Conception and Design of Communication Measures
on the Subject of 'Krieewelsch Platt' – the Vernacular of Krefeld
'Krieewelsch Platt' – the local vernacular of my home city Krefeld (Germany) is deeply connected to the city's history and the people living in it. In the project I have used this deep connection and positive association between the language and comments that I received by people surveyed. This was to create an identification campaign for Krefeld which would ultimately improve the city itself and the image it has among its citizens. When surveyed, people identified certain characteristics with the vernacular of Krefeld. These were that Krieewelsch Platt is fun, brings to mind family and more emotively, always is linked with home.
This identification campaign is based on quotes obtained from Krefeld's citizens about their city, these are placed at points of interest in Krefeld such as the high street, museums, the riverbank and marketplaces.
Said quotes lead its readers to the website, this offers information about the project and people that joined in. A map is the central point of this homepage: It shows the already placed quotes and invites others to place some of their own. These are placed digitally on an interactive map. The most liked quotes will then be published into a form of hard copy and physically placed at the locations which were identified online originally. The successfully chosen quotes, will not only be placed physically at the location but will also be made into merchandise.
All merchandise profits will be returned into crowd funding projects; these are projects that enhance the city and fulfill suggestions previously made by the citizens. This information can be found on the homepage. Examples of which include such things as: more flowers in the city centre, more benches and a generally cleaner city. Whenever a product is sold, the buyer can choose to which project the profit should go to. This way everyone (participant and purchaser) can join in the process of improving the city. By buying and using a product the customer also shows his or her loyalty to Krefeld.
To tie together the results of my research and my concept, visually, I have based the design of my communication measures on the city's unique grid layout.
To do that I have used the city map as the design-grid for the quotes. Their wording is limited and partially cut off by the city's streets and therefore, gives them their logo-like appearance.
The homepage is loosely based on the map as well, as it obtains its compass-navigation look, from it; It's navigation points are positioned on the website's edges and resemble North, South, East and West.