Total Silence

2050. Digital world. AI dominates our lives. A sudden power outage: No internet anymore, complete darkness at night. A major task is to create a paper-based communication network for information exchange by rediscovering earlier layout techniques.

2050. We drive electric cars. Everything is digital on tablets, mobile phones, and glasses. AI dominates our thinking and our vision. For decades, only a few have warned about the necessary measures to save energy and develop renewable energies. Suddenly, everything comes to a standstill. A massive power outage. The system collapses. Enough! No internet. No credit card payments. No radio. No chilled cool drinks. Total darkness at night. A major task now is to create a paper-based communication network to exchange information. This requires rediscovering and using forgotten writing techniques, analog photography, linocuts, potato prints, colored pencil drawings and so on.

The workshop will discuss the consequences, but also the opportunities, of this crisis and develop a concept for a poster campaign on paper and flyers. There is no ‚finished‘ result – the focus is on the process. The goal is cross-curricular teamwork, exploring new ‚old‘ paths. Both, conceptually and practically. What new freedoms and creative possibilities will arise in the future. Content for the campaign will be developed and discussed in the workshop and translated into striking messages. Possible topics would include a return to traditional, analog meetings between people: discussions, readings, or concerts. or finally, an active rethink considering our lifestyle etc.

In my professional life as an artdirector at a newspaper in Berlin digital is paramount. Design and writing itself are becoming increasingly unimportant. Hence the idea of a total blackout and a return to old forms of communication, which I believe are more creative, communicative and environmentally friendly.

Schedule

Donnerstag, 11. Juni 2026:
Freitag, 12. Juni 2026: 12.30 bis 20.00 (including the opening of 100 BESTE PLAKATE at Kulturforum)

Montag, 15. Juni 2026: 11.00 bis 18.00 Uhr
Dienstag, 16. Juni 2026: 11.00 bis 18.00 Uhr

Knowledge requirements

Knowledge of InDesign or Photoshop is desirable, but not required.

An interest in 

• analog, handcrafted work, 
• visual communication, 
• developing a concept for a poster campaign, 
• typography and layout, 
• global issues such as sustainability, human interaction and crisis management

Equipment requirements

• Laptop, ideally with Adobe InDesign and Photoshop.

Depending on the technique you want to work with or try out, you can choose one or more options

• Colored pencils or other drawing materials,
• Linoleum block, carving tool, and ink
• Other printing materials such as potatoes, plants, fruits, letters, stamps, etc.,
• A good camera
• Fountain pen or other nice pens for handwriting
• Fabrics
• And anything else you want to experiment with for printing, writing, or drawing

Sabine Wilms
After graduating from high school, I completed an education as a design assistant at the Glasfachschule NRW. Following this, I started my studies Visuelle Kommunikation in 1989 at the Düsseldorf University of Applied Arts. With my diploma, I began a supplementary course of study as well in ‘Visuelle Kommunikation’ at the Wuppertal University in 1995, which I completed in 2000 with a university diploma under Bazon Brock and Uwe Loesch.

From 1997 to 2004, I worked in Düsseldorf for Fons Hickmann (Professor of Graphic Design at the Berlin University of the Arts), where I managed the office for three years, from 2001 to 2004. Two years, I was part of the art direction team at the Handelsblatt newspaper, including a relaunch. I always had my own projects, which I worked on individually or in small teams. In 2006, I left the Handelsblatt for the Tagesspiegel newspaper in Berlin, where I subsequently worked as an art director until today.

From 1996 to 2001, I taught typography at two private design colleges in Düsseldorf and Cologne, and from 2001 to 2006, I held a lectureship in typography at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen. From 2018 to 2023, I taught a weekly graphic design class  at the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK Berlin) in the fashion and product design department, as part of the team of the now-emeritus Professor Jozef Legrand (Department of Art & Design). In the winter semester of 2024/25,I became a lecturer in the Studium Generale program for the first time.