Wahnsinn Design — Good design is a human right.

Christoph Kolb, born in Cologne, started designing digitally in 1998. He has been friends with Arne Holzenburg since 2003. He studied and taught business and media psychology at HS Fresenius in Cologne, Düsseldorf and Hamburg, before founding Wahnsinn Design together with his friend Alexander Hachmann in 2008. He doesn’t regret a day ever since, loves his daughter, wife and family, music, cooking, dogs and the sea. Arne Holzenburg, born in Kassel, started designing and programming in 1998 and got his diploma in design from KISD (Köln International School of Design) in 2015. He has worked with Wahnsinn Design from day one and has been a permanent member of the agency since 2021. He loves his children, wife and family, music, nature and eco-conscious travel.

Wahnsinn Design interviewed by Red Dot

Red Dot: To what extent do you think new technologies are changing design?
Wahnsinn Design: Technology makes us who we are. What are we without language, writing, crafts, electricity or media? The recent advances in media change how we communicate and how we identify ourselves. Design is shaping these changes – enabling us to be more expressive or limiting us to be mere consumers. For us working in design, technology allows us to work almost anywhere, anytime. We can live happier, healthier and more individual lives without being forced to sit in a confined office daily. Cloud of Legacy was designed while living, not while life was happening to other people.

How would you define good communication design?
We’re close to Dieter Rams on this. Good communication design has to be honest, understandable and worthwhile.

What intention do you pursue with your award-winning work?
With Cloud of Legacy, its founder Uwe Böhler pointed in the right direction from the start: We set out to help people to take control of their legacy, helping and even delighting their descendants and easing their minds that important memories and data are safe. We helped bring his vision to life, designing a service that’s easy to use, feels safe and personal and takes the dread out of a difficult topic.

Was your award-winning work inspired by current social issues?
There is so much fear and so many taboos around death and dying, it can be hard to face the necessary steps to ensure your descendants are not left emotionally and informationally alone. This has long been the case, but services to help plan ahead are rare. It’s honestly puzzling for something every human will face sooner or later. In addition, most online services understandably are designed for the living first, ignoring questions of what happens after someone dies. So a lot of data – whether it’s about finances, property or the memories collected over a lifetime – is often lost in the digital abyss.

Please describe the concept of creativity against the background of your award-winning work.
Of course, design at its heart is always a creative process. We try to create with purpose, making our products and services as useful and understandable for their users as possible. With Cloud of Legacy users get to be creative as well – with their legacy. To create and curate individual messages, videos and photo collections, as well as important information for loved ones is fun and sad at the same time. It’s a rare and peculiar feeling, reducing the stress associated with the fear of death and helping towards accepting it gracefully.