The invitation of the steirischer herbst 1998 in cooperation with museum in progress was a logical continuation in the media of the basis wien project "Signs of Trouble – International Positions in Graphic Design of the 1990s". The participants in this highly successful lecture series (10 March to 10 June 1998) were involved in the exhibition "Art and Global Media", contributing specially designed pages to the daily newspaper "Der Standard" that enabled them to present their content and design ideas to a much wider audience.
Graphic designers were the ideal people to address the general theme of "steirischer herbst 98", as they work continuously not only in the media environment but also in a complex interaction with modern art.
The participating designers presented outstanding print designs of different types and also worked with digital media, raising questions in this way about the relationship between these two media cultures.
The participants in "Signs of Trouble" were leaders in the genre. Their work had received major international prizes. Their clients included internationally renowned and successful businesses/institutions and they taught at leading universities and academies.
The nine positions represented the different fields of activity, work forms, theoretic concepts and styles in graphic art of the late 1990s.
(Peter Weibel)
