Making Of: The Key Visual for the German Design Awards 2026
Design in Motion
A brightly lit photo studio. Light stands wait in front of white walls, and cables snake across the grey industrial floor. Cameras are poised. Occasionally, a few quiet words are exchanged, but the focus stays on the work surface in the centre of the room. Set designer Marc Ulm (buero.us) lies on the floor, clamping the last chipboards together. Photographer Felix Schöppner adjusts one final spotlight. Then, the puzzle begins – a visual dialogue that will soon become the face of the German Design Awards 2026.
The new key visual is more than just aesthetic. It is a statement about the role of design: adaptive, responsive, intelligent.
“We wanted to create an image that leaves room for new ideas, for different perspectives, for transformation,” says Paale Lüdcke, who, together with Tobias Friedberg, forms the design studio Aoki & Matsumoto, responsible for the visual identity of the German Design Awards.
Digital Design Meets Physical Experiment
The creative process unfolds not only on the screen but also between the cutter and the cardboard, where hands fold, cut, layer, and shift. Like Paale and Tobias, who now, with the help of a spirit level and tape markings, interlock rings of acrylic glass, brick, granite and metal.
The materials are diverse, yet the message they convey is clear: design is not static – it is movement within a context. “We want to feel how structure behaves in space,” says Tobias. Paale adds: “For us, design is not something smooth. We think in structures – from the hand movement, from the material, from the surface that resists. Our visual brings this into the image – not perfect, but with edges and corners, with textures that cannot be retouched away, with a handwriting that remains tangible. Between digital concept and analogue individuality, a tension emerges. This is exactly where design becomes interesting for us.”
A System in Motion
Oliver Genzel reviews the first digital impressions on his laptop. The Creative Director of the German Design Council has retreated to a corner of the studio, looking at a screen overlaid with line patterns. Behind the grid: first shots from the photo shoot. A few clicks and the lines form a new constellation. What may seem random at first glance follows a clear principle: “The visual concept is meant to depict the simultaneity of change and orientation. It connects material, space and idea. It makes visible what matters to us and what the German Design Awards stand for: excellence that connects expertise and takes design seriously,” says Oliver. “The German Design Awards also show how multidimensional design can be understood. It connects disciplines, mindsets, and continents. Our new campaign visualises this.”
Design is never finished, but it is always relevant, smart, purposeful – and open to whatever comes next.
Oliver Genzel, Creative Director - German Design Council
What remains is not only a visual system that will accompany the renowned awards in the future, but also a statement about the power of design. The new key visual serves as a reminder that design does not end with form – it begins when systems are conceived to be open, adaptable, and future-ready.
