2019–A REVIEW
Every year I like to sit down and reflect on the year. And since I kind of stop writing regularly I wanted to end this year with a little written review. Not only because I was not able to update my website and portfolio properly, but because it eases my mind quite a bit at the end of the year.
I started my year off with more work with my client woom. This year this amazing company not only introduced a new Mountainbike but also their first E-Bike for kids and a whole new clothing brand. I helped with all three things to position them in the market, helped with the launch campaign for WORN TO BE WILD and laid down the fundamentals for the two bikes which lead to a great campaign for the new OFF Mountain bike by AANDERS and ZWUPP.
I continued my work together with Tobias Federsel on our beloved client WOMAN. This year we concentrated on helping them position and brand their events even better. Amongst them the famous WOMAN DAY but also the first BEAUTY SALON PRIVE. Of course, we produced funny image ads and important things like Christmas pullover.
Lightbridge successfully manages to expand globally and our work got more strategic this year. Same for mySugr - a client I started to work with mid-year. Helping brands to clarify their position and strategy was one of the big things this year. Overall I did 10 brand positioning workshops and wrote the brand DNA/strategy for 8 brands. Some of those lead to a visual execution some of them were starting points and collaborations with other teams and designers. Like the strategy for the OMX/SEOkomm Conference, I did together with LWZ, or the positioning I am doing right now for a kid’s park together with ZWUPP.
I started 3 new long term collaborations with new exciting clients. The natural deodorant brand I am working with will get its relaunch next year, the vineyard and restaurant case Lisa Langmantel and I worked on are ready to be launched (but not properly photographed yet). One of the smartest men I got to know in 2019, Alex Frühmann launched his consultancy this year with a little help of mine and Tom Strobl.
Together with stereochrome and an amazing team we not only repositioned our client tado° but also did a huge 360 campaign – including a tv spot that got screened in 5 countries.
One of the nicest things this year was definitely the fact, that I collaborated with more than 20 different creatives that help shape and create the perfect teams for each and every client. All of them can be found in this list of WOW CREATIVES. It showed me that my idea of a “flexible studio” does work.
It is funny that people still ask me “do you really work alone on all this?” and I continuously answer “I am never alone. I collaborate with and combine the right people to create the perfect team for each client.”
Beyond strategy and design, I did talk quite a bit about what I love to do: I did two workshops under the title of „WHAT THE F*** IS BRANDING“ or „BETTER BRANDING. BETTE BUSINESS.“ Both went extremely well and I am super happy to share my knowledge about branding and how to close the gap between brand strategy and design. Also, the series „FRAG FRAU SANDRA“ together with Design Austria continued successfully and nearly every session of those quarterly one-on-one talks with young designers was sold out. The feedback is amazing and we will continue the format in 2020.
One of the proudest moments in 2019 was definitely the launch of IT’S A PASSION THING and its first Issue. This magazine idea had been lying around in drawers for years until I had the guts to execute it. It is a passion project and one of the most beautiful collaborations with like-minded people I have ever done. The next issue will be out in April and we will continue to publish biannually.
To finish everything off, and to not only talk work: I was happy enough to become the mother of two healthy and beautiful babies this year. The twins make our family complete and I still can’t get over the fact that we are a family of five now. I am beyond grateful and happy for all the love and support in my life and to be able to do what I love to do on a daily bases. So enjoy the rest of 2019 and see you in 2020.
My first resolution for 2020: write more again and finally find the time and dedication to properly update my portfolio and two years’ worth of amazing cases…maybe even get a new homepage.