Henning Walther, Design & Art Direction

Whether online or in print, Dagens Næringsliv is Norways’s leading platform for economy news. Renowned for its quality content in both writing and visual journalism, a major goal concerning the redesign was to emphasize these assets. The design process was further based on extensive UX research and testing, aiming to optimize usability with a focus on Norwergians’ media habits (they love their frontpages bold and tightly packed), ease-of-use, recirculation and reading experience.

Art direction for Bureau Johannes Erler
with Henning Skibbe, Jonas Buntenbruch & Lasse Wolf

The Elbjazz Festival features more than 50 musical acts presented against the unique scenery of Hamburg Harbour. Together with the Elbjazz team, I refined the existing CI and developed a new website interface – translating the festival’s liveliness into an appropriate online experience. To make the website more fun and handy during the festival, we introduced new features like a personalized timetable and curated artist playlists.

www.elbjazz.de

Initially used as a freight depot, Hamburg’s Oberhafen quarter today hosts creatives from all kinds of fields on 67,000 sqm. To provide guidance for tenants and visitors alike, the wayfinding system introduces a vibrant color coding system. The use of material and texture in signage elements is inspired by the location’s traditional industrial artifacts.

Art Direction for Die Brueder
production by vonschmidt

Henning walther oberhafen wayfinding signage 01

Henning walther oberhafen wayfinding signage 02

Henning walther oberhafen wayfinding signage 04

Henning walther oberhafen wayfinding signage 03

The Reeperbahn Festival is Hamburg’s biggest platform for artists, fans and the music industry. In 2019, we launched a digital review documenting the essential topics that shape the event – the Reeperbahn Festival Journal.

journal.reeperbahnfestival.com

Art direction for Die Brueder

Henning walther reeperbahn festival journal 01

Henning walther reeperbahn festival journal 02

The Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation collects, exhibits and supports photographic work since 2015. Its Deutsche Börse Art Collection is an impressive accumulation of contemporary photographs comprising more than 1600 pieces by some 100 international artists.

Deriving from the design of Deutsche Börse Group, the new corporate identity presents a flexible design system across a wide variety of media. Subtle and strict with a strong focus on the artworks, but also playful in modulation of its wordmark’s distinct initials.

www.deutscheboersephotographyfoundation.org

Art direction for hauser lacour
with Mirjam Platz & Kiki Schmidt

From 2016 to 2019, hamburg ahoi was a bilingual online magazine initiated by Hamburg Tourism. On the website, a small group of authors and photographers presented intimate stories of Hamburg’s makers to an international audience. The website’s CI transformed Hamburg’s distinct visual identity into an autonomous, modular design system.

Art direction for Die Brueder

Fraport is a transport company which operates Frankfurt Airport, one of the world’s most important aviation hubs and Germany’s biggest workplace. Its new headquarters consist of two main wings connected by a large light-filled lobby. The architecture’s openness and transparence embodies Fraport’s new-found company culture – A motif that also influences the wayfinding concept.

Typographically, the guiding system consists of two and three letter codes derived from the company’s internal language. Mounted with translucent film, the codes give directions from further away while detailed informations become legible from up close.

Art direction for hauser lacour
with Alexander Horn
Photography ©Becker Lacour

Henning walther fraport wayfinding signage 01

Henning walther fraport wayfinding signage 02

Henning walther fraport wayfinding signage 03

Henning walther fraport wayfinding signage 04

Henning walther fraport wayfinding signage 05

The campus provides a new home for trivago and its 1,500 employees at Medienhafen Düsseldorf. Wayfinding and Signage are based on a concept derived from trivago’s brand proposition. The “band of trust” attaches itself to the offices’ curved walls and becomes a red thread for both employees and visitors.

Art direction for trivago
with Anna Druckrey & Steffen Kauenhowen

Photography ©trivago, ©Schwitzke

Henning walther trivago wayfinding signage 01

Henning walther trivago wayfinding signage 02

The FH Münster, with 13,000 students and 12 faculties one of the largest FHs in Germany, refines its brand identity. The approach to its revised corporate design is rooted in the university’s aspiration to become more agile and flexible in addressing their target groups.

The new brand architecture establishes visual coherence for all faculties and institutes based on a system of three letter codes. On a graphic level, a system of twelve dynamic patterns is introduced to privide a framework for accentuating different tonalities – from classic insititutional to active and vibrant.

Creative direction for hauser lacour
with Alexandra Fukazawa

Henning walther fh muenster corporate design 01

Henning walther fh muenster corporate design 02

Henning walther fh muenster corporate design 03

Henning walther fh muenster corporate design 04

Henning walther fh muenster corporate design 05

The new website sets the tone for FH Münster’s comprehensive brand relaunch. As one of the main channels to transport the brand’s identity, the website aims to establish itself as a central content hub, connecting dynamic content and media. “FH Storys”, a newly conceived content feature provides multifaceted insights into campus life by the university’s protagonists – students, teachers and employees.

Creative direction for hauser lacour
with Felix Kopp

Indiecon is a two-day publishing festival in Hamburg. It brings together the creators of independent magazines, books, art prints and zines. The microsite provides an overview of participating publishers from all over the world while presenting a visual review of past Indiecon events.

http://indiecon-festival.com/

Art direction for Die Brueder

The ADC Germany’s annual festival hosts the world’s largest exhibition of works from all creative disciplines. To conquer this visual complexity, the wayfinding system appears bold and distinct. Set in ADC’s iconic Futura typeface, quotes by prominent creatives provide guidance and structure within the exhibition.

Art direction for hauser lacour

Henning walther art directors club wayfinding signage 01

Henning walther art directors club wayfinding signage 02

Henning walther art directors club wayfinding signage 03

Henning walther art directors club wayfinding signage 04

The Sony trade fair stand at IFA Berlin brings together 1,600 products in an integrated brand world. In coordination with the Sony Creative Center in Tokyo, Schmidhuber and hauser lacour aligned the design of Hall 4 at Berlin’s exhibition center to the reorientation.

Clearly designed infographics and labels for 900 products safely guided visitors through the product worlds “Play”, “Watch”, “Listen” and “Create”. Suspended displays surrounding the presentation area form a 360-degree panorama visualizing the brand horizon using motion graphics.

Münster School of Design @FH Münster

Guest Lecturer

2018–2019
Department Design @HAW Hamburg

Guest Lecturer

2017–2018
FH Münster, FH Darmstadt, FH Mainz

Talks and Workshops on Interface Design and Wayfinding

2013-2017

The projects by teams I’ve lead and worked with have been recognised by various design juries, including iF communication design award (3x), Red Dot Design Award (2x), DDC Award Digital Media, Annual Multimedia Award, Iconic Award & 100 beste Plakate

Henning Walther –

Design & Art Direction

Hello, I’m Henning. I create digital interfaces for small devices, visual identities for regular-sized brands and wayfinding systems for extra large spaces.

Here’s a list of things I’ve done. Let’s add more!

Project

Type

Dagens Naeringsliv

Elbjazz festival

Oberhafen Quartier

Reeperbahn Festival: The Journal

Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation

hamburg ahoi

Fraport headquarters

trivago Campus Düsseldorf

FH Münster visual identity

FH Münster website

Indiecon microsite

Art Director’s Club exhibition

Sony exhibition booth

Teaching & Talking

Silverware