• Preview of FUSE 07

By Ania Dardas

Hold on to your hats, the annual FUSE experience is here. New York City welcomes the design world to FUSE 2008 from April 13 to 16 at Pier 60. As is only appropriate for a New York City conference, this is where you can find out about EVERYTHING to do with design and culture, brand identity & packaging. You can do it while listening to a keynote speaker like Malcolm Gladwell, whose far-ranging mind produced classics like The Tipping Point and Blink, or the celebrated designer Milton Glaser, or the editor of TIME Style & Design, Kate Betts.

You can attend parallel sessions on design, strategy or trends, where experts and leaders in their respective fields will provide valuable insights: Bryan Thompson, car designer for Nissan, talks about how imagination enables ordinary design to turn into extraordinary design, while Jim Daniels of Trojan can help you connect with consumers at multiple levels.

There are three days of inspiring lectures to be had. And if you absorb your information best on the move, then you need to sign up for the ethnographic tours of NYC. Kathleen Carroll from the Branding Clinic will show you how to use the streets to spot insights to grow your business while Tobias Frere-Jones from Hoefler & Frere-Jones will help your discover typographic treasures to spur your creative thinking.

It would be impossible to bring so many creative spirits together without an accompanying extravaganza and Fuerzabruta on Monday night promises to be just that. This event is calculated to make even the most sophisticated jaw drop as the world of dreams and extraordinary acrobatic dexterity and virtuosity take over. This is the opportunity to network with your peers and be inspired.