Whether it’s the International Women’s Day or World Health Day, whether it’s World Book Day, International Kissing Day, World Chocolate Day or International Lost Sock Day – the year is full of awareness days dedicated to various causes. Sometimes they are funny, sometimes very serious; sometimes they’re about living beings, sometimes about things or events. How can you keep track of all these dates?

With a well thought-out design concept! Patterns running vertically down the page margins can be found throughout the entire gift book, and they are not just pretty to look at: Thanks to an ingenious form and colour coding, the design provides information about the genre to which an International Day belongs and which characteristics and emotions define it. This results in a unique pattern for every occasion, reflecting the diversity of International Days – they are a mosaic of life.

METER Group, Inc., created by the merger of Decagon and UMS, stands for simplicity and precision. The company combines science, technology and design. METER provides highly reliable measurements that are relevant to food quality, environmental research, industry, agriculture and others.

The tailor-made communication concept brings together the essential features of Decagon and UMS: simplicity and precision. The simple and filigree monogram and the logically derived patterns, based on the binary code, give METER a striking face in both digital and printed media.

Print works perfectly for presenting role models. That’s why the Deutsche Stiftung für Engagement und Ehrenamt, a foundation supporting community service and volunteerism,  decided to publish a supplement for Sueddeutsche Zeitung to provide information and encourage people to get involved.

The creative framework of this magazine is a strikingly reduced and graphic design: the visuals and typography are restrained, putting the people and concerns of the magazine in the center of attention – where they actually are far too rarely, despite their social importance. The colors chosen underscore the warm, human mood of the magazine, while Jochen Schievink’s illustrations make the topic vivid in a charming way. They pick up on the typographic style of the editorial design, which in this editorial work becomes a stage: for people who are committed.   

More than almost any other business area, purchasing is facing immense challenges: Covid-19 and other factors have created bottlenecks and caused prices to rise, while sustainability and human rights are gaining attention along the entire supply chain. Against this background, the consultancy H&Z together with the University of St. Gallen founded the Procurement Initiative: a think tank that develops innovative concepts for the future of procurement based on in-depth expertise.

To emphasize this mission, a corporate identity was developed that gets to the point of the issue both visually and in terms of content: a circle and a vertical block serve as essential design elements that, when overlapping, stand for the brand name while at the same time alluding to various meanings. The use of complementary colors, which enhance each other’s effect, adds further depth to the design’s content and gives rise to a striking and contemporary visual brand – which in this case will be used on business stationery, the website and social media.

Two of Stuttgart’s most important musical institutions are jointly creating an authority for the future: In order to promote young orchestral talent, the State University of Music and the Performing Arts and the Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra have founded the Stirling Phil Academy – supported by the Reinhold Otto Mayer Foundation.

The design concept for the new academy is based on a graphic language that integrates all participants and yet represents something unique and new. The basic element is the circular shape, which can be found in each of the three partners’ design details. Out of this shape three letters emerge, forming  the academy’s signet and having a strong impact both individually and as a triad. Instead of one, two fonts were chosen, each interpreting the corporate identity of one of the partner institutions – sometimes with, sometimes without serifs. The color concept also combines the existing with the new. It relies on the yellow of the university building, the blue of the Philharmonic Orchestra and the color resulting from this combination: green. In its extension, the color concept plays with the connections between sound and color determined by frequency. As a result, colors can be assigned to certain keys – for example, on concert posters.    

Human Advisory is a consulting firm focusing on the structuring and recruitment of top-level management positions.

In keeping with the consultancy’s identity, the corporate design concept is reduced to the essentials: The CI is centered around an arch created by merging the initials of the company. The result is a striking signet that symbolizes the mediating, connecting character of Human Advisory, while blending unobtrusively and elegantly into the newly created design world. The signet’s elements H and A are given individual attention by the choice of color – as well as by strategically placing them in the folds of the letter and the envelope. Using LL Riforma from the renowned Swiss type foundry Lineto, the corporate design is based on a typeface that in a way reflects the sender. After all, “reform” is an important part of Human Advisory’s work – the systematic transformation of existing conditions.

Featuring some 50 personal recipes and stories from a wide variety of people, from cowherds to star chefs, this cookbook shows Africa as it is – and as it eats. For one year, travel and food photographer Maria Schiffer spent time cooking her way through ten African countries.

The book’s design concept takes up the colourful diversity of countries, recipes and people by assigning a different main colour to each of the ten chapters. Strengthening the book’s mission to show the “real Africa”, warm, cheerful colours were chosen that in the author’s opinion reflect the character of the respective country. Strong, striking graphics form a unity with the expressive pictures.

The carefully curated portfolio offered by this online boutique for high-quality natural cosmetics focuses on brands that take responsibility for animal-free, environmentally friendly and sustainable production and the development of innovative and effective natural cosmetics.

The new company’s corporate image was developed by using the elements “beauty” – the basic motif of the beauty industry – and “love” – for the environment and for yourself. The logo is based on the double B of the brand name and, depending on the viewing angle, it takes the form of hearts, leafs or lips. Because it can be mirrored in the middle and the two parts of the name are the same length, it takes up the aspect of symmetry as the foundation of attractiveness.

The “Factory of the Year” is one of the most renowned and traditional industrial awards in Europe. At the congress of the same name in March 2020, the winners of the benchmark competition will be honoured. SV Events organises the congress together with Kearney and the trade journal Produktion. Being in its 28th year already, the “Factory of the Year” was in need of a new corporate identity.

The concept for this comprises the (digital) platform and the congress and it focuses on a laid “F”: In this position, the initial takes up the typical shape of a factory with two towers or chimneys. At the same time, the “skipped pixel” alludes to the digital transformation (industry 4.0) that is currently taking place everywhere in this sector.

This book by Kearney and SZ Scala introduces people who are courageous and encourage others because they are regarded as role models in their industry – be it the former Thyssen-Krupp CEO or the managing director of outdoor supplier Vaude.

Their common characteristics – courage and passion – form the basis for the design and communication concept of this book: Before you can flip through it, you first have to tear open the cover. As fear and courage are mutually dependent, both the courage colour magenta and its counterpart green, which stands for fear, play an important role. On the one hand, they characterise outstanding quotations. On the other hand, they can be found in the infographics, which are radically reduced to the essentials – as well as between the chapters: As separators, double pages of manually-sprayed graffiti stand symbolically for an urban form of courageous expression of opinion.

Munira Abdulrahman specialises in image processing and pre-press. You might also say: she provides the finishing touches to creative work and puts the crown on beautiful results. This view of Munira’s work sets the foundation for a clear and friendly design. The concept presents Munira’s initials M and A as geometric shapes in red and purple before merging them to form not only a monogram but also a crown.

Just like the crown, which is shaped by clear lines, the font also underlines Munira’s working method characterized by utmost care: The typeface is called Akkurat (accurate).

In a three-part book series, the magazine of the Süddeutsche Zeitung wanted to bundle its best stories dealing with family and love as well as the most interesting interviews with exciting personalities. Not an easy task in terms of design, considering that the contributions comes from dozens of issues of the SZ Magazin, each with a different look.

That’s why the design concept for the three books began with a stringent grid system: It forms the uniform framework thanks to which the texts of the many different magazine stories fit harmoniously into the medium of the book.

Bassoon concerts are Professor Marc Engelhardt’s specialty and passion. He plays in major concert halls around the world and has been teaching at the Stuttgart Musikhochschule for many years. Alluding to his world of fine tones, the design concept creates a classical, unobtrusive corporate identity for him.

The basic idea takes up two small but elementary details of Marc’s life: the bocal – a vital part of every bassoon – and the ligature, which in German stands for connection in both music and typography. In one world it’s the tie between two notes, in the other world the joining of two letters. Marc’s new design forms ligatures between different letters with the bocal’s typical s-shape. Using Heldane, a font rich in ligatures, the typeface resembles musical notation and scores. The colour blue underlines the classic approach and – being Marc’s favourite colour – forms a connection to his personality.

What is the best way to enjoy good wine? Together with other people! This is how the name of the Munich wine bar z’wein was born: it’s a mixed word combining the German words “z’sammen” (together) and “Wein” (wine).

The design concept follows the same principle to provide the bar with a striking logo and corporate identity: Forming the visual counterpart to the play on words, The Z of “z’sammen” is merged with a wine glass. This results in a pattern reminiscent of corkscrews. Overall, the design is strong and expressive, resisting the obvious temptation of a typical wine baroque style.

In his unmistakably poetic way, Prelate Helmuth Schuler has inspired countless churchgoers. With the same unique attitude, the “Jesus Manager” traces the stages of his life and his experience with the Church.

The design concept for this biography focuses on Helmuth Schuler’s exciting life story, deliberately keeping the design simple and setting highlights that relate to the content: The choice of colour corresponds to the prelate’s gown and cingulum, the pink book edge symbolizes the sash of the liturgical vestment. The texts are written in the font “Haarlemmer”, which was used for a new edition of the Bible in Schuler’s year of birth. The book is illustrated by original photographs that are shown chronologically and unedited. Ranging from black and white to the typical chromaticity of various decades, the images create an authentic visual impression of Helmuth Schuler’s life.