Motyf 2018 – Virtual Types: future forms of typography
Motyf is an International Symposium and Media Art Exhibition about the current and future forms of interactive and motion typography expressed through art, design, space and technology.
Dr Kenna has curated the prestigious Motyf 2018, the International Festival of Interactive & Motion Typography which features a stellar line up of internationally renowned speakers including David Small, Lisa Strausfeld and Mitch Paone. Alongside the international symposium, there were practical workshops led by a host of international speakers including Hartmut Bohnacker author of “ Generative Design” and Brian Lucid, Professor of Interactive Art at Massey University, New Zealand. Over 100 students took part in the workshops and came from Germany, Poland and Ireland and covered future facing topics such as virtual and augmented reality. The Motyf Exhibition featured over fifty works by Irish and International student designers that includes augmented reality books, typography games and boundary pushing interactive art.
This renowned biannual festival brings together students, professors, scientists and professionals from all over the world. “The international Motyf Festival is not only a platform for international exchange on future perspectives for dynamic and interactive letters, best practice examples and research. It is also about the historical review and the responsibility as a designer in dealing with current and future media technologies, as well as their impact on culture, society and politics. Motyf Co-founder ”Professor Anja Stöffler, University of Design Mainz, Germany + z zg
Typography was traditionally the expressive design of words for maximum readability (especially in long-form reading). So what forms will emerge in a post-text era of interactive social multimedia?
According to Kenna, “In the future, we may have to reconsider typography strategically and systematically within a broader ecosystem of designed reading experiences, that exist, not only on screens, but beyond, in augmented, virtual and mixed reality environments. Such new forms of typography will have the capacity to be intelligent, generative and responsive to a constant stream of audience and contextual data” (2018)
“The practice of typography continues to undergo seismic change in a technologically driven environment. But as design and media artists we have the opportunity to imagine, to speculate and invent future forms of typography. This is the creative challenge presented by Motyf 2018”, Dr. Kenna said.