Doing research for an Unzipped piece I accidentally stumbled upon 33pt. Eskapade – Contributions to Typography, the free type symposium organised by the University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Dortmund, Germany. Unfortunately I was unaware of this year's edition which took place two weekends ago, on April 3rd & 4th, 2009. According to Peter Bruhn who spoke there in 2005 it is a very nice conference, and speaker Autobahn's (Dutch) review on Fontanel corroborates this. And if you read German, Spatium – Magazin für Typografie also has a report on the symposium.

A wonderful application of the 2009 33pt. logo as an architectural anamorphosis.

Photos by The Typography Department / CSM

Eskapade – the theme of this year's edition – originates from the French word escapade, which means the fling of a horse, or ordinary kicking back of his heels; a gambol; an act by which one breaks loose from the rules of propriety or good sense; a carefree episode; a freak; a prank. With this theme in mind 33pt. showcased and explored different aspects of language, type, and typography. Although the event primarily focused on these topics, inevitably various related aspects, disciplines and interests were touched upon. Besides these typographical digressions, the symposium also dealt with issues of semiotics, scenography, motion and object design, always in relation to type and typography. The speakers included:

B und C (Barbara Hahn and Christine Zimmermann)Sven VoelkerFontStruct's Rob Meek and Frank MüllerSven EhmannMartin Majoor (type designer with FontFont)Falk HaberkornDavid CrowAutobahnJos BuivengaSiggi EggertssonPhil BainesTyperadio

The first day was concluded with a panel discussion; the second one with a party.

33pt. Eskapade was developed and organised by a project team comprised solely of students who were responsible for the concept, design and execution. The symposium is a non-profit venture, and because of its collegiate background there is no admission fee.

33pt. was announced with a very nice trailer designed by Dortmund duo Vivien Weyrauch and Fabian Röttger from A Nice Day Every Day. Luminous credits set in the popular ITC Conduit drift by on a wall with numerous extruded volumes, creating alternatively mysterious and surprising distortions of the text. The mesmerising motion graphics piece is set to the song In Your Line by experimental, danceable pop band Telepathe from Brooklyn, NYC.

33pt Invitation clip for Sven Ehmann (Die Gestalten)

In addition students produced invitation clips for six of the speakers. The best ones are for Die Gestalten's Sven Ehman, with letters created by books in a bookshelf, animated Post-It pixel typography for Barbara Hahn and Christine Zimmermann, and the beautiful poetic clip for Falk Haberkorn, drawing italic Garamond with pen and ink.

33pt Invitation clip for Barbara Hahn and Christine Zimmermann

33pt Invitation clip for Falk Haberkorn