People say: ‘Show the latest projects in your portfolio; there’s an archive for the older ones.’ I don’t think that’s true. I’m convinced that your showcased work should instead focus on your skills, your way of thinking, and your general approach to projects. Here is my selection:

First: Glasplasma – an exhibition catalogue
Every exhibition catalogue is a small piece of art in itself. Yet it should not become a means of personal expression by the designer, but rather, in a sense, complement the artist’s works.

The artist’s ‘Glasplasma’ series comprises oil paintings on canvas in various sizes, as well as graphic works on paper. The work explores mortality and the tradition of grave goods.

The middle of the book block is the heart of the catalogue. Here you will find an overview of all the pieces, information about the artist, and an introduction by an art critic. The catalogue has two titles, so it can be leafed through from both sides, allowing the reader to start either with the oil paintings or with the graphic works. At the ‘end’, everything converges together, coming full circle.

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Second: campus Spiegel – a health education magazine
The magazine’s design was part of a major rebranding project for a brand consisting of a Germany-wide academy for holistic health education, a coaching division, and a knowledge and research division.

The biggest challenge was the fact that the company had manoeuvred itself into an esoteric niche. This conflicted with the therapeutic and scientifically based approach of the academy and the other divisions.

Even after the rebranding project was finished, I remained responsible, alongside other tasks, for the magazine's design and production for several years. Campus Spiegel was published twice a year with a print run of 50,000 copies and was available exclusively by subscription. Following the magazine’s redesign and visual reorientation, subscription sign-ups quickly skyrocketed, and the original print run was suddenly insufficient.

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Third: VENI VIDI CEPI* – a book (*I came, I saw, and I took)
This book is an encyclopaedia of the principles of collecting, my degree thesis, and a collection in itself.

It is based on a theoretical, philosophical text and an empirical interview study that I conducted with several collectors. Throughout my studies, I had already been exploring ways of combining design projects with social science approaches. For example, after my undergraduate studies, I conducted a small field study at the Federal Statistical Office, as part of a project called ‘The Aesthetics of Bureaucracy’.

Content-wise, the book is organised into three strands: fundamental philosophical categories, additional digressions, and real-life examples from collectors. Visually, the book presents the material in a mix of text, photo essays, illustrative still-life photos, and infographics. (All created by me).

Only three copies of the book were printed. One of these is part of the university’s collection, aka the thesis archive. Thus, my book is a very rare collector’s item.