Writing = Design

Learn about writing as a tool. Make words work for you! Creative use of language provides you with manifold possibilities in your private and professional communication.

Writing is design if you know the how-to. In this course, we will bridge the borders between creative and applied writing — and combine them. Get to know your potential in dealing with words (this seems to be a field of insecurity for many visual designers). We’ll share techniques that will make it easy for you to get started. Fun little exercises, both orally and in writing, are our preferred method. Learn how to condense your thoughts via words. Learn to grasp your ideas and observations by describing them to an audience. Learn how to speak about yourself and the offer you make for professional markets.

The best thing: get instant feedback from the group, plus professional assessment. We will support you in finding your way with words. Let’s discover your verbal personality, try and bring it to full effect — thus adding to your visual identity, and making it even more convincing.

Elements of professional writing we will address: the functions of a headline, how to develop a title or name; text hierarchy, guiding your reader; the right tone for your target groups; the effect of short vs. longer texts; different formats, media, and verbal style, the tonality. Please feel free to bring your topics – we will try to include them in our schedule.

SCHEDULE

Day 1 / Monday
Exploration

• Get to know each other: background, expectations, topics
• Get started: exercise 1 (description, self-presentation)

Day 2 / Tuesday
Essence

• Lecture by Sonja: what is text, why is it needed/useful
• Learn: exercise 2 (headline, text hierarchy, structure)

Day 3 / Wednesday
Experience

• Lecture by Christoph: why and how do I write as a designer
• Learn: exercise 3 (style/tonality, short vs. longer texts)

Day 4 / Thursday
Expression

• Reflect on your style: what suits me best? (verbal identity)
• Spend half a day practising, reworking your texts from the 3 exercises

Day 5 / Friday
Effects

• Present your work: who I am / what I want to say (authorship)
• Get group response and discuss: do I reach my target audience

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

• Your CV and a short motivational statement,
• including your expectations from the course.

KNOWLEDGE REQUIREMENTS
            Everybody is welcome.
            Fluent English or German is required.

What participants of last year’s workshop said

“This week: Wow.”

“I enrolled in this course with intentions that were purely professional in nature, but I’m walking out with a sense of fulfilment that feels so much more personal.”

“This week was in my opinion a gradual path to bring down walls and mental boundaries. Walls between myself, my confidence and self-respect and between me and others.”

“It is amazing how auf Augenhöhe the two of you communicated with the whole group.”

“I wouldn’t be able to stay focused in that topic if I hadn’t you both as coaches. You are a perfect duo and fit to each other, which I absolutely like!”

“I really liked the encouragement that was created in the space and the constructive feedback that helped improve my writing process tremendously.“

“Many exercises took me by surprise and showed me how easily approachable is writing, whether it’s thoughts, opinions, passions or professional life.“

“Ihr habt mir Tools mit auf den Weg gegeben, die ich weiterhin gebrauchen werde.”

“What I really liked and was a very good learning experience for myself, was to talk, write and read in English. It really helped me to get more comfortable with the language and words overall.”

“The two of you, Christoph and Sonja, brought a lot of life and sensibility to this workshop. (…) There is nothing I would change in either the format or the content.”

“Thank you for letting us discover the power of words!”
 

Sonja Knecht was born in Indonesia, grew up in Venezuela, and is deep-rooted in Deutsch. She studied languages and humanities; explorations as a graphic artist led her to what she loves most: typography and text – text as language, designed. She was Edenspiekermann’s text director and established their blog; for TYPO International Design Talks she built up a 30-strong editorial team and served as their moderator; she supports corporate/cultural institutions in their language, branding and storytelling. Since 2016, Sonja is an associated lecturer to Berlin University of the Arts’ Institute of Transmedia Design in their Visual Communication program, plus a guest lecturer to design schools abroad. In 2021, Sonja started to share her word art in exhibitions and poetry performances.

txet.de

 

Christoph Rauscher is a designer who writes. After studying Interface Design (B.A.) and Design and Media Theory (M.A.) in Berlin and Potsdam, he worked as a designer and design director at Edenspiekermann. There, he developed new ideas for digital journalism with publishing houses from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Until 2020, Christoph served as the art director of ZEIT ONLINE, one of Germany’s most prestigious news sites. He collaborates with companies, agencies, and publishing houses, using design and text as tools to make ideas more tangible. Also, he writes a monthly newsletter on personal observations and a quarterly column on technology in Germany’s renowned Form design magazine. In 2022, Christoph co-founded the design and tech cooperative Village One. 

christophrauscher.de