"Design is not decoration ­ it follows an idea. Therefore the challenge is to first have an idea and then to decide on a design which turns the combination of design and content into more than the sum of its parts."

Asta Baumöller, born in 1966, studied design at Purchase College, State University of New York, at State Academy of Art and Design Stuttgart and University of Applied Sciences Düsseldorf. From 1989 she worked in art direction at RTL; in 1995 she went to Viva, where she took over the art direction of Viva and Viva Zwei in 1996 and became creative director in 1999. In charge of creation and programme, she established Viva Italia in Milan in 2000 and also developed the design of Viva Plus in 2001. At the beginning of 2002, she took over the responsibility for the international Viva activities before becoming the sole managing director of Viva Schweiz as well as a member of the board of directors. Her competence is soughtafter in numerous juries. Besides, Asta Baumöller has received several distinctions, for example in the red dot design award and from the ADC (Germany and New York).