Es war einmal ein kleiner Kleber namens Karl, der in einem Büroregal stand. Doch Karl war kein gewöhnlicher Kleber – er wollte mehr als nur Dinge zusammenhalten. Als er sah, wie die Angestellten unter schlechten Arbeitsbedingungen litten, beschloss er, etwas zu tun.

Nachts schrieb er heimlich Botschaften wie „Gerechtigkeit für alle“ auf Plakate und verschickte E-Mails, die die Menschen ermutigten, für ihre Rechte einzustehen. Bald fingen die Mitarbeiter an, über Gleichheit und Fairness zu sprechen.

Karl reiste weiter in die Welt hinaus und klebte überall, wo er Unrecht sah, Dokumente zusammen. Er hinterließ Botschaften, die daran erinnerten, dass Menschenrechte über allem stehen. So wurde Karl zur Legende – ein kleiner Kleber, der für Gerechtigkeit kämpfte und die Welt veränderte.

WHAT'S THE VISION?!

We kicked off our brainstorming session by delving into topics that resonated deeply with us for our concept. Our initial discussions covered a range of important issues, including animal rights, refugee crises, feminism, and climate change. Among these, we found that refugee issues and animal rights held particular personal significance for each team member, especially as they are often less frequently discussed in mainstream conversations. Recognizing the substantial connections between these two themes, we decided to unify them under a broader term: Living Rights.

Our project drew inspiration from similar activism campaigns, especially those by German organizations and movements that focus on raising awareness on social and environmental issues. This provided a solid foundation for building our own message and approach.

Targeting young people as our primary audience, we aimed to inform and inspire hope for positive change while avoiding the heavy, overwhelming feelings that can accompany discussions about such challenging realities. To achieve this, we envisioned an informative campaign characterized by a positive and engaging approach. Our deliverables would include posters, stickers, a sticker book, zines, and interactive social media elements. To capture attention and introduce our core concepts, we incorporated short, lighthearted puns into our visual identity, encouraging the audience to explore these important topics in a more approachable and inviting manner.

LIVING RIGHTS! BUT LOGO!?

Since our project centers around a sticker book, we dedicated time to finding a campaign name that reflected the playful nature of “stickers.” Aiming for a bilingual approach that incorporated both German and English, we explored German terms related to “stick” and landed on the word Kleben. Through brainstorming binomial phrases, we arrived at Sticking for Life, ultimately deciding on our official slogan: Kleben für Leben.

KLEBEN!

In crafting our visual identity, we focused on harmonizing the word Kleben for various applications and scales. The visual balance of the word particularly emphasized the letter “K,” leading us to enhance its impact by adding an exclamation mark. Thus, KLEBEN! became our main logo, while the full slogan Kleben für Leben served as our extended branding. For our smallest logo, which would appear across all graphic elements and media outputs, we distilled it down to a simple yet effective trademark: K!

The project’s visual identity truly came together when we chose a bold font style, which inspired us to take things further by designing our own customized font. This bold typography, combined with a bright and playful color palette, reflects our goal of removing the „doom and gloom“ that often surrounds these topics. We wanted to give people hope by presenting critical issues in a way that resonates with younger audiences, making these important messages both accessible and uplifting.

FONT USAGE!

Typography played a crucial role in shaping our visual identity. We initially selected the font Erica One for its bold, all-uppercase style, perfectly aligning with our campaign’s focus on clarity and impact. After experimenting with this font, we began customizing specific letters to create a more unified aesthetic, ultimately crafting an original typeface by reworking individual characters. For subheadings, we chose Replica Bold, as it complemented the boldness of our primary font, enhancing overall design coherence.

FINALLY COLOURS!

Our choice of color palette played a central role in conveying the tone and accessibility of our campaign. We selected bright, vibrant colors to counter the usual “doom and gloom” associated with topics like endangered species and refugee crises. These colors were carefully chosen not only to attract younger audiences but to shift the emotional response—turning what could feel heavy and disheartening into something hopeful and engaging. By opting for bold, cheerful hues, we created a visual identity that is approachable and friendly, inviting people to learn more without feeling overwhelmed. This palette brings energy to the design, with each color functioning as part of a cohesive and harmonious scheme that works well across all campaign materials, from stickers and posters to the sticker book itself. The colors serve as an emotional anchor for the project, making complex or difficult topics more digestible and memorable. The palette also enhances the interactive experience of the sticker book, as each page and sticker feels like a small discovery, resonating with the campaign’s intent to make meaningful information „stick“ in an enjoyable and lasting way.

PATTERN!

STICKERS!

As we began developing the sticker book, our research focused on both endangered animals that often go unnoticed and the complex issue of refugees. The refugee topic presented unique challenges, prompting us to adopt a straightforward approach that utilized text with minimal design to convey a direct and impactful message. For the animal-themed stickers, we embraced a more playful and illustrative style, highlighting species facing extinction. After compiling a list of potential candidates, we randomly selected the softshell turtle and each created an illustration reflective of our individual artistic styles. Ultimately, we settled on a simple, shape-based design that resonated with our typography.

STICKERBOOK!

Our sticker book features 40 unique designs, covering both animal rights and human rights topics. In the animal rights section, each sticker includes valuable information about the species’ extinction status and the factors contributing to its decline. Once collected, these stickers can be placed in designated spaces within the sticker book, creating an interactive and educational experience. Additionally, we designed various posters and pocket-sized zines that are easy to carry, allowing individuals to engage with our campaign’s message wherever they go.

The sticker book is designed to be interactive and educational. Each sticker includes a playful pun, sparking curiosity and encouraging users to explore further. By flipping through the sticker book, they can find key information about the animal’s endangered status and reasons for its decline, creating a fun and engaging way for the audience to retain important facts long after interacting with the book.

VIDEO!

ZINES!

POSTERS!

MERCH!

Our final output encompasses a diverse array of campaign materials, including t-shirts, aprons, and colorful tape adorned with our logos. These items serve to extend the campaign’s visibility into everyday life, adding a fun and wearable dimension to our visual identity.

SOCIAL!

FINAL WORDS!

We also wanted to make our campaign impactful beyond awareness. After our presentation, we plan to distribute stickers and posters based on demand, with all proceeds going to charity. This way, the project not only raises awareness but also actively supports the causes we care about.

Anto: I wanted to create change, but not in the usual way—informing rather than doomsaying is the key, and I think we nailed it! I worked with a really cool team, and this was my first project in English, so I also did a lot of translating between English and German, which was really interesting and important. It was a tough time, but we accomplished a lot and had a blast! The only thing we could improve next time is working more consistently—like planning better so that we're all designing in sync, and more clean—but for a project with such a big team, in such a short time, it worked really well overall, I think we're all happy with the outcome!

Emilia: I wanted to share how much I enjoyed working with such a talented team on my first short project! As an exchange student, this experience has been both exciting and educational, especially in managing a big concept alongside everyone. The communication in English went smoothly, and I really appreciated how we blended both English and German in our project. For a couple of improvement points, I think it would be beneficial to focus on distributing tasks more evenly among team members to ensure everyone is equally involved. Overall, the final outcome was wonderful! It was well thought out, and I’m really proud of the unique and strong visual identity we developed together.

Nadja: The project was both a meaningful challenge and a creative exploration. Over two intensive weeks, we developed a sticker campaign aimed at raising awareness on critical global issues, focusing on a positive, engaging approach to inspire action. I realized how essential it is to persistently address these topics and stay committed to spreading awareness about them, as true change only comes with ongoing efforts.

We were motivated by this experience so that we decided to continue the project privately, expanding its message to reach more people. Personally, I found this project to be a great opportunity to deepen my understanding of intersectional justice. Although this is a topic I engage with regularly, applying it within a design framework allowed me to solidify my knowledge and see its impact in a new way.

I strongly believe that every designer should explore how their work can contribute to a fairer, more inclusive world. As designers, we have the power to shape perspectives, and embracing this responsibility can be both empowering and transformative. This project reaffirmed for me that design can be a powerful tool for justice, and I’m proud of what we’ve achieved so far and excited for where we’ll take it next.

Paula: I am extremely proud of this project. The fact that we managed to have such a huge output in such a short amount of time is really special and I'm glad to have worked with such a talented team. 

The process and the topic was incredibly motivating, so much so that we plan on continuing the project further. I think it's a privilege that we are able to research such topics and are able to raise awareness and thus help people. It shows that as designers we have a lot of power and can use it in a positive way.

This was my first project where I designed a campaign and while I'm happy with the outcome, I did feel a bit overwhelmed at some points. I think some more planning in the beginning and more time in general could help me in the future. Of course in a short project these things are often not given, so I'm really happy that we decided to keep the project going and improve it.

SECOND WAVE?! 👀

coming soon...