125 Years Martin Stiftung

The founding of Martin Stiftung goes back to Luise Escher-Bodmer. In memory of her own disabled child Martin, she had her estate Mariahalden incorporated into a foundation in June 1893. Originally, Martin Stiftung was a children’s home where the mentally ill, poor, or orphaned children were cared for and educated. In 1905, the foundation opened a first new building above the vineyard, the so-called “Asylum”. It was available to young adults with disabilities. They were employed in the garden, viticulture, agriculture, basket work, and a shoemaker workshop. 125 years later the foundation became an important institution with residential care and work opportunities; it enjoys a high recognition for around 160 people with disabilities.

For their identity, we designed a colorful logo, which consists of wrong linear perspectives. This illusion, which was intentional, caused by the visual system obviously differs from objective perception. Working with cognitively disabled people requires different points of view to understand and assist them in the best way. This process is seldom linear.

The design was applied in environmental graphics and visuals for the anniversary. For the symposium, which takes place at Park Hyatt Zurich, we designed a key visual based on the 125^th anniversary identity. The design is conceptually close to an early redesign of the Martin Stiftung foundation.

Client Martin Stiftung / Date #2017 / Category #Branding / Branding Agency #Heads / Designers Marco Simonetti, Roman von Arx / Illustrator Marco Simonetti / Consultants Ralph Hermann, Kristina Brunner

Design Direction Marco Simonetti @Heads Corporate Branding