Atelier

Everything needs a name; every business requires a “look”. Logotypes (word and word & image brands) or purely visual symbols (signets) are the main protagonists of corporate design. But other design elements are also included, such as typography, colour concept, image concept, design modular and design manuals for their digital and analogue application – shop fitting-out, homepages, signage etc.

Brands are a sign or symbolic depiction of an idea for a business or a product, reduced to essentials. They bear images and create identity. To maintain and exploit the values of a recognisability that have been built up over years, outdated brands can be revitalised and embedded in a newly organised corporate design program.   

Atelier Andrea Gassner designs and revitalises names, brands, logos, icons and, logically, complete corporate design programs for large and small businesses and non-profit organisations.

The aspects that determine the effectiveness of an appearance or “look” are the quality of its basic elements, a well moderated development and introduction process, and the consistent application of the style guidelines that have been agreed on. Alongside applied design work Atelier Andrea Gassner also advises and curates processes for the efficient introduction of brands, and for arriving at a name and brand design.

Contemporary communication is linked with digital, dialogue-oriented media. Websites are the main area in which corporate design is applied. The continuous frequency creates identity and helps to form an image. In the new media the primary design means are interaction, scalability, and dramaturgy. Instead of static communication, when employing such media the sequence, playing time and dynamics are of primary importance.

The basis for the design of digital communication is a clear information architecture and a narrative approach. Atelier Andrea Gassner here uses “storytelling” and presents design solutions with storyboards and created prototypes. The formulation of every basic concept begins with an examination of the respective contents and communication goals. The results are individual solutions that can be well embedded in the communication strategy of a business and are image-shaping, responsive, playful, and user-oriented.

Today the moving image in particular – the animation of blogs, posters, graphics, diagrams, and short stories – shapes the computer-aided expansion of visual communication. For Atelier Andrea Gasser digital design and communication also includes other areas such as digital guidance systems and signs or monitor presentations that are made in a contemporary way. The Atelier supports its clients in virtual communication (digital signage) and with analogue-digital translation and application.

Books, magazines, posters and in general everything that is printed were initially challenged by the new means of digital communication and have by now been repositioned. The haptic energy of good printed material, its presence and physicality has retained its importance and significance. And through good posting concepts with a mix of analogue and digital media the poster is currently experiencing a revival.

A book is manifest, has a presence and sensuality. It often displays an unsuspected longevity and a high level of impact. It is not by chance that in quality-oriented marketing corporate publishing enjoys such an excellent reputation. In contrast, E-publishing has other qualities such as ease of retrieval and linking, comfortable searching and finding, dialogue and flexibility.

Atelier Andre Gassner successfully develops and uses the various themes of this media world in a differentiated way. The Atelier plans, designs and monitors book projects, specialist journals, posters, brochures, and folders, and also produces E-publishing projects such as the successful digital building element catalogue »dataholz«. In the area of book design – the supreme discipline in graphic design – the Atelier is internationally known for its bibliophile and typographical design work and has received innumerable awards. Hardly any other Austrian office can show such an impressive list of projects and cooperative ventures with eminent publishers and authors. To mention just a few: the specialist journal »zuschnitt« of the Austrian wood and forestry industry, the Edition Bauband for the

die Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt, the black block book for the architecture practice Marte.Marte, the specialist book for the new building of SWG Produktion (WÜRTH)...

Last, but by no means least, the book »Visuelle Geschichten«, in which Atelier Andrea Gassner presents the exciting results of its work over the past 20 years.

When spatial and graphic design for visual communication work together messages can develop an enormous impact. Directional and orientation systems, graphics and lettering on buildings inform and direct us, while at the same time contributing to the identity and formation of an image. Through the direct encounter between people, exhibits and the offers made, media such as exhibitions or presence at trade fairs offer ideal opportunities for making contacts. Spatial installations for visual communication, (systems with form, space, symbolism and message) allow sensual and multi-dimensional perception.

Atelier Andrea Gassner has established a reputation for making excellent use of such contact opportunities and for the interplay of architectural elements and graphic design; a visible result of these works are “spatial messages” – communicative interventions in public space, sculptures – some of them mobile – building signage, facade graphics and guide systems. Examples here include thematic exhibitions such as the Werkraum show about the theme of light or the permanent exhibition (in both German and Italian) about the phenomenon of wood in the Rubner Center in South Tyrol, the legendary ceiling installation in the columnar hall of the Parliament in Vienna, an exhibition on the travels made by monks from St. Gallen and Venice or, most recently the  exhibition »woodpassage«, which could be experienced with the senses and consisted of four wooden doorways as a marketing instrument with the character of an event. Atelier Andrea Gassner has frequently used complex glass graphics to make large areas of glazing in buildings clearly visible and identifiable as is required by the building regulations. For instance: visitors encounter coded texts, chatty anagrams or patterns and textures that are animated cinematographically.

Corporate communication essentially describes the conceptual and strategic development of communication design. Atelier Andrea Gassner has a strong interest in the content and concerns of its clients and is involved as a creative partner in these matters.

The corporate design process may begin, for example, with considerations of brand management, while the design of wayfinding systems often starts already during the construction phase, working hand in hand with architects and developers. This also applies to the strategic planning of public communication measures. Questions such as whether communication should be action-oriented or broadly distributed, single- or cross-media, analog or digital, two- or three-dimensional are discussed and creatively negotiated.

The design process therefore begins very early. Only in this way are individual, tailor-made, often unconventional and surprising design concepts and solutions possible.

Portrait of Andrea Gassner

1993–1998 Diploma and Swiss Federal Certificate of Proficiency in Graphic Design, School of Design, St. Gallen / CH. 2002 Studies with a Master’s degree (MFA) at St. Joost School of Art & Design / NL
Partner of Atelier Gassner KG; in 2018 takeover and re-establishment as “Atelier Andrea Gassner,” relocation to the city center of Feldkirch / Vorarlberg. Andrea Gassner combines effective communication design with spatial and artistic perspectives.

Jury Activities (selection)
2010 – DAM Architectural Book Award, Frankfurt / DE
2013 – TEC, Zurich / CH
2015 – Magazine review Archithese, Zurich / CH
2013–2019 – Art Commissioner for the Province of Vorarlberg / AT
2022–2024 – Board member “100 Best Posters,” Berlin / DE
2026 – Art-in-Architecture Competition, weissraum Innsbruck / AT
2026 – ADC Awards New York / USA

Lectures, Interviews (selection)
2021 – Film documentation “100 Best Posters,” Berlin / DE
2023 – Laudatory speech for Dinamo Typefaces / CH
2023 – Guest lecturer, Design Summer School Hangzhou / China
2024 – Guest lecturer, Design Summer School Hangzhou / China
2025 – Kyoto University, Department of Architecture / Japan
2025 – Persönlichkeiten im Gespräch, Ansichten ORF / AT
2025 – Lecture at weissraum, Designforum / Tyrol
2025 – Interview in Modulør, leading Swiss architecture magazine, issue “inside”
2025 – Podcast of the German Design Club on “Good Design” (DDCAST 239), Spotify

Memberships since
2005 – Design Austria / AT
2015 – AGI, Alliance Graphique Internationale (President of AGI Austria)
2018 – DDC, German Designers Club, Frankfurt / DE
2025 – ADC, The One Club for Creativity, New York / USA

Portrait of Marcel Bachmann

Professional training as a textile printer; 1996–2000 diploma with distinction in graphic and information design at the School of Design in Ravensburg / DE. Employee at Atelier Gassner since 2000; at Atelier Andrea Gassner since 2018. Marcel Bachmann creates bibliophile book and magazine designs, precise typography and information graphics, as well as long-term corporate design solutions. He competently oversees production and quality management.

Portrait of Christopher Walser

2008–2013 Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in InterMedia, University of Applied Sciences Vorarlberg; 2013 internship at Demner, Merlicek & Bergmann, Vienna; employee at Atelier Gassner since 2014 and at Atelier Andrea Gassner since 2018. Christopher Walser develops “intermedia” design concepts across analog, digital, and three-dimensional fields of application, creating innovative design solutions with functionality, impact, and aesthetic quality.

2019 studies and graduation from the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts / China; assistant to Stanley Wong – 84000 Communications in Hong Kong; 2020–2022 collaboration with the GAFA Faculty of Architecture, Art, and Design; 2022 exhibition design for graduation projects. Publications in 2021 at the 10th China International Poster Biennale and in the Asia-Pacific Design Yearbook; 2022 at the Kan Tai-Keung Design Award; guest engagement at Atelier Andrea Gassner since 2024.

Founded Atelier Gassner in Feldkirch in 1976; relocated to the new studio building in Schlins / Vorarlberg in 1987. From 1996 to 1999 external advisor and creative director of the InterMedia degree program at the University of Applied Sciences in Dornbirn / Vorarlberg. Reinhard Gassner works as a communication designer and specializes in communication and design theory. Member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI) since 2000; honorary member of Design Austria since 2023; consultant at Atelier Andrea Gassner since 2018.