Editorial design and film production for grünstadtgrau

Urban, diverse, vibrant – that’s Stuttgart’s western district. Yet it is dominated by dense development, car parks and heavy traffic. Among other things, these factors lead to heat build-up in traffic jams and a lack of fresh air corridors in the respective urban areas. Almost everything is sealed … 

On behalf of the Office for Urban Planning and Housing, we are presenting the contents of the Talgrund West framework plan in an accessible manner to foster greater awareness of undeveloped spaces and greening measures among all those involved in the planning process (planning authorities, architects, developers), as well as politicians, citizens and landowners. The aim is to initiate many small-scale measures to remove paving and introduce greenery on private land and in public spaces, in order to enhance the quality of housing and the living environment. 

An urban development framework plan is an informal planning tool. It identifies the development potential of an area and outlines its future use in broad terms – put simply: it provides proposals for the use and development of land and plots. The Department of Urban Planning has developed this plan in detail over the last decade. In meetings and workshops, we work with the department’s officials to formulate a concept for public communication and the appropriate media. 

We realise that we need to find a design that appeals to different target groups, that reflects sustainability – the green ethos –, that is suitably tailored to different media, and that takes into account the corporate identity of the City of Stuttgart. As a team, we devised and developed the project name: grünstadtgrau. The colour palette we chose consists of vibrant shades of green set against dreary, concrete-like shades of grey, thereby illustrating the desired change. In accordance with the guidelines, we use the DIN typeface by Albert-Jan Pool to emphasise the official character of the City of Stuttgart. 

Formulating a 55-page framework plan into a comprehensible, informative and entertaining brochure for the general public is an exciting challenge. VISUELL has developed a concept that guides the target audience from grey to green, encouraging them to rethink, redirect, change, get involved and take the first step. The topic is communicated clearly using icons, illustrations and infographics. They are all in a simple, straightforward style to highlight the connection to urban planning and architecture. 

In addition, we are designing and producing a promotional film aimed at the general public, in which the technical details of the master plan are presented in a simplified manner. The film features drone footage of Stuttgart’s Talgrund West and demonstrates the before-and-after effects using concrete examples of changes to the development plan. We illustrate these changes to the streetscape within the film using still images overlaid with animated drawings.

For the target audience of architects and civil engineers, we are designing a leaflet that clearly illustrates the key points relating to planning law and the recommendations of the framework plan, using graphics and original plans. When closed or, rather, folded, the leaflet corresponds to the DIN A4 format. It can be displayed as a DIN A1 poster featuring a full-page plan of the Talgrund West area.