Visualizations of Diversity

The poster campaign was realized as part of an interdisciplinary cooperation project of the Diversity Commissions of Faculties 2 and 10, and the Prorectorate Diversity an International Affairs of the University of Stuttgart, with the HfK+G*, private University of Communication and Design, Stuttgart, in the academic year 2022. The goal was to visualize diversity topics of the University of Stuttgart, to make them emotionally tangible and to initiate communication about them. Under the direction of Prof. Michaela Köhler and Simon Schillings, students of communication design and illustration dealt with the topics of identity and diversity as part of their visual communication seminar and examined them in terms of content and design.

Below you find a selection of the poster motifs created. The best 12 posters were chosen at a vernissage in October 2022. Of the best, 2750 printed posters were distributed throughout the University of Stuttgart and are today on display throughout the campus.

In April 2023, the project was made visible to a wider public as part of the University:Future Festival. This was done both through an informative talk and through permanent integration into the Creative:Space, a virtual space for art and discussion.

We listen. We learn. We care. We explain. We discuss.

The design students used various design research methods and semi-structured interviews as a basis. Interviews and research were conducted on site with members of the University of Stuttgart and international students on campus. Results were utilized to create striking mood boards, which were implemented using the technique of visual brain dumping. At Diversity Day in May 2022, they were presented as a pop-up exhibit on campus as a shoulder view. This was followed by the visual conception and design of the individual poster motifs shown above, which were implemented in large format and printed and realized in Din A0. All motifs were presented and selected at a vernissage open to all interested at the university in October 24, 2022. The final distribution of printed versions of the chosen motifs throughout the university followed in January 2023.