Ot l Aiche Aicherr - Tow owa ards Cor orpo porat rate e Cul Cultt ure
Otl Aicher - Towards Corporate Culture
Contents
Martin Ebert
Design Policy ID 515 Professor John Heskett
Institute of Design Illinois Institute of Technology Spring 1997
Introduction
3
Otl Aicher
7
Corporate Vision and Corporate Image
9
FSB
11
Initiating Change
13
Concept Development
15
New Image
17
Design Strategy
19
Comparing Companies
21
Lufthansa
23
ERCO
25
FSB
27
Policy Development
29
Two Framewor ks
31
Bibliography
33
The designer’s role in a corporation is generally limited to giving form to the final product. Only in rare occasions, he or she steps out and broadens the spectrum of w ork into t he field of policy or corporate development. This essay focuses on the work of Otl Aicher and the diff ferent roles he took in t he policy develop- ment process in three different German compa- nies. Particular attention is being paid to his most mature work for the doorhandle company FSB. In the FSB case study, the whole process of inter- action between the company and the designer and the actual design policy is analyzed in detail. In the conclusion, different approaches to identity development are compared and discussed and future possibilities of the involvement for designers are explored.
Otl Aicher
Otl Aicher was born in 1922 in Ulm. He studied sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich from 1946 to 47. After quitting art school, he immediately started his own graphic design practice in Ulm. Together wit h his wif e Inge Scholl, he f ounded the “ Hochschule fuer Gestaltung” in Ulm intended as a school for education in democratic behavior it turned into one of the most progressive design schools in the world u ntil it s closure in 1968. Aicher taught visual communication at the HFG from 1954 t o 1967, w as a member of it s board of directors from 1956 to 1959 and director from 1962 to 1964. A discussion of Aicher’s work will only be full y understandable, if one considers his experience in Nazi Germany. Still a young man in his late teens and early twenties, he was already part of an int ellectual elite outside the rest of Germany’s conformist academic circles. On the edge of legality, they exchanged notes and writings by authors not approved by the fascist authorities. They visited each other, held reading sessions and developed a strong underground network. Aicher was close friends wit h t he later executed Hans and Sophie Scholl, brother and sister of his wife and founders of the illegal student anti-fascist movement “ Die Weisse Rose” (The Whit e Rose). Both, trying to come to terms with Germany’s terrible national past and developing a cultural and spiritual foundation for a new d emocratic society remained strong d riving forces in his life and work. All his policy proposals emphasize the social and cultural responsibility of a corporation and a designer. It appeared important t o him t o educate a company and its employees as well as a public audience about values associated with manufacturing, technology and being part of a democratic society.
In addition to reforming the education of designers, transforming organizations from anonymous capitalistic corporations int o culturally and socially responsible partners in a democratic community is his contribution to Germany’s postwar history. Besides the work being described in this essay, he was involved in transforming the corporate image of many other corporations, several banks and public institut ions such as the information system of the airport in Frankfurt. From 1967 to 1 972, he w as the design consultant for the visual identity of the XX. Olympic games in Munich. He published several books on a large variety of topics. Along with the corporate image program for Lufthansa, he published a photo book showing birds eye views on German landscapes. He researched topics such as cooking or automotive transportation. One of his most remarkable publications is a poetic documentation of several of his expeditions through th e Sahara - “Gehen in der Wueste” (Walking in the Desert). Aicher designed several typefaces. Most noteworthy are “Traffic” and “ Rotis” . Traffic was originally designed in 1969 and reedited in 1979. It is a typeface for headlines. It i s used as the o fficial typeface of the M unich Transportation System. Rotis has its name from the place were he had his atelier from 1974 to 1991. The typeface Rotis consists out of two serif faces and tw o grot esque faces. Rotis integrates four different typefacesinto one family. Traffic became the t ypeface for all h eadlines for FSB and Rotis is now the official typeface for ERCO. Aicher died in 1991 in a traffic accident.
Corporate Vision and Corporate Image
In several instances, German companies had been on the leading edge in developing corporate policies. Most prominent is the example of AEG Allgemeine Electricitaets Gesellschaft. The architect Peter Behrens developed an integral policy for AEG between 1907 and 1914, including architecture, design of the actual products, the company logo and the overall company visual appearance in magazines and on advertising. After World War II, there was no real need for companies to develop a corporate policy. Rivalry among companies and the variety of available products was low. Consumer buying decisions were based on need rather t han on cultural or social values. Despite t his in 195 4, th e consumer electronics company Braun w as the first company to develop an integrated corporate policy program based on the model of AEG. It was Aicher’sfirst task to integrate all o f th e company’s visual appearance elements. “ This entailed defining the individual elements of the product such as colors, operating instructions, labelling and markings, and the positioning and appearance of the company logo. Apart from that, the work involved determining typefaces and colors, and how they were to be employed; the typographical guidelines, the design of printed items and the definition of pictorial information. There were also exhibitions and exhibition systems, show w indows, and media and public relations.” The proposed solutions arose from a close cooperation betw een Braun and t he Hochschule fuer Gestaltung in Ulm. The product designer Hans Gugelot developed concepts for new products and Aicher thought up the new visual identity for the company. Braun’scorporate policy was not developed out of a strong commercial need. It rather was an attempt to manif est a company’ssocial and cultural role. The found solution remains almost unchanged today and is considered a classic. Companies like Braun remained to be an exception and things did not change until competition intensified. Market saturation in t he sixties
brought a change to the situation. Companies had to differentiate themselves. It became necessary to present a clear image to the out side that was consistent wit h internal values. “ Companies had to be un mistakable.” Three terms are used throug hout t he document: “ design policy” , “ corporate vision” and “ corporate image” . “ Design policy” means the integration of all issues related to design. A design policy’s rules govern the use of design in the development of corporate culture, product design and the company’s public appearance. Aicher defines the two t erms “corporate vision” and “ corporate image” in hi s essay “Corporate Image”. “ Corporate vision is the image of oneself as one wishes oneself to look. The corporate image is the visible form of the corporate vision, its concretization in gestures, demeanor, postures, profiles, lines, styles; in colors and figures, in actions and p erformances, in products and objects.” Aicher does not separate an inner values system from an o uter appearance as Aristotele did, Aicher says: “ Unlike Aristotele, who diff erentiated between things involving substance, actuality and the accidental, between the incidental and external appearances, we must apprehend the external as an image of the in ner being.” For Aicher, design is the physical manifestation of inner values. “ Design is t he company philosophy expressed in a concrete manner, w ith thinking taking on f orm. It presents the company, not as capital, property or labor, but rather, in it s products or services... Design bring s the technical and economic philo sophy of a company into the picture, and the company’s image becomes at the same time its character, determining its mentality.” A distinct corporate vision and image not only let a company gain clarity of thought, according to Aicher it is also highly effective in economic and marketing terms. He continues: “ A distinctive corporate image offers the advantage of being highly effective externally without the need of resorting to verbal self praise.”
FSB
FSB - Franz Schneider Brakel is a small family owned company with about 700 employees, man- ufacturing doorhandles and fixtures.
The company is strongly committed to the use of design as a strat egic for ce in t heir business.
FSB was founded in 1881. Production facilities are in Brakel, Westphalen, a small town in the middle of Germany. Initially, the company produced furniture fixtures in various alternations of a neo-historic style. In 1909, t he company introduced the logo “ FSB”. The company remained small for about 60 years and almost went out of business during World War II. The reconstruction of the destroyed postwar Germany turned out to be a big push for the com- pany’s business. At that time, the company changed course and focused on the production of doorhandles.
Initiating Change
In the early 1980s, the German construction business was in its deepest crisis since World War II, and FSB, a company strongly depending on this market, had to struggle hard. According to the company’s CEO Juergen W. Braun, the fact that the company survived with considerably little blessings was due to a well organized catalogue. “ The little Blue”, as it was called, was a very compact catalogue, showing all the company’s products. It was easy to use and it was easy to place an order f rom it. No other doorhandle company in Germany had something similar. By the mid eight ies, Juergen W. Braun tho ught that he had to replace the old catalogue with a new updat ed and redesigned version.
In November 84 aft er Maack had established a connection, Braun went to see Aicher at his home and studio in Rotis. Braun was well prepared for t he meeting, he had researched Aicher’s background and compiled a three hour presentation. On that day, Aicher refused to w ork wit h FSB. He argued that Braun and wit h him FSB, did not have a clear vision of their own business and goals. Simply redesigning a catalogue was not Aicher’s business. Aicher replied to Braun: “ You don’t know what you want. You think you can solve your problems with a new look. But I am not in the business of dressing up companies. You may come back when you know what your business is all about.”
Coincidentally, on a flight from Lyon to Frankfurt in spring 1984, Braun sat next t o Klaus Maack from ERCO. Braun asked Maack for advice on how to overcome the company’s current marketing problems and told him about the success of their litt le blue brochure. Maack recommended to consult Otl Aicher on the matter and offered to facilitate an initial contact.
Braun went back to Brakel to do his homework, finding his company’s goals, values and competencies. He had to d efine his company’s profile. By accident in a bookstore, he came across a book on hand reading. It was here, that he got the insight, t hat his company was about artif acts for t he hand. Grasping was the core activity related to their products. The company produced devices for grasping. The new concept was born: “ Greifen und Griffe” (“ Grasping and Handles” )
Concept Development
Handle Culture Our expedition into the realm of the Artifact led us to realize there are four unwritten “l aws” underpinning good grip:
With his new concept “ Grasping and Handles” , and a completely new presentation, Braun went back to Rotis in early 1985. He presented the new fin dings and insights. Aicher was in somewhat impressed and admitted t hat this was a starting point. In June 85, Otl Aicher and Sepp Landsbek, the project designer, visited FSB in Brakel. They toured the facilities, met employees and FSB’s old and at t hat time ill in-house designer Johannes Potente. Aicher and Landsbek also showed a great interest in th e landscape and environment of Brakel. On that visit, Braun, Aicher and Landsbek developed the initial idea of t he later so called “ 4point guide to a good grasp” :
Late Fall the same year, they had another meeting in Rotis where the first outline of the new identity concept for FSB was developed. 1. FSB will continue t o think about the company’s activities. 2. FSB will publ ish books on the f indings. 3. The rollout of the new identity is intended to be 5 years later. 4. The new company’s logo will consist out of a abstract doorhandle and the abbreviation FSB. Different from earlier logos, sign and letters will be separated. (It was discovered later that t he new log o resembled a handle, the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein used in a house he had built for his sister in 1927.)
1. Thumb Guide Many hand-held objectsf eature some meansof channelling the thumb. There isevidence of this even on pre-
From then on, Aicher’s studio and FSB established a collaboration on a regular basis for a total of 7 years.
historic implements. 2. Forefinger Furrow The forefinger acts asa pilot, paving the way for the rest of the hand to follow. We w ere able to dis- cern recessesf or the forefi nger on a number of artifacts.
FSB and the Aicher studio met about twice a year in Rotis. Always 2 to 3 people from FSB went there. Braun was involved in almost every meeting, but FSB tried to change their visitors in Rotis as often as possible in order to create a broad understanding in the company about th e ideas developed in Rotis. The intention was to have FSB employees “sniff the atmosphere” i n Rotis.
3. Support for the Ball of the Thumb Once the thumb and forefinger have finished their reconnaissance work, the hand asa whole goesinto action. The ball of the thumb needsto be well supported here if it is to generate the necessary force. 4. Something to Get Your Hand Round Handsdo not like clutching at thin air. They need something they can get a good grip on. Thisis witnessed by the way we absentmindedly roll objects around in them.
Topics for discussion usually were the next publ ication, the collaboration with a particular designer or t he next advertising campaign.
New Image
The implied goal of the identity concept was to take the doorhandle out of the commodity area and establish it as a cultural object. It w as intended to create a whole new culture around the product and establish FSB as the leading company at the high end of the market. The new corporate policy was never writ ten in a formal or comprehensive document. “ The corporate identity was only sketched on some loose sheets of paper. There was no corporate handbook.” Only recently, upon request by design students and other companies, Juergen W. Braun and Sepp Landsbek published a book on t he development of t he visual identit y of FSB “ VisuellesErscheinungsbild” . The new identity prog ram comprised an int egral new visual appearance, a rethinking of t he public/outer perception of FSB, advertising campaigns, extensive research and research publications, collaboration with designers, universities and design schools All printed material now followed a common visual concept. Printed material was coordinated with lettering on buildings, cars and trade shows. The visual appearance affected the use of typefaces, layout grids, colors, logos and materials on all graphic representations of t he company itself and its products. An extra effort was made to develop a new catalogue. Extreme visual rigor was applied. A strict layout grid was followed throughout the whole catalogue. Not only t hat each handle was displayed in a color photograph, t here was a story told w ith each product. Users of t he catalogue would learn about the particular handle, its origin, it s designer or a special feature in using the product. The catalogue shipped wit h 100000 copies to architects, resellers and applicators.
Problems with the implementation of the new strategy only arose in the collaboration with o ther partners, like shop owners. After some hesitation, they followed the new image. According to Braun it is the belief in the correctnessof the new strategy that makes these people adopt th e new identit y. There is no corporate police ensuring the obedience of t he rules, people take on the image voluntarily. FSB latest strategic identity in itiative was their voluntary subscription as the first company in Europe to the new EU ecology standards. Extending t he agreement to t he new standards, FSB established an in-house ecology program.
Four Designers for the Europe Strategy:
Design Strategy and Rollout
Dieter Rams- Germany Jasper Morrison - Great Britain Philippe Starck - France Franco Clivio - Switzerland
In order to extend FSB’s markets internationally and to stay competitive, FSB initiated its Europe strategy. The functionality of do orhandles is quite limit ed. Buying decisions may not only depend on the performance of th e artifact, hardly t angible issues of cultu ral identity may override the ph ysical qualities of the handle. Diff erent buyers from diff erent cultures may have distinct different measures of appreciation t owards an artifact like a doorhandle. FSB tries to address this issue by having well established designers from dif ferent cult ures designing handles for their prog ram. The company hopes to influence a customer buying decision with the association of the product to a certain author. Every year FSB launches a new program designed by a different designer from a different cultu ral backgrou nd. Today, the FSB product palette displays a large variety of dif ferent models. FSB was very successful in applying this strategy, even though not in the w ay they expected it. Customers from different cultures not necessarily connected with t he design from a designer of their background. FSB prepared this initiative with a Designer’s Saturday in 1986. In this controversial move, FSB invited highly reputable designers and architects from all over the wo rld to come to Brakel and propose their take on the design of do orhandles. FSB used this event to research and discuss the realm of doorhandles. FSB published a book on the event and like all the ot hers, the publication became a success. (For the records: Today, FSB has a strong reputation as the leading company manufacturing doorhandles. But to some people, they are even better known as a publisher of high quality research books in the area of human factors, design theory and design history.)
FSB’sfirst step to introduce its new image to t he market was through it s publications. The publications created an awareness for the artifact and served as a means to in troduced the new logo t o the market. The introduction of the new catalogue to the market in 1990 was the starting point for the complete rollout of the new image. The company abbreviation FSB was already well established in the market. The abstract handle i n addition t o th e letters was well accepted. But FSB had initial probl ems in communicating the company’s message. The credo “ Greifen und Grif fe” and the “4-point guide to a good grip” were seen wit h great suspicion. This new kind of respect and seriousness towards a commodity artifact seemed in somewhat ridiculous. Today, FSB’s terminology is accepted and taken over by the competition. Architects refer to FSB’s research and competing companies sometimes even produce direct copies. Today, the company’s name is not only a synonym for what a good handle is, FSB serves as role model for design management and corporate culture.
Comparing Different Cases
Aicher not only worked for FSB. As already mentioned, he is widely acknowledged for his work for BRAUN, Lufthansa, The XX. Olympic Games in Munich, Bayerische Rueck Insurance and ERCO, to name the most important clients. In every case, his role in devel- oping a corporate identity or corporate image was different.
In this study, Lufthansa, ERCO and FSB are taken as examples. The conclusion will compare Aicher’s contribution to the policy development in each of the three cases.
Lufthansa
Lufthansa, Germany’s official airline, is the largest company compared to the ot her two. Lufthansa used to be a half governmental institution and is today entirely privatized and governed by a board of executives. In 1962, Aicher and the “ Entwicklungsgruppe 5” from t he Hochschule fuer Gestaltung were commissioned t o develop Lufthansa’s new corporate image. Amon g the team were Tomas Gonda, Fritz Querengaesser and Nick Roehricht. The company’s image was in a desperate condition. Other airlines, such as Swissair and PanAm had already reinvented their public image and several other airlines had follow ed their example. Lufthansa’s image was a volatile melange of different, mostly nostalgic graphic elements. The company was lacking an inn er perception of what their role in the international air travel industry should be. Without having a design guideline in form of a policy or a corporate vision, Aicher and his team had to develop a new visual image for the airline. He was not asked to propose any kind of service products or other actual offerings of the company. The goal was simply to develop a new visual appearance of the airline. In the process of building t he image, Aicher and his team drew their stimulations and guidelines from ou tside sources such as the competitio n, technology development or the new role of Germany in the int ernational community of states. The design team reported to t he board of executives and they gave their approval or disapproval. The communication betw een the upper management and t he design team was not very elaborate.
The design proposal comprised a radical redesign of t he airplane graphics, (basically through o mitting the traditional corporate logo and replacing it with a plain yellow tailfin,) of all printed material, all kinds of visual display and a new approach to advertising. Aicher describes the out come of t he Lufthansa redesign as good but not f ully mature. He assigns the responsibility fo r this to 2 facts. 1. The size of th e organization, the limit ed degree of communication between the upper management and the design team. 2. A l ack of understanding fo r design issues in the upper management and a lack of courage to go with a radical new concept.
ERCO
ERCO, like FSB is a small company with about 1100 employees. ERCO is the leading manufacturer in the world of architectural lighting with a palette of about 1000 models. ERCO was founded in 1934. Its headquarters and production facilities are located in Luedenscheid, NordrheinWestphalen. Klaus Juergen Maack, ERCO’s CEO, joi ned t he company in 1963 at an age of 25. His educational background was in printing. But in itial anxiety in dealing with the new subject and lack of insider industry knowledge turned out to be quite beneficial. Maack brought a fresh perspective to the company and gave new direction t o the whole approach. He became managing director in 1965 and successively reshaped the company. He reorganized the company’s product palett e from a selection of household appliances to a set of large lightin g systems. Maack’sground-breaking insight was to redefine the companies mission from making lamps to creating light. This opened up entirely new perspectives to enter new markets and develop new products. Sensing trends early and accordingly developing innovative products has put ERCO in a position where the company actively shapes the market.
Aicher was involved in redefining the company’s corporate image early on. In 1974, Maack contacted Aicher to get h is advice on how t o deal with pictograms on emergency light fixtures. (Aicher had designed a system of pictograms for the XX. Olympics.) At this time ERCO already had changed its design policy and committed to the strategic use of design to define the company’s market position. The new mission statement of making light was established and new product palettes were already successful in the market. The first contact between Maack and Aicher initiated a discussion on the company’s visual identity evolving around the problem that t he company’s logo at that time did not go well with commonly used typeface Helvetica and that the radically changed product palette made a n ew visual representation o f t he company overdue. At ERCO, Aicher found a p rofound basis in terms of a design poli cy and a corporate vision on which to build a corporate image. Maack and his team had a clear vision of what the company’s mission, activities and culture were. Aicher’s task was to find an appropriate image for th is vision and policy. The new corporate image was developed in close collaboration wit h Maack and the upper management, integrating design and corporate philosophy. Aicher’s proposal for the corporate identity for ERCO comprised a new logo, new corporate colors, a rigid layout framework for all printed material including a redesign of the catalogue, guidelines for all visual displays of the corporate logo and new ideas for the company’s advertisements and appearance on trade shows.
FSB
Matters were diff erent at FSB. At t he time Braun was consulting Ai cher for a redesign of their product catalogue, FSB was lacking a clearly defined design policy. As mentioned earlier, Aicher initially refused to work for FSB, without FSB having developed a clearly defined design policy and corporate vision. Eventually, after Braun had initiated a new vision, Aicher got more and more involved in building a new design policy for t he company, a ful ly developed corporate vision and eventually designing a corporate image, perfectly suited to communicate the new corporate culture to the public audience.
At all stages, the upper management, Braun in person and other members of the board and company, stood in close contact wit h th e Buero Aicher. All parts of t he new design policy were co-constructed by the designer and t he company.
Policy Development
The three different cases, Lufthansa, ERCO and FSB showed different characterisitcs. In each case, Aicher’s role as a consultant changed. Lufthansa as a large company simply purchased their new image rather than developing it with a designer over time. ERCO as well as FSB collaborated closer with Aicher. The distinct diff erence between both is the f act, that ERCO developed their design policy themselves while FSB developed the new policy together with Aicher.
ERCO and FSB show several similarit ies. They are not o nly about t he same size and manufacture architectural products, there are parts of both policies which are quit e similar. Since cooperation between Aicher and ERCO already started in the mid seventies, about 10 yearsbefore the in itial contact bet ween Aicher and FSB, one wants to assume, that Aicher transfered some of the experience he gained in w orking for ERCO to the FSB case. For example: 1. Defining the company’s businessin t erms of an activity rather than with the actual product was already aplied for ERCO - “ Creating Light” . 2. FSB took on ERCO’s idea of researching the field and publishing books on the findings. 3. Just like ERCO, FSB only collaborates with internationally acknowledged designers such as Rams, Mendini or Starck. 4. Both companies address the high end of each of their markets. Rather than comparing Aicher’s actual design proposals, th e conclusion will f ocus on comparing the init ial goals for the policy development and the degree and quality of collaboration between the designer and the corporation.
Three Frameworks
Four factors can be ident ified as being crucial in the development process of a design policy, a corporate vision and a corporate image.
Lufthansa: A design policy did not Designer
develops
Corporate Image
designs
Visual Appearance
exist. Aicher and hist eam had to develop a corporate image indepen- dently without the guideline of a poli-
• poin t of time of involvement of the designer in the process of t he identity d evelopment • scope and goal of design task • size and structure of the organization • qualit y of communication
cy or corporate vision. The proposed
contracts
image wasnot readily accepted as it
approves
did not f ully correspond with t he cor- Corporation
establishes
Corporate Vision
porationsown picture of itself.
Each, size and structure of an organization and the level of communication between the designer are closely related as well as point of time of involvement and scope and goal o f ident ity development.
ERCO: A well established design poli- Designer
develops
Corporate Image
designs
Visual Appearance
rate vision w ell, since ERCO clearly articulated its own vision.
influences
develops independently
develops
new corporate image for ERCO. The corporate image matched the corpo-
shapes
Design Policy
Corporation
cy guided Aicher’sproposal for the
Corporate Vision
establishes
Implementation, clarity and maturity, as Aicher calls it, of the new vision and image are highly depending on how deep the ideas for the new concepts are rooted in t he organization and how clearly they are communicated between designer and corporation and inside the corporation. Building on t he experience with Lufthansa, Aicher is very doubtful t hat large organizations are nimble enough t o communicate visions and goals effectively between its dif ferent sections and departments. He also questions that a b oard of executives is capable to make qualified decisions related to design issues. Aicher comments: “ Original designs and images can only be developed to full maturity in small to midsize companies. This is a structural problem.”
Corporate Relationships
FSB: FSBand Aicher collabor atively Designer
develops
co-constructsw/ corporation
Corporate Image
Visual Appearance
Design Policy
relateto and complement each other
policy manifested itself in Aicher’s image, which perfectly matched the corporationsnew vision of itself.
influences
develops
developed the new design policy. The proposal for the new corporate
shapes
co-constructsw/ designer
Corporation
designs
Corporate Vision
establishes
Corporate Relations
Four forcesinf luence the quality of a Sizeof Corporation
Point of Involvement
design policy. Scope and point of involvement build a high level influence cluster, as well
strong relationship influences policy
Design Policy
strong relationship influences policy
ast he size of the corporation and the quality of communication between
Communication
Scopeof Task
the designer and the corporation.
Similar to the co-construction of a Designer
develops
Product Strategy
designs
Product Design
design policy, collaboration in an early stage between designer and corpora-
co-constructsw/ corporation
tion can evolve into the development
shapes
Design Plan co-constructsw/ designer
relateto and complement each other
of a design plan, which governs the development of a product strategy
influences
and thushasenormousimpact on the Corporation develops
Corporate Strategy
establishes
Marketing Strategy
actual product the company manu- factures or delivers.
Developing a clear image that correspondents closely with a the company’s vision also depends strongly on the point of involvement of the designer in the process of developing a company’s design policy and the task he has to perf orm. In case, a designer is brought in early in the process chances are higher the designer is capable of finding a comprehensive and suitable solution for the corporate policy, vision and i mage. It sounds obvious, but th e Lufthansa example shows that it is very difficult to develop a suitable and acceptable(!) corporate image when t he designer was not i nvolved in developing the policy or a policy, the designer could refer to, does not even exist. In case there is no distinct design policy, mismatches between a corporate vision and corporate image are inavoidable. Strongest links are possible in case the design policy is co-constructed by the designer and the corporation, like in the case of FSB. The ERCO case is a strong reference where Aicher’s facilitation, building o n a strong existing policy and vision created a clear corporate image.
The case of FSB points at an import ant aspect of the use of design in corporat e planning. FSB’s close attention to design and its strategic applica- tion in fact allowed FSB to enter entirely new mar- kets, reach new customers and create a new cul- ture around a product. Complementary to a design policy, one can see the development of a design plan. While a policy governs the corporate vision and image, the design plan influences the develop- ment of the product and the corporate strategy. Designers now actually gain impact on a compa- ny’s overall strat egy and can actively shape the course of the company rather than simply facilitate a vision.
Bibliography
Juergen W. Braun, Sepp Landsbek; Visuelle Kommunikation Bausteine, Realisationen; Cologne, 1995 Deutsche Lufthansa; Erscheinungsbild der Lufthansa; Cologne, 1962 ERCO Leuchten Luedenscheid; The Corporate Identity Manual; Luedenscheid, 1996 ERCO Leuchten Luedenscheid; ERCO Lichtfabrik; Berlin, 1990 Michael Erlhoff; Designed in Germany since 1949; Munich, 1990 John Heskett; ERCO - Case Study Herbert Lindinger; Hochschule fuer Gestaltung, Ulm; Berlin, 1987 Klaus Juergen Maack; Design oder die Kultur des Angemessenen; Joerg Stuerzebecher; Design 1970 - 1980 - Between Waldi and Walkman; Design Report - Hamburg, 1996 Peter Zec; Ehrenpreis fuer Design Management des Landes Nordrhein-Westphalen; Essen, 19 93
