Before I start, don't get your hopes up for a play-by-play recap of the entire conference– there are other blogs for that* ( Core77, UnBeige, BADG to TEH FUTUR) . Sorry, but next time you should just go.

Now that we have that clear I can say this: I HAVE SEE THE FUTURE and it's 3D internet. I'm serious, just wait. Also expect to see in the near future (i.e. next) a graphic design TV show, designers studying biology and no more typographic historic revivals. Before you close the window, let me explain: 3D internet was hinted at by Blaise Agüera y Arcas of Microsoft Live Labs as he revealed two innovative technologies (Seadragon and Photosynth); Michael Beirut hosted the live graphic design show Command X, which was a huge success and proved that Beirut is a thousand times better at hosting than Heidi Klum; Janine Benyus, author of Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature, explained how biomimicry– the process of finding sustainable ideas by echoing nature– will literally reshape the commercial design world; the men of typography.com, Jonathan Hoefler and Tobias Frere-Jones, gave a brilliant presentation on the obsoleteness of historic type revivals, and shared two new families with us that are hybrids of styles. These are just four examples of what is "next". The conference was jam packed with freshness and gems of inspiration providing never a dull moment.

All this talk about "what's next" has also got me thinking. As a collective whole, graphic designers have an exciting future. We are people who always look ahead, we embrace change as a good thing, and we love to share our solutions with the hope of further progression. Attending conferences are just one way to learn how to be a better designer– we as designers have much to learn from each other– but we also must be able to learn from other unlikely sources. Whether from Mother Nature or Mr. CEO, the next wave of progress is not found in a vacuum, but rather by outside our job descriptions. We are businessmen. We are copywriters. We are scientists. We are environmentalists. We are social workers. We are DJs. We are not boring.

* I encourage you to read these blogs that do a far better job of recapping the conference.

Thanks for the post.

i have seen the future of design too — and it is SQUIGGLES.