Golden confetti – Silver nail

353 things and a silver nail – that’s probably the best way to describe Leonie Braitsch’s journey to Hamburg. At the renowned ADC Festival 2025, her bachelor’s thesis “353 – The (too) Many of My Things”, created at the DHBW Ravensburg, was awarded the Silver Nail in the experimental design category as part of the ADC Talent Awards and also received two further awards.
The Art Directors Club for Germany (ADC) is one of the most influential creative associations in the German-speaking world. Its aim is to bring exceptional ideas to the fore and to promote creative quality in design, communication and media. Once a year, it hosts a festival in Hamburg – an industry gathering featuring exhibitions, talks, discussions and the grand awards ceremony. There, the coveted gold, silver and bronze nails are awarded. Also in attendance are the major agencies and well-known names in the industry – which makes it particularly exciting for young designers to be able to present their own work as part of the ADC Talent Awards.
The award-winning work “353” is a video installation about consumer behaviour. The starting point was the observation that everyday consumption leads to an ever-growing quantity of personal belongings, the scale and significance of which often go unnoticed. To make this visible, Leonie documented and staged her own everyday objects – in vast quantities, bizarre and sometimes banal. Rather than pointing the finger at others, she turns the spotlight on herself, thereby offering an accessible food for thought. The result is a visual inventory of objects that does not come across as didactic, but instead creates an approach that is both humorous and serious. This was precisely what the jury of the ADC confirmed: the work had “caught them out in their own everyday lives and really struck a chord”, clear in its message, refreshing in its presentation and compelling in its simplicity.
The project was developed as part of the dual degree programme in Media Design at the DHBW Ravensburg, which was completed at VISUELL. What makes this course special is the close link between academic training and practical experience within a company. In Ravensburg, great importance is placed on projects that regularly open up new perspectives and sharpen the focus on design. It is precisely these projects and the close collaboration with different people that have a decisive influence on the students: moving away from a purely aesthetic understanding towards design as an attitude, communication and impact.
As part of the Media Design students’ exhibition weekend, “353” was also shown alongside other final-year projects during the Art Night at the Ravensburg Art Museum. This allowed the work to reach an even wider audience. Visitors paused in front of the videos, smiled, discussed and reflected on their own “overflowing things” – precisely the moment of reflection the project aims to provoke.
The award of the Silver Nail at the ADC and the presentation at the Ravensburg Art Museum illustrate just how much design can spark discussions and provide food for thought. A conclusion that feels like golden confetti.

^{Photo credits for the award ceremony: Kevin Mohr/ADC}