As part of a term-long project, students at Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences developed new, creative ideas for the children’s charity ‘Lesen bildet’.
Kleve/Kamp-Lintfort, 22 March 2016: As part of a semester-long project led by Susanne Coenen and Nicole Slink, lecturers in Communication Design at Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences, students on the ‘Information and Communication Design’ degree programme developed various campaigns for the children’s charity ‘Lesen bildet’.
The winning designs were created by students Alicia Kern and Emil Oelke. “Those who can read will have a happy ending.” With this slogan, the two students draw attention to the charity and present the message on colourful posters featuring fairy-tale motifs. The fairy-tale characters are intended to illustrate the individuality and versatility of learning to read in a striking and simple way, whilst sparking curiosity about reading. Student Marvin Lauterbach impressed the jury with his video clip. Using characters from novels, he provides answers to questions such as ‘Was Robinson Crusoe ever actually rescued?’, ‘What wonders did Alice experience in Wonderland?’ and the key question ‘What would children be without books?’. “It’s fantastic to see the dedication with which Susanne Coenen and Nicole Slink are incorporating the search for new and clever campaign formats on this topic into our curriculum. I’m delighted by the diversity and intelligence of the approaches developed by the students,” says Professor Christoph Zielke, the programme director.
The project focused in particular on using various campaigns to create layers of information and design in order to attract the public’s attention and thus promote the children’s charity. “The works produced in this way are diverse, surprising and compelling. With creativity, wit and ingenuity, the students developed clever and appealing posters, cards, a memory game, an interactive website and a film, which won first prize,” says Susanne Coenen.
A jury comprising the foundation’s board members Heinz Mölder, Ulrike Mölder, Bettina Krüger and Volker Meierhöfer, as well as ambassadors Susanne Coenen, Nicole Slink, the journalist Birgit Wilms and Prof. Wilfried Korfmacher, a qualified designer and psychologist at Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences, assessed the 16 creative and completely different campaigns and selected the two most successful entries. Both winning entries are expected to be used in the Children’s Foundation’s campaigns as early as this year and will be featured on the website.
