“The Quality of Designs is the Quality of the World” with Kai Gehrmann

KISD Alumni Kai Gehrmann is artistic director and initiator of the project “otl aicher 100” which he started together with Otl Aichers son Florian Aicher on the occasion of his 100th birth anniversary. In the KISDtalk on Tuesday, 5^th of April, Kai introduces the person Otl Aicher and shows excerpts from his extensive oeuvre, including his work for the door handle manufacturer FSB.

This KISDtalk “the quality of designs is the quality of the world” is connected to the summer semester projects “Write and contradict” and “In and out”.

It will take place at KISD, Room 11

and additionally be hosted via Zoom:

About Otl Aicher

Otl Aicher (1922–1991) is one of Germany’s seminal exponents of design. Labelling him as a “designer” doesn’t remotely tell the whole story, however. Aicher was a universalist in all he thought and did. Surveying his many and varied roles as college founder, graphic artist, typographer, business consultant, sculptor, philosopher and author in their entirety reveals an intellectual who actively shaped the course of things. He saw himself as being a designer in the original sense derived from the term “disegno”, i.e. as producing a comprehensive blueprint of the world in both thought and deed.

Otl Aicher made a key contribution to shaping both the looks and spirit of everyday culture in the second half of the twentieth century, and the impact of his work has not waned since. His thinking on the likes of ecology or corporate responsibilities is more topical than ever. Otl Aicher was intent on humanizing everyday life. He championed a sensible ordering of things and the effectuation of design on the basis of rules. For him, freedom and order are not a contradiction, but a complement.

About Kai Gehrmann:

Kai Gehrmann is KISD Alumni and managing partner of Stiehl/Over/Gehrmann GmbH (S/O/G). He is active in the areas of corporate identity/corporate design, user experience/user interface design and design strategy since 1994. Kai is also responsible for the worldwide licensing and further development of the otl aicher pictograms. S/O/G develops brands in terms of a comprehensive brand experience with offices located in Osnabrück and Berlin. There a team of 20 employees designs all types of analogue and digital touchpoints – from corporate identities and campaigns to user-centric interfaces for digital systems.