DesignTalks 2022 - Gunnar Vilhjálmsson and Kalapi Gajjar, founders of Universal Thirst
Gunnar Vilhjálmsson and Kalapi Gajjar, founders of Universal Thirst, will be speaking at DesignTalks 2022, the international conference and signature event of DesignMarch, exploring how design and architecture can help imagine and propose alternative futures and promote change.
Universal Thirst is a type foundry that specialises in fonts for Indian and Latin writing systems. It was set up in 2016 by Gunnar Vilhjálmsson and Kalapi Gajjar, and has collaborated with brands including Google, Falcon Enamelware, The Gourmand, Icelandair, Frieze Art Fair, Dhaka Art Summit, DesignMarch and Dishoom. Universal Thirst’s team of type specialists work from the studio’s headquarters in Reykjavík and Bangalore, as well as locations across Europe and India.
The foundry’s mission is to expand the design possibilities for India’s various writing systems - such as Devanagari, Bangla, Gujarati, Tamil and Kannada - through experimental typefaces, as well as functional and reliable branding and editorial fonts. Gunnar and Kalapi’s work is informed by the unique visual elements of their cultures, with the studio taking an approach that respects the conventions of individual languages and scripts, while pushing the field forward.
Universal Thirst’s work is part of a huge advance in the representation of Indian writing systems, driven by the global spread of the internet and smartphones, as well as more widely accessible design software. The studio has worked with independent design studios as well as tech giants, helping companies large and small to cater to the world’s linguistic diversity.
DesignTalks 2022 will take place in Harpa on the 4th of May and is curated by Hlin Helga Guðlaugsdóttir. This year the event will be moderated by Marcus Fairs, editor-in-chief and founder of Dezeen, connecting the conversations to a wider context, highlighting its relevance to an audience across professional fields.
The programme will be an exploration of resilient approaches, regeneration and reconnection with traditional crafts and indigenious wisdom, experiments rewiring and rethinking current systems, the design of data and information, extended realities and speculation into the future as a form of creative and critical reflection of the now.
“It will be a celebration of imagination - and a moment for deep thinking.” - curator Hlin Helga
Gunnar and Kalapi will joinBarbara, design fiction, Susanne Vos, digital fashion designer, Arnhildur Pálmadóttir, architect, Gabriela Sánchez y Sánchez de la Barquera, creative director, Aamu Song and Johan Olin, artists and designer from Company, Anders Lendager, architect, CEO and founder of Lendager Group, Liam Young, sci-fi architect and director, Giorgia Lupi, information designer and partner at Pentagram, Stefán Laxness, architectural researcher and artist and Valdís Steinarsdóttir, designer.
A full day of inspiration on May 4th and stay tuned as we will announce more speakers for DesignTalks 2022!
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