Rieden School is made up of Rieden Primary School and Rieden Middle School, which are housed in two independent but connected building volumes. While the two school areas are essentially spatially separated, they come together in the rooms that are used jointly such as the gym, library, cafeteria, and administration. The aim, therefore, was to create clear signage and, using just a few accents, to provide easily understandable directions and routes within the school – starting with the school name above each of the three main entrances. The principal design elements are the nomenclature based on easily understandable terms, differentiation by means of colour, and spatial pictograms that employ the plans of the different storeys. Mixing the light blue for the primary school with the red of the middle school produces a rich shade of brown, which is the primary decorative colour in Rieden School. The colour concept borrows from the colour moods and the materials inside the building. Placing the lettering and illustrations directly on the walls obviates the need for additional panels and offers the requisite flexibility in choosing suitable positions for signs and names at important junctions.

In accordance with the purpose for which it was founded the DBU (Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt/German Federal Environmental Foundation) subsidises innovative, environmentally conscious, model building projects. The concept for the subsidies also includes financing scientific studies of the respective projects and disseminating these in quality book form. Atelier Gassner was commissioned to devise a concept for an edition consisting of several volumes. The first publication documents the new building for Schmuttertal Gymnasium (high-school): here innovative educational ideas and a participative approach to planning produce unusual spatial systems, ambitious ecological goals direct the construction, and functionality and inspiration shape the architecture. Client and subsidy provider, users and planners, experts for building law and technical services document the creation of this building, augmented by plans and photographs. The editions were deliberately published in German, and the search for a name led to the striking and yet self-explanatory term “Bauband” (literally “building volume”). The challenge was how best to describe and depict complex contents so that they are clearly legible and can be quickly understood. At the same time this book was not intended to be a standard illustrated architectural volume nor a dry treatise with a preponderance of text. Using the tools provided by micro and macro typographical design and making considerable demands on editorial photography the narrative requirements could be successfully met. The plans and diagrams, which were produced especially for this book, provide in-depth information. Through the format alone, the easy to open “Swiss brochure” and the stable card binding, the book suggests a report with the character of a working folder. A colour, which differs from volume to volume, contrasts with the restrained grey that is used for the covers of all the volumes. This striking coloured framework for the book block is reflected in completely coloured pages that separate the chapters and visibly articulate the contents and, when one looks at the cut edge of the closed book, appear like inserted “floor levels”.

As early as 1993 Atelier Gassner designed a guidance system for hiking trails throughout the State of Vorarlberg, working in collaboration with the state regional planning office. A simple system of signs made of natural coloured aluminium was developed, as tests had shown that this material and colour best remained visible in poor weather. In contrast to trails based on specific themes, the focus here was on providing orientation aid. In the intervening period around 20 000 signs have been erected at 6800 different locations. The guidance system on the Schlossberg trail augments the overall route guidance system and provides information on the newly developed “fitness track”. The goal was to provide an unobtrusive guidance system appropriate to a woodland trail – in the form of simple recurring accents in the forest. The design concept of Atelier Andrea Gassner made use of natural colours and materials. Deliberately, only parts of the sanded steel angles and steel tubes were sealed with a clear varnish. The protection against corrosion protection together with the natural oxidation of the untreated areas of steel generated two different colours in a single material. The grey steel takes up the colour of the gravel paths, the rock, and the other shades of grey in nature. The combination of materialisation, formal idiom and the neutral, easily legible lettering provides the information required, while avoiding being a disruptive element in the natural setting. The typography is based on the Corporate typeface used by Atelier Gassner in 2010 for the revitalised public appearance of the City of Bregenz. The graphics at the individual stations that provide orientation and offer illustrations are timeless, designed to appeal playfully to a broad target group (children, families, sports enthusiasts).

Architecture means, above all, designing and giving form. The intention was that the client’s “core product” should not occupy the foreground of his own public profile too assertively. Atelier Andrea Gassner has been working for years for the well-known Zurich architect Roger Boltshauser. The concern is graphic design using the language of modern architecture. Clarity of form, unobtrusiveness and aesthetic appropriateness are the focus of the design, Entirely in the sense of German industrial designer Dieter Rams “less and more”. In a dynamically growing process printed material, business stationery, books and digital communication media are created for the architecture practice and partner businesses. Interaction and scalability are primary design means In the new media. Distance and approach as well as entry shape our perception of architecture. These dynamics provided the guideline for the new web design. Visitors are met by a wall of images; they come closer and enter the individual projects. The respective contents open up gradually with the self-scaling image grid. Searching and finding becomes a kind of virtual excursion to the project world of this successful Zurich team of architects.

In accordance with the purpose for which it was founded the DBU (Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt/German Federal Environmental Foundation) subsidises innovative, environmentally conscious, model building projects. The concept for the subsidies also includes financing scientific studies of the respective projects and disseminating these in quality book form. Atelier Gassner was commissioned to devise a concept for an edition consisting of several volumes. The first publication documents the new building for Schmuttertal Gymnasium (high-school): here innovative educational ideas and a participative approach to planning produce unusual spatial systems, ambitious ecological goals direct the construction, and functionality and inspiration shape the architecture. Client and subsidy provider, users and planners, experts for building law and technical services document the creation of this building, augmented by plans and photographs. The editions were deliberately published in German, and the search for a name led to the striking and yet self-explanatory term “Bauband” (literally “building volume”). The challenge was how best to describe and depict complex contents so that they are clearly legible and can be quickly understood. At the same time this book was not intended to be a standard illustrated architectural volume nor a dry treatise with a preponderance of text. Using the tools provided by micro and macro typographical design and making considerable demands on editorial photography the narrative requirements could be successfully met. The plans and diagrams, which were produced especially for this book, provide in-depth information. Through the format alone, the easy to open “Swiss brochure” and the stable card binding, the book suggests a report with the character of a working folder. A colour, which differs from volume to volume, contrasts with the restrained grey that is used for the covers of all the volumes. This striking coloured framework for the book block is reflected in completely coloured pages that separate the chapters and visibly articulate the contents and, when one looks at the cut edge of the closed book, appear like inserted “floor levels”.

This not for profit association pursues the goal of developing a sensitivity for the built environment among children and young people and aims to secure a place for the culture of building in the Swiss educational curriculum. It was founded in 2008 under the name “Spacespot”. Due to its strange phonetic presence, the name Spacespot, like many trendy pseudo-Anglicisms, turned out to be short-lived. Atelier Andrea Gassner was commissioned to create a sustainable and contemporary brand. It was decided that the name for the German and French-language space should indicate what the association does and what can be found on the platform. The name was arrived at in a workshop that was held together with the heads of the association. When the idea for the name was first mentioned the group was immediately delighted with it. It arose in the context of an associative phonetic chain that started with “Archigen” and through the ending “jeunes” suddenly provided the key to a precise meaning: architecture and the art of building for young people

In designing the logotype Atelier Andrea Gassner made a simple yet highly effective intervention in the compactly set name that uses a powerful Antiqua typeface. Omitting the dots above the “i” and the “j” in the new name at the point of contact between two language cultures makes a subtle visual point. Often it is very simple distortions of familiar word images that guarantee brands that are concise and highly memorable.

The region “Walgau” and its transformation by inserting a syllable to create the adjective “genau” (precise, exact). The logo type deliberately uses lower case lettering in order to convey action, playfulness and lightness. The little green ring augments the brand, is a navigation element, an explanatory graphic symbol and much more. The website appeals to teachers and students, distributes learning units, documents results and lives from its simple functionality and interesting contents, often conveyed by means of videos and animated graphics. Today it is the moving image in particular that shapes digital, visual communication.

“Am I a letter or an image?” Behind this question is a game consciously played with perception, or, to put it more precisely, the idea of a tilting image as a label. Our perception of letters conditions us to read signs as codes. Whereas with images it is the forms and colours that occupy the foreground of our perception The prestigiouis Swiss diamond-cutting business “Zipangu” was looking for a suitable trademark that would meet its exacting standards in terms of quality. Linking the letter “Z” to the crystalline form creates the picture of a diamond and a memorable image. By typologically developing the name to the same high standard Atelier Andrea Gassner created an original word-image trademark. The basic graphic design of the appearance and the various applications consistently pursue the aim for an elegant, one could almost say classic image. For example, the stationery was made using special printing stock with raised steel embossing and pop-up cards with individual concepts for portrait and product photography.

The aim and the strategic goal of the initially conceptual commission awarded to Atelier Gassner was to provide contemporary visual communication for the regional capital Bregenz. Several workshops with city officials along with a number of graphic studies resulted in concrete recommendations as regards action to be taken; these included differentiation and organisation of official, cultural and commercial measures and the revitalisation of the existing profile. The characteristic mirroring of the word- and image-mark originally created by Reinhold Luger was deliberately retained in order to exploit its established familiarity. Instead of the screening used previously, the required contrast between light and dark is produced by the difference between the fixed Grotesk typeface and the delicate mirrored Antique. The logotype is formally developed into a robust and easily scalable form. The new appearance is used for a variety of quite different applications and is documented in a design guide. The Markenhandbuch (brand manual) designed by Atelier Andrea Gassner is an exemplary application of creative use of existing design elements. Here theory meets practice, the graphic brand meets the town brand “Bregenz”, the mirrored name encounters its synonymous visualisation in the photographs of the Hafenpromenade. With its concise, convenient format, the brand manual creates a resonance between place and symbols, between the city’s understanding of itself and its public image. The statements, some of them pragmatically formulated, in combination with free photographic impressions aim at bringing the values, meanings, images and stories that make up Bregenz to the point.

The logo is based on the idea of a seal. We are familiar with the seal as a form of certification that conveys commitment, security, and legality. The traditional circular shape, the coat of arms of the Austrian state as a national emblem, a modern font family and the names of three notary’s offices are the ingredients for a strong joint brand architecture. Differentiation is introduced by the different names and colours. Designed as responsive, the websites derive their life from “icons of navigation”. Theme-related illustrations function as a primary interactive guiding element of the graphic user interfaces. The photographs show authentically the personal aspects and the people behind the legal paragraphs Responsive web design means a design concept that is adaptable as regards both illustration and application, from the wide monitor to the small smartphone. And in both landscape and portrait format. In an age in which digital communication increasingly takes place on the smartphone, responsiveness is an important design factor.