SpiekermannPartners › Press release: From a bookmark to the new Birkhäuser brand mark

From a bookmark to the new Birkhäuser brand mark

Berlin, May 7th 2007 — Last year Birkhäuser, the renowned scientific and textbook publishers, commissioned design and branding agency SpiekermannPartners to develop a new corporate design concept. The remit was to come up with a clear and unified image for the Swiss publishers which would reinforce their brand profile. In recent years the varying logos, typefaces and colour schemes in use across the range of books had led to an undefined and blurry brand image. With Ralf Weissmantel in charge, SpiekermannPartners have transformed the entire corporate design concept, from the definition of its typography and illustration style to the colour coding of its different scientific subject ranges. A new layout system for book covers and inner pages has been incorporated, which manages to radiate creative individuality while maintaining brand similarities.

The idea for the new brand image was developed from the product itself; the ribbon used as a bookmark takes the form of a red stripe running top to bottom with white Birkhäuser text. “The new logo serves to unify Birkhäuser’s brand profile”, explains Ralf Weissmantel. “It appears clear and functional because it is typographic. In keeping with being Swiss, it is entirely in red and white. As it comes from the product itself, it’s authentic. It’s conspicuous but not pushy and therefore elegant, respectable and timeless.”

SpiekermannPartners is the design and branding agency run by Erik Spiekermann, Fabian Rottke, Ralf Weissmantel, Susanna Dulkinys and Marianne Schuler. The international design agency with offices in Berlin, London and San Francisco works for clients such as Bosch, Birkhäuser, Die Bahn, Gravis, Lufthansa, n-tv, Nokia, Messe Frankfurt, Pioneer Investments, RWE and ZDF on their corporate design systems, newspaper layouts and exclusive typefaces.

Erik Spiekermann is a designer and typographer, honorary professor at the HfK in Bremen, honorary doctor at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena (USA) as well as committee member of international design institutions. In 2004 he was given the Gerrit-Noordzij award of the Royal Academy of The Hague. DB Type, the type family he developed for Deutsche Bahn was recently distinguished with the design award of the Federal Republic of Germany for 2006.

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Achim Klapp, Presse- und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit | SpiekermannPartners
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