The Johannes Beese Foundation stands for responsibility and the future. At the heart of its mission lies the wellbeing of the youngest generation: it creates safe spaces for children, where security, care, and development become possible. Beyond that, it supports education, culture, and social projects that empower people, open opportunities, and strengthen social cohesion. In doing so, it creates sustainable perspectives that reach far beyond the present and support generations to come.

Our work for the Johannes Beese Foundation was a pro bono engagement – one that placed us directly in a position of responsibility. With initiatives like this, we want to give something back and contribute where support is needed most.

Where basic forms become language

With the relaunch of the foundation’s identity and the development of a new corporate design, we gave the Johannes Beese Foundation a visual language built on clear shapes – one that works across cultures. It conveys the foundation’s values beyond borders: a DNA of social commitment that deserves attention, because it creates something truly beautiful – protection, opportunities, and future perspectives for children and for those who come after us.

For the new visual identity, we drew on the basic forms of the square and the circle – a conscious reference to the principles of the Bauhaus. Playful yet precise, square and circle – cube and sphere – allow for an identity that is unique, evolving, and growing. From these two forms we created the emblem: adaptable, dynamic, and ready to reveal something new time and again. On this foundation, a custom display typeface is currently being developed – a strong typographic voice for the foundation, especially in its boldest and most visible signals.

For the wordmark of the Johannes Beese Foundation, we selected Neue Plak. Originally designed in the late 1920s by Paul Renner and revived in 2018 as an extensive type family, it combines clear, industrial rigour with characterful details. This blend of geometric precision and lively expression makes it a contemporary choice – strong, versatile, and ideal for a distinctive wordmark with lasting recognition.

The interaction and spacing between emblem and wordmark create a strong visual foundation: the adaptable clarity of the emblem meets the expressive typographic character of the wordmark. Together, they form a memorable sign that conveys the foundation’s identity with precision and functions reliably in diverse contexts.

The colour spectrum also reflects the foundation’s ambition to challenge boundaries. The specific blue and rose-purple were chosen deliberately: colours whose historical meanings were once quite different. Until the early 20th century, pink was considered a strong, energetic colour for boys, while blue was associated with purity and gentleness, and thus with girls. Only later were these roles reversed, leading to today’s supposedly “natural” associations. By combining both colours, the foundation creates an open, contemporary palette that transcends old stereotypes and makes diversity visible.

To the point – in every form.

The implementations follow the same approach as the new corporate design: reduced to the essentials, clear in their message, and consistent in their form. They create reliability and rely on language that is easy to understand – without distraction, without superfluous elements. Whether digital or analog, whether in big messages or small details: clarity is always at the forefront. Every medium contributes to bringing the foundation's identity to life and keeping its values visible. In this way, the focus is consistently on the here and now – while at the same time pointing the way to tomorrow.

This is how design becomes an attitude.