In our State of Hesse, in the heart of Germany, more than 100,000 people are involved in cultural and creative work, bringing in more than € 12.5 billion per year. Due to the industry’s importance for the overall economy, the Hessian Ministry of Economics decided to issue a Kultur und Kreativwirtschaftsbericht, a report on cultural and creative businesses and initiatives in the state. Q was asked to come up with a visual concept and create the 120-page publication.

Departing from the report’s title, Innovation Through Design, Network, and Digitalization, we proposed a non-digital, handcrafted look with experimental typography. Following a do-it-yourself strategy, we shaped letterforms out of drinking cups, artificial eyes, balloons, duct tape, wire, feathers, cardboard, pushpins, cords, sugar, and other material.

Unsurprisingly, we underestimated the amount of manual effort needed by far and got totally lost in attention to details, which resulted in the downsizing of our hourly rate to a minimum. Nonetheless it was great fun, and the client went bananas for every single image we delivered. During his presentation of the official report, the Minister of Economics explicitly mentioned Q and its work on the report. And some results of the typographic insanity are still stored in our studio.

The following making-of stills may give an idea about both the fun and the challenges of the project.