red dot: grand prix: "The Humanities. The ABC of Humankind." by Scholz & Friends Identify, Berlin

Science thrives on and flourishes through exchange. The German Year of Science 2007 focused on the humanities; its central motto was: “The Humanities. The ABC of Humankind.” The primary aim was to communicate the notion that the humanities are not defined by their immediate social utility, but that they contribute to many current debates by providing background knowledge, knowledge that not only turns culture and cultures into an experience, but also offers a link between past, present and future.

In the installation documented here, individual, oversized letters of the alphabet adopt the role of a “mode of transport” for these key theses. Gigantic letters were attached to highly symbolic locations, together with the humanistic background of which they transformed into ambassadors of the Year of Science 2007. One interesting aspect was that viewers could only read the letter from a particular vantage point. Thus the letters become quasi mediators between architecture and design, bringing the abstract topic of “humanities” visibly into public spaces.



Wolf Schneider on “Dimension and identification”:
Corporate design has not developed correctly throughout Europe. Those who conceptualise brands in only two dimensions waste effect and identity. The corporate design of the 21st century is multi-dimensional. Brands, companies and institutions will create and characterise urban, cultural and social spaces with their multi-dimensional corporate design – they will become lastingly identifiable in the increasing communication deluge via emotions, memories and feelings in the hearts and minds of the target groups. Thus an invisible image has been made visible as well as tangible for the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research: the image of the humanities in Germany.


Besides their head offices in Berlin and Hamburg, Scholz & Friends Identify is represented by more than 1,000 friends in 20 locations throughout Europe and regarded as one of the leading creative agencies internationally. The self-proclaimed objective of the company, which was founded in 1981, is to identify with the brands in all their dimensions of connection and encounter and to realise these with the tools of design and communication and their knowledge about perception. Currently Scholz & Friends have more than 250 clients worldwide including Daimler, Tchibo, Deutsche Bank, the German Federal Government, the state of Baden-Württemberg and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper.

Wolf Schneider, born in Kassel in 1970, gained his early professional experience working as a designer and architect. By 1992, he was in charge of the interior design and design department at Baumheier, Schuck & Partner, where he became managing partner in 1996. As creative director he worked on the World Exhibition EXPO 2000, before he joined the multimedia agency Pixelpark AG in Berlin, where he became managing director shortly after. Since 2002, Wolf Schneider has been managing director supervising the creative performance of the design agency Scholz & Friends Identify, and since 2006 he has also been managing director of Scholz & Friends Berlin. His works have received several awards in different competitions including the ADC, D&AD, red dot design award, iF design award, Clio and the New York Festivals, and most recently he won a Cannes Design Lion.