Corporate design for the Evangelische Kirche in Düsseldorf

The development of the design is preceded by a strategic process in several phases. Our brand team examines various aspects and factors – be it a citizens' report commissioned by the Protestant Church, the conducting and evaluation of an internal survey to develop the mission statement, or the creation of personas to highlight people's needs for future media and above all the website. In addition, for the first time and more comprehensively than ever before, we record the services and offerings of all parishes and bundle them into suitable categories.

With a redesign and the comprehensive branding process, the Protestant Church District of Düsseldorf wants to establish a modern, fresh and consistent design line that reflects its self-image and represents the institution with which members of the Protestant Church, interested parties and cooperation partners associate the characteristics of the church district and the Evangelische Kirche in Düsseldorf.
The 17 Düsseldorf parishes, the fields of action education, pastoral care and proclamation, and the administration together form the church district. To visualise this, we choose the symbol of several houses that are visually arranged into a cross, thus representing community, faith and, at the same time, the multitude of different Protestant places.

In keeping with the pictorial mark, numerous combinations, each depicting a cross, emerge from simple basic shapes and offer diverse applications – from small lapel pins to large-format posters, on which the elements can be used as a whole or cropped. The various colours and visual overlays are reminiscent of church windows. They stand for the vitality and diversity of the Evangelische Kirche in Düsseldorf.

The church district uses numerous media, whether in administration, public relations or everyday parish life – from business cards, flyers and PowerPoint templates to T-shirts or flags outdoors. An online corporate manual supports the application of the graphic system and provides numerous templates for download. This ensures a consistent external appearance in implementation as well.

In a step-by-step process, all stakeholders are brought on board and involved. The start is made by three so-called pilot parishes in Düsseldorf, with more following gradually. An implementation kit with office equipment and a flyer introducing the corporate design helps ensure that the new design is accepted and used, so that identification, recognisability and better perception in external presentation are achieved.

For parish members and interested people, alongside personal contact on site, the website is nowadays the most important brand touchpoint – whether for the online service, the concert in my parish at the weekend or the youth camp for the summer holidays. A simple corporate website becomes a large service portal in which events and dates – alongside the “classic” services of the church such as weddings and baptisms – have top priority and visibility. After all, an active parish life arises above all from people's participation.

As part of the relocation of the central administration, the new corporate design is transferred to the interior design and signage.

In the inviting foyer of the “Haus der Kirche”, the new colours, the new typeface and the key visual are applied at various touchpoints – from the wall design and the digital wayfinding system to the coffee machines.