Bureau Mitte typographic posters for Deutscher Werkbund have substance

Bureau Mitte, the multi-disciplinary design and craft studio which was established in 2011 by the graphic designers Anna Ranches and Helene Uhl and now provides strategy, identity and design solutions for commercial and cultural clients has grown and surrounded itself with a large network of partners.

For their unconventional approach to design, their unusual business concept and their general support of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main region and the creative scene, Bureau Mitte was invited to become a member of the prestigious 'Deutscher Werkbund' (German Association of Craftsmen) in 2016. To celebrate and represent this interdisciplinary association, the Frankfurt design agency has developed two poster series which each feature three separate motifs.

“Through content and the chosen design, two key terms from the mission statement of the Deutscher Werkbund are set in dialogue with each another” notes BM. “The »work« (»Werk«) is considered in relation to »value« (»Wert«), »education« (»Bildung«) in relation to »attitude« (»Haltung«) and »format« in relation to the term »design«. All these aspects stand for the substantive work done by the Deutscher Werkbund”.

“The chosen design has a typographical focus and places the words themselves in the foreground, against a strongly saturated background” adds the design studio. “Series 1 converts the terms set at the top of the design into the terms set at the bottom via a multi-phasic process of transformation. Series 2 works with a contrasting display of the terms – which are featured across the letters shown in areal and in outlines”. The Deutscher Werkbund (German Association of Craftsmen) is a German association of artists, architects, designers, and industrialists, established in 1907.

The Werkbund became an important element in the development of modern architecture and industrial design, particularly in the later creation of the Bauhaus school of design. Its initial purpose was to establish a partnership of product manufacturers with design professionals to improve the competitiveness of German companies in global markets. The Werkbund was less an artistic movement than a state-sponsored effort to integrate traditional crafts and industrial mass production techniques, to put Germany on a competitive footing with England and the United States.

Its motto Vom Sofakissen zum Städtebau (from sofa cushions to city-building) indicates its range of interest.

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