David Carson, the star of the conference, also presented a recent music video and the video that he did with William Burroughs last year. His presentation was a series of slides taken around the world - juxtapositions, torn posters. The main theme being LOOK. That design is about seeing, about looking at the world.

Matthew Carter, the man who designed Verdana for Microsoft and a veteran speaker, showed a series of public letterings in various stages of decay that he had found in various cities while attending typographic conferences. He quoted Rudy Vanderlans' excellent comment on the tired debate between illegibility and legibility : "If u cant read it, dont worry, it wasnt meant for you anyway".

The point being the role of time in creating new forms - but more deeply, look around you for the marvels that are there. Malcolm Garret's " retrievalism ". The writer, Karrie Jacobs, in her excellent speech, pointed out that the more change speeds up the less value will be attached to " newness " .

Tibor Kalman was ill and unable to attend but sent his slides over for the presentation. Again - alert eyes noticing the wonders of our complex environment. (He has, coincidentally, done a superb installation of a Keith Haring exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art).

And from an audio perspective was the enchanting presentation by Chris Watson "Acoustic Landscapes ". Former member of Cabaret Voltaire, he now records sound for TV, primarily wildlife programs. He brings such a passion for sound, for place and for living beings to his work. A self-confessed "pagan" he tries to capture the "spirit of place" in his recordings. So finally, despite the grandiose claims for this conference, what really came over from the speakers was something much more humble but equally profound :

Look and Listen.