Jan Knopp: How Design Creates Meaning
Communication Begins Long Before the First Message
Most brands think about communication from the content first. They start with copy, campaigns or messaging. Design comes afterwards. For Jan Knopp, that order is exactly the wrong way around.
“Design becomes part of communication the moment it is created. In fact, design is the foundation of all communication.”
This idea defines the corporate design of Tanzhaus Basel. Rather than treating design as the packaging of a brand, Knopp & Kniel see it as the brand's true expression. The visual system brings together print, digital applications, signage, programme communication and spatial orientation into one consistent identity. The result is a brand that starts communicating before a single word has been read.
Design Turns Information into Experience
Cultural institutions face the challenge of making complex programmes accessible to diverse audiences. For Benjamin Kniel and Jan Knopp, information alone is never enough. “Information becomes an experience when design communicates its value, joy, energy and meaning in a way that is easy to understand and enjoyable.”
The corporate design for Tanzhaus Basel follows exactly this principle. It creates orientation without becoming generic. It informs without feeling clinical. Design itself becomes part of the experience, expressing the energy and openness of the institution in every application. Typography is a key part of that identity.
“Typography can be loud, quiet or completely wild. It brings information straight to the point.”
For Knopp & Kniel, typography is far more than a functional tool. It communicates attitude, emotion and character within seconds. Before people even begin reading, it already shapes their expectations. The system is complemented by a custom colour language. “For Tanzhaus Basel, we developed our own colour language using complementary colours that work with great intensity and specially developed spot colours.”
The result is a distinctive colour palette that gives Tanzhaus Basel its own unmistakable visual identity. For Jan Knopp, meaning never comes from a single colour alone.
“A single colour has meaning, but on its own it says very little. It is when colours come together that they begin to communicate and create meaning.”
Colour therefore becomes a communication tool in its own right. Recognition is not created by individual colours, but by the way they intentionally work together.
Design Tells People Who a Brand Is
The corporate design of Tanzhaus Basel shows that strong brand identities are not built through more messages. They are built through a carefully designed system where typography, colour, space and information all speak the same language.
The German Design Awards recognise projects that use design as a strategic tool and rethink the way brands communicate. The corporate design for Tanzhaus Basel demonstrates how design can make identity visible and transform information into experience. It proves that the strongest brands do not start by explaining. They start by designing.
If your project offers new answers to the challenges of our time, we look forward to your submission to the German Design Awards 2027.
Take the opportunity to present your work to an international jury and become part of a global network of design excellence.
