New Utopias, New Challenges
Launched in 2018, UTOPOLIS is a network of 16 pilot projects created to demonstrate sustainable structures for Germany’s culture scene. These model sites explore how art and culture can bring inspiration and change to local neighborhoods and their residents. We designed the program’s website, utopolis.online, to be both a source of information about the projects and a »toolbox« of tried and tested methods that anyone can copy.
Bundesverband Soziokultur e.V.
New Utopias, New Challenges
2019
utopolis.online is a showcase for creative new forms of social participation, plus a collection of tools for promoting art and culture in urban communities. For the logo, we thought about what a contemporary coat of arms might look like, without drawing from heraldic or nation-state imagery. Whether they belong to a sports club, a city or a family, coats of arms represent something to gather around – especially when they’re reduced to nothing but type on a shape: the fewer visual liabilities, the more space for possibilities.
The corporate design draws from construction sites and warning signs: Something new is being built here! The website’s layout was modeled on a pegboard, with modules hanging from the top edge like tools. There are circular holes, boxy elements and dotted outlines, as if some of the tools had not been hung back up in their places yet. The site is built on a CMS-based template, making it easy to add new modules in the future. New utopias, new challenges!
