20FIRST | Helder Suffenplan

The Berlin-based studio 20FIRST  received the red dot: grand prix for the art book "Ralf Ziervogel – Every Adidas Got Its Story".

The Berlin-based studio 20FIRST was founded by Helder Suffenplan in 2006, specialising in strategic and creative solutions in the fields of fashion/luxury goods, art/art trade and the publishing sector. Its spectrum of work ranges from singular services, for example the art direction of a fashion photo spread, to comprehensive brand concept and their implementation. Helder Suffenplan started out studying art history in his home town of Cologne and then, via a detour into interior architecture, changed to communication design at Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences, where he graduated in 2001 under Prof. Andreas Uebele. Since 2004 he has been living and working in Berlin. 20FIRST won several accolades, among others, at the iF design award and the European Design Awards. Furthermore, it was nominated for the Design Award of the Federal Republic of Germany. Alongside working as a designer and consultant, Helder Suffenplan is also an author.

Helder Suffenplan on “Precision and consistency”:
For me, outstanding results are not even thinkable without precision and consistency. It is a misunderstanding that these terms would stand in opposition to creative freedom and spontaneity. Although the creative process relies on chaos and chance, it is through precision in thinking and consistency in implementation that a true solution can evolve. If it were otherwise, even the best ideas would remain unrealised. This was particularly the case in my work with artist Ralf Ziervogel: here the areas of art and design had to remain clearly separated. And the brilliant craftsmanship of such an artist could only be matched by a perfectly consistent concept and absolutely precise production.