HOW DOES BRAND FIT IN WITH FOUNDATION?

AN INTERVIEW WITH ISA BAUMGARTEN, CHAIR OF THE BOARD OF THE HEINZ UND HEIDE DÜRR FOUNDATION

#interview

It's nice to have been working together for a long time and even to be able to develop further together. In this context, we are pleased not only to have developed the corporate identity of the Heinz und Heide Dürr Foundation, but also to have conceived and implemented the relaunch of the website and the introduction of the Foundation blog this year. In the foreground was the symbiosis of holding a faithful and proven line that set the corporate image and the step from "sponsor" to network partner, who not only gives money, but also brings the different funding areas into conversation with each other and ensures a lively everyday life of the foundation.

In this context we just copy their new blog concept: Three questions to ... and turned the tables on them. We asked Isa Baumgarten what we were interested in in the concept and what you might also be interested in:

1. Why does a foundation actually need a design?
Although a foundation doesn't want to sell anything, it still has its own "products" that have grown out of the founder's will and are unmistakably linked to the founding intention. With a logo, purely visual content can be conveyed without words that can express this inner world, similar to a character. A design, if it is well done, gives these contents an unmistakable form and this should be aesthetically appealing. This means that the content, i.e. what our project partners do within the framework of the foundation, is also valued. And as the much quoted Goethe already said: "Beauty is a welcome guest everywhere".

2. What distinguishes the Heinz und Heide Dürr Foundation as a "brand" and how is this reflected in its corporate design?
With our very specific focus on individual foundation purposes, we have set markings. The Heinz und Heide Dürr Foundation is characterized by the fact that it continuously supports its projects over many years. In early childhood, for example, we support the implementation of the Early Excellence approach, which integrates families into the work of the institutions and focuses on people's potential. In the meantime we employ a team of consultants who support the work in the institutions through further training, etc. In the areas of science, art and culture, we also keep abreast of certain topics, always with the aim of providing impulses for society where public funds are scarce. Our corporate design reflects this claim by uniting the foundation's purposes in an "impulse logo" developed by PLEX in such a way that on the one hand it reflects our broad range of variable products and on the other hand it transports the core of the foundation in a superior way. The individual areas have different colours and shapes in their partial logos. They can stand on their own, but can also overlap. In practice, we have concrete examples of this. For example, the Foundation initiates programmes for families in cultural institutions. We work together with theatres, opera houses and museums. In this case, our unique selling point, our brand, is that families are always there.

3. You are not only supporting digitisation projects, but have also become active as a foundation in this field this year and have created a new website, a newsletter and a blog: what was important to you in the conception phase?
Yes, the topic of digitisation has recently been included as a further focal topic. However, we are not only concerned with the opportunities, but above all with the risks, both technological and ethical, of digital development. We see the new website as an opportunity not only to draw attention to the Heinz und Heide Dürr Foundation, but also to the meaning of endowment and the need for social responsibility. It was important to us to give the people behind the projects we supported a face and also to bring them into conversation with each other. Which topics move neurogenetics, educators and cultural workers? Are there intersections, as with our impulse logo? Does this perhaps give adults impulses for new joint projects? Promoting this networking was also the reason for setting up the blog. To return to the initial question: In the conception phase, it was particularly important to us to produce digital solutions for the foundation that did not represent a dusty portfolio, but could act agilely. The design plays an important role here, because it helps to orientate oneself on the website. Convince yourself at www.heinzundheideduerrstiftung.de whether we have succeeded ... And while you're at it, sign up for our newsletter and win premiere tickets for one of our sponsored cultural projects ...

Isa Baumgarten, Chair of the Board of Heinz und Heide Dürr Foundation.