whatever the circumstances, this remains the same: the importance of teamwork, exchanging ideas, methods, and experiences and a willingness to continuously adapt and change. In this one-week workshop, we explore collaborative approaches to creating a visual identity for a fictional, future-oriented socio-cultural organization that we’ll invent together on the first day. Through imagination and experimentation, we will push creative boundaries to achieve striking, unconventional results.

Biography:

Wim Westerveld was born in 1961 in the Netherlands. He studied graphic design at ArtEZ University of the Arts in Arnhem. He has worked for major design agencies such as BRS Premsela Vonk and Total Design (both based in Amsterdam). He co-founded the design studios De Blik and Fernkopie and was a partner at Neon in Amsterdam. Westerveld has taught at the HKU University of the Arts Utrecht and is currently a Professor of Typography and Visual Communication at the Weissensee Academy of Art in Berlin, Germany. He also runs Studio Onck West together with Lizzy Onck, specializing in visual identities and book design. Their work is research-driven, conceptual, and typography-focused.