New HfG Offenbach Website

After 12 months of intense preparatory efforts by a working party consisting of professors, editorial team members and students, on February 18, 2015 the new Hochschule für Gestaltung (HfG) Offenbach Website went online.

The relaunch was masterminded by four students Mathias Bär, Manuel Roßner, Anna Skopp and Julia Zuleger and was supervised by Professor Alex Oppermann. HfG intends the redesign to be a clear signal that a major step forward is being taken. The content, and this is likewise new, are now almost completely available in both English and German. Technical implementation was handled by meso.net.

Layout concept

Teachers and students alike shape the face of HfG through their work, while the university provides a setting in which they can develop themselves freely. With this in mind a design was evolved whereby the content has a decisive influence on the website’s appearance. There were no rigid layout criteria set to which content then had to be adapted. Individual objects are arranged continually in a pattern. The width of the browser determines how pages are made up and how white spaces are formed. This means an individual image is automatically created for every page and every screen width.

Design elements

The line is the expressive element that all HfG disciplines have in common. As a design tool it is key to the website’s design concept. In its role as a designator, it structures the content and helps users navigate the site. Chance errors and irregularities lend it an individual character. The line is transformed from a purely functional object into an independent form, which shapes the look of the HfG website.