Process

I was never particularly good with idiomatic expressions. They often come out wrong, lose a word, or gain a new one. “Ein Strich durch die Rechnung” becomes “Ein Stich durch die Rechnung,” and “Fix und Fertig” turns into “Fix und Pfertig.” And suddenly there’s a horse in the room where exhaustion was meant to be.

With my dad, I love to joke around and intentionally misunderstand words. We twist their meanings on purpose, creating wordplays and jokes that often make no logical sense — but they always lead to genuine laughter.

These are small moments, easy to miss — but they last. Joy and happiness don’t live in big gestures for me. They exist in these small linguistic missteps and in shared laughter over nonsense.

Concept

To make these small moments of joy and happiness tangible for others, I developed a series of illustrations. Each illustration is based on a German idiom.

The twist: The idiom is altered through a wordplay, which is visually reflected in the illustration. The correct wordplay is revealed on the back of the card.

During the process of collecting and illustrating these wordplays, the idea evolved into a card game.

Moodboard

Bright, bold colors were essential to the visual language of the project. They represent joy, liveliness, and a sense of playfulness. High contrasts enhance the illustrations and make them fun to look at. The drawings are intentionally imperfect — reflecting the playful nature of the wordplays and their nonsensical twists.

The Card Play

Players try to guess the wordplay based solely on the illustration. The solution is written on the back of each card.

Goal of the Game: If a player guesses a wordplay correctly, they may keep the card.  The aim is to collect as many cards as possible and be completely “Fix & Fertig.”

Results

The final outcome of this project is a card game built around illustrated wordplays based on German idiomatic expressions. 

Its intention is not to challenge players intellectually, but to invite them into a playful, shared experience and laughter. 

The game encourages slowing down, looking closely, and engaging with language in a lighthearted way. By guessing the wordplay from the illustration, players momentarily step away from correct meanings and logical structures and instead embrace misunderstanding, ambiguity, and nonsense.

Additionally, the illustrations can be transferred onto clothing, allowing the concept to expand into a small merchandise line that complements the card game.

Overall, the products are meant to feel light, optimistic, and life-affirming. Idioms often help soften serious situations — they make life feel a little less heavy and a little more playful.