gbd is a group of businesses in Dornbirn made up of gbd ZT, gbd Fassaden, gbd Mosbacher, and gbd Lab. The areas in which this group works include: structural design, project management, the preparation of expert assessments and specifications as well as technical supervision and consulting. Starting from the logo for the main business, gbd ZT, , variations with certain additions were produced for the partner businesses. Based on the square, new letters are constructed for “gbd”. Borrowing from the idea of the elevation, plan and sketch these are made up of open and closed squares and parts of squares and address various technical aspects such as anchoring, supporting, loading and hovering. These forms produce a dynamism and movement which, however, is restrained again by the static centre, a closed square.

The Walgau region, which lies in the south of Vorarlberg, consists of numerous very small communities. To encourage citizen participation between the communities and to integrate this in the regional planning process a dialogue-oriented image was to be developed. Graphically combining the words “im Walgau” to create a single noun positions and grounds the theme of planning, which is essentially an abstract one and, at least in part, is dominated by experts. The curving line between the points suggests the meandering space, the mountains and valley of the landscapes, and the concept of planning. As communication instruments unusual cartographies, visual documentary standards for the planning process and – in collaboration with author photographer Nikolaus Walter – pictures of the region are made and information pages appear every two weeks in the local newspaper, the Walgaublatt.

The requirement and the strategic goal are to create a basis for the contemporary communication of the city of Bregenz. The first measure is based on organizing an exchange of ideas between the various users of city communication and working out a series of recommendations for coordinated and clearly structured communication work. Based on analyses and graphic design studies an overhaul and modernisation of the city’s existing image seems to be the best approach. Subtle modernization by redesigning an existing trade mark represents a greater design challenge than creating a new one. The changes are intended to give the logo a contemporary formal quality that equips it for the future, while at the same time relating to the old form. The economic background to this decision lies in the advantages of exploiting the existing logo’s familiarity and avoiding the expense of introducing an entirely new symbol. The changes are intended to give the logo a contemporary formal quality that equips it for the future, while at the same time relating to the old form. The economic background to this decision lies in the advantages of exploiting the existing logo’s familiarity and avoiding the expense of introducing an entirely new symbol. The characteristic mirrored word-image trade mark, originally created by Nolde Luger, is deliberately retained. The necessary contrast between light and dark is achieved by using two different typefaces: a modern and striking Grotesque and a delicate, playful Antiqua. This effectively develops the logo into a flexible logotype with the appropriate visual impact. The modernized logotype is part of the city’s newly created corporate design program, which is defined and designed in further stages. An entire series of variations on the new image is created for application in very different areas and is documented in a comprehensive corporate design manual. The concept provides design proposals for basic printed and advertising material for the various departments, facilities and institutions of the city of Bregenz.

From a poster designed in 1978 for the Jazzclub Lustenau, a logo was also made. It represents the transformation of a mustard tube into a saxophone and tells the story of jazzy sounds that are squeezed into a saxophone and then breathed or bellowed out. Today this image is the key image and logo of the association and the poster has been used as the basis for a number of different applications.

Under the title “Konstruktive Provokation – Neues Bauen in Vorarlberg” (Constructive Provocation – New Building in Vorarlberg) in 2003 an exhibition was shown in the headquarters of the Institut francais d’architecture (ifa) in Paris. Since then it has toured through other French cities. The publication “Konstruktive Provokation – Neues Bauen in Vorarlberg” appeared at the same time as the eponymous exhibition in ifa. As well as short texts it is above all images that are used to tell about the development of the small province of Vorarlberg. Three levels of images are chosen: 1.) A visual essay about the province and its people in black and white photography. These are images, one could almost say small films, which always have a story to tell and which, when looked at closer, reveal further layers. 2.) The presentation of the current situation of architecture by means of pictures of architecture which, instead of depicting individual buildings in the usual manner of architecture photography, show ensembles which tell something about architectural neighbourhoods and relationships. 3.) Explanatory images that present numbers, facts, and statistics by means of informative, and at times also ironic, graphics. For instance the contour line from Paris to Vienna is shown, or cows are placed on guest beds to illustrate the fact that Vorarlberg has roughly the same number of cows as guest beds. The title shows a sketch by the author of the chronologically organised web of relationships in the architecture scene – who built for whom and with whom; which people and events worked together when; when which architect began to produce his or her own works. On the inside of cover this history is told in a somewhat more precise manner by means of a synchronoptic visualisation.

An innovative high-performance material for timber building is produced layer by layer. Similarly, the verbal and visual communication used to launch it on the market is built up step by step. This laminated veneer lumber product made from beech introduces a new option in structural timber building – an area previously almost entirely dominated by softwoods. The design principle, used in a number of different applications, is based on enclosing and revealing the condensed material in order to develop the strikingly beautiful pattern of the veneer layers in graphic design terms. The result – alongside an exploration of all the possible variations in appearance – is a filigree key image that narrates in an illustrative way the path from peeling the trunk to the product’s linear structure. The robust packaging complements this approach: the weighty wood sample is kept in a kind of casket (for instance hidden in the woods or stacked to make a patchwork).

In 2004 Reinhard Gasser was invited to take part in the annual competition for the corporate design of the organiser of the Kiel Week, the world’s largest sailing event. By dispensing with the usual visual clichés Kiel was declared the protagonist for the communicative scenario. The “i” from Kiel becomes a keel (the German for which is Kiel, just like the name of the town) and, with a part of the word, dips below the water line. All the strength of a ship is gathered in what is called the “keelson” (German “Kielschwein”). In the end a different poster concept by Professor Klaus Hesse was used.

A new building, a facade around eleven metres high with a total length of almost 300 metres. The horizontal strips used by architects Koeb & Pollak in their design for the upper part of the façade are somewhat like splayed plumage, beneath them is a cladding of perforated trapezoid metal. Beneath the grid of the perforations is an underlay consisting of a grid of points. This “printed matter” on the wind protection membrane has an area of over 1000 square metres. These overlapping patterns engage each other in a relationship and develop something new – circular moiré effects that change constantly as you move and according to the angle you view them from. This makes the facade into a surface with multiple layers, a skin that represents both the building volume around which it is wrapped and the business accommodated inside.

The Tannberg forms the axis between Bregenzerwald, Arlberg and Lechtal. The Walser tribunal which gave the regions its name and which, after the arrival of the Walser in the region, unified the three towns of Lech, Warth and Schröcken for centuries, used to convene there. Information about the special qualities and the shared history of this region was to be conveyed at specially selected points and routes for hikers and had to be suitable for exposed locations at a height of up to 2000 metres above sea level, where weather conditions can be extreme. Instead of a conventional signage system the concept is based on benches and »look-out areas« made from planed, untreated larch that carry CNC-milled lines of lettering – no artificial colours, materials or signs. The combination of plain wooden benches with interesting messages gives the individual elements a great real – and also symbolic – effectiveness. Surround by a stunningly beautiful landscape, the users learn worthwhile information and short histories of each specific location. In-depth information that augments the core messages is given on an interactive hiking map with dynamically programmed cartography.