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| Berlin Art Directors Club | |
|---|---|
| Name | Berlin Art Directors Club |
| Formation | 1990s |
| Headquarters | Berlin |
| Region | Germany |
| Type | Nonprofit |
Berlin Art Directors Club
The Berlin Art Directors Club is an association of creative professionals based in Berlin, associated with advertising, design, and visual communication. Founded amid the post-reunification cultural surge, the Club links practitioners from Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt am Main and international centers such as London, New York City, Paris, Tokyo and Los Angeles. It engages with institutions like the Deutsches Historisches Museum, Bauhaus Archive, Akademie der Künste, Goethe-Institut and commercial entities including DDB (advertising agency), Jung von Matt, Scholz & Friends and Serviceplan.
The Club emerged in the 1990s against a backdrop of events such as the German reunification, the cultural renaissance in Prenzlauer Berg, and festivals like the Berlin International Film Festival and Transmediale. Early influences included movements associated with Bauhaus, Dada, Fluxus, Neue Slowenische Kunst and designers active in Weimar Republic era advertising. Founding figures drew inspiration from organizations such as the Art Directors Club of New York, the Art Directors Club (UK), the Society of Typographic Arts and continental precedents like Alliance Graphique Internationale. The Club collaborated with venues such as the Haus der Kulturen der Welt, KW Institute for Contemporary Art and the Hamburger Bahnhof, and engaged with exhibitions referencing works by László Moholy-Nagy, Paul Rand, Saul Bass and Milton Glaser.
Membership comprises art directors, creative directors, graphic designers, copywriters, photographers and digital artists affiliated with agencies like Ogilvy, BBDO, Publicis Groupe, Grey Group and independent studios connected to universities such as the University of the Arts Berlin, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Hochschule für Gestaltung Schwäbisch Gmünd and FH Potsdam. The Club’s governance model resembles structures used by the Royal Society of Arts, the American Institute of Graphic Arts, and the German Designers Association (AGD), featuring a board, advisory committees and juries often chaired by figures associated with Süddeutsche Zeitung design editors, curators from the Städel Museum and professors from Berlin University of the Arts. International liaison occurs with bodies like the European Advertising Conference and the Clio Awards committees.
Programming includes exhibitions, panel discussions, workshops and networking salons held near cultural hubs such as Alexanderplatz, Potsdamer Platz and Kreuzberg. Events engage speakers from institutions like the Museum of Modern Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Centre Pompidou, and agencies including TBWA\\Chiat\\Day and McCann Erickson. The Club has staged retrospectives on practitioners such as Wolfgang Weingart, Erik Spiekermann, Stefan Sagmeister, Jonathan Ive, Paula Scher and Massimo Vignelli, and hosted masterclasses referencing projects like Helvetica (film), Objectified, The Century of the Self and exhibitions relating to Picasso, Kandinsky and Joseph Beuys. Collaborations extend to festivals including Reeperbahn Festival, Berlin Biennale, Designmai and Lichtinstallation projects during Gallery Weekend Berlin.
The Club administers juried competitions modeled on the D&AD Awards, Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Eurobest, One Show and the ADC Awards. Categories cover advertising, branding, illustration, photography, motion design and UX/UI, attracting entries from studios like Pentagram, MetaDesign, Frog Design, IDEO and independent practices exemplified by KMS Team and Peter Schmidt Group. Jurors have included creatives linked to publications such as Monocle, Wallpaper*, Die Zeit and Neue Zürcher Zeitung, and prize ceremonies have been hosted at venues including the Haus der Kulturen der Welt and Tempodrom.
The Club influenced commercial aesthetics across Germany and Europe, informing campaigns for brands such as Deutsche Bahn, Audi, BMW, Siemens, Adidas, Puma, Mercedes-Benz, Telekom (Deutsche Telekom), Nivea and Lufthansa. Its dialogues with cultural institutions affected curatorial practice at the Deutsches Historisches Museum and programming at the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Alumni and award-winners have progressed to roles at agencies like Wieden+Kennedy, Leo Burnett and VMLY&R and to academia at schools like Rhode Island School of Design, Royal College of Art and Parsons School of Design, contributing to scholarship alongside journals such as Eye (journal), Design Issues and Communication Arts. The Club’s archives intersect with collections at the German National Library, the Museum of Applied Arts Cologne and private archives connected to Herbert Bayer.
Notable figures associated through membership, juries or events include Erik Spiekermann, Stefan Sagmeister, Paula Scher, Massimo Vignelli, Wolfgang Weingart, Otl Aicher, Herbert Bayer, Kurt Weidemann, David Carson, Neville Brody, Milton Glaser, Saul Bass, Paul Rand, Jonathan Ive, Jony Ive , Jan Tschichold, Lutz Hachmeister, Anselm Reyle, Thomas Demand, Andreas Gursky, Hito Steyerl, Ai Weiwei, Olafur Eliasson, Gerhard Richter, Anselm Kiefer, Wolf Vostell, Joseph Beuys, Christoph Niemann, Alex Trochut, Tobias Frere-Jones, Matthew Carter, Ellen Lupton, Michael Bierut, Jessica Walsh, Chip Kidd, Stefan Sagmeister, Jeremy Leslie, Rick Poynor, Lucille Tenazas, Alan Fletcher, Pauline van Dongen, Jasper Morrison, Hella Jongerius, Michael Young, Patricia Urquiola, Karim Rashid, Ruben Toledo, Irma Boom, Jan van Toorn].
Category:Organisations based in Berlin