The Art Directors Club für Deutschland (ADC) is a German professional association for creative communication, founded in 1964 in Düsseldorf on the model of the American Art Directors Club.[1] Its visual identity has undergone a notable evolution, culminating in a 2018 rebrand that revived the club’s original 1964 logo.
Design and History
The ADC’s current logo is based on the first mark designed by Vilim Vasata in 1964.[2] Vasata was an initiator, co-founder and first president of the German ADC, as well as a pioneer of the German advertising industry.[3] The original 1964 logo was lightly modified and reintroduced as the club’s sender mark in September 2018.[1]
Before the 2018 rebrand, the ADC had used a magenta star as its brand symbol.[4] The new corporate identity, introduced under the motto “Vorwärts zu den Wurzeln” (Forward to the roots), replaced the magenta star with the reduced logo based on Vasata’s 1964 design.[5] The redesign was presented on 13 September 2018 at the ADC Design Experience in Stuttgart, with the full communication rollout planned by the ADC Festival 2019.[5]
The new corporate design was developed by a collective of ADC members: Christian Doering, Johannes Erler, Birte Ludwig, Burkhard Müller, Katrin Oeding and Jan Spading, led by ADC board members Heinrich Paravicini and Anja Steinig.[2] The working group also created the ADC Manifest, which summarizes the club’s values.[2]
Meaning and Symbolism
The 2018 rebrand was driven by a process of self-definition within the club. According to ADC board member Anja Steinig, the new identity breaks with learned visual habits: “The shrillness has disappeared, both in color and in form.”[2] The reduced design aims to place the club’s core areas, the ADC competition and its members, in the foreground.[2] By reintroducing the original 1964 logo, the club returned to its roots as an independent members’ organization dedicated to discovering and nurturing creative excellence.[6]
Typography and Design
In the 2018 identity, the typography takes a restrained role. According to Anja Steinig, the typography “quotes the formal language of the logo and puts the content in the center, not itself.”[2] The color palette shifted from the magenta of the previous star-based identity to black and white.[4]
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