vhs Eching
How an adult education centre takes a stand – and turns its programme into a magazine.
vhs Eching is an adult education centre that sees itself as an open place to learn and meet – and isn’t afraid to take a stand. For years we’ve designed its visual identity, its magazine-style programme, its website and numerous campaigns and print materials.
Starting point
The starting point
vhs Eching is more than a course programme. It’s a place where anyone can easily learn something new, meet others and have their say. Managing Director Daniela Kirschstein wanted to make exactly that more visible – and to go her own way in design, rather than following the umbrella association’s uniform look. We started with these questions:
How does an adult education centre show that it is more than a course catalogue?
How do you turn a programme into something people actually want to pick up?
And how far can a public education provider take a stand?
Approach
[How we went about it together]
We’ve worked closely with the vhs for years. What began with a few workshops has grown into a real partnership.
01 Workshops & corporate design
In several workshops we worked out what vhs Eching stands for. The result is a visual identity of its own: open, approachable and full of character.
02 The programme booklet as a magazine
The programme comes out twice a year, and we’ve reinvented it. Each issue has its own theme, explored editorially. Every cover is designed by a different artist, whose work runs through the whole issue. We help choose the artists and develop the themes with the vhs team. That’s how a course catalogue becomes a magazine.
03 Website
We redesigned the website so the programme is easy to find online too.
04 Taking a stance
The vhs takes a stand on climate, democracy and living together – with information evenings, demonstrations or the Klimafrühling, for example. We designed for all of it.
05 Everything else
Flyers, posters, postcards, smaller campaigns: over the years we’ve designed almost everything the vhs puts out into the world.
Outcome
What happened?
vhs Eching is a fixture in the region: the place to go for anyone who wants to learn, try something new or have their say. It isn’t afraid to take a position, and it sparks conversations that might otherwise never happen in Eching. In short: it makes the town a richer place.
The credit goes to Daniela Kirschstein and the vhs team, who have the courage to take this path. We’re glad to have been part of it for years.
→ vhs-eching.de
Testimonial
“Working with by fair means goes far beyond the design of our programme. It’s a joint development process where ideas are discussed, refined and new solutions found time and again. Education for sustainable development is at the heart of what our vhs does. In by fair means we’ve found a partner who shares that commitment and really understands the substance of our work. We value that enormously – as well as their creativity, reliability and open, easy-going collaboration.”
Daniela Kirschstein, Managing Director, vhs*eching
Let’s talk.
Tell us where you are. In the intro call we’ll see together whether we’re the right fit and what a sensible next step would be. 30 minutes, free, no strings attached.
After booking, we’ll send you a few questions to help you prepare. That way we can spend the half hour talking, not covering the basics.
Just want to follow along for now?
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