less is more – dietrich untertrifaller
visual identity
bregenz, frankfurt, munich, paris, st.gallen, strasbourg, vienna, 2024

this internationally active architectural practice with offices in bregenz, frankfurt, munich, paris, st. gallen, strasbourg and vienna brings together a whole raft of creative minds, nationalities, languages and styles, has a very long name compiled from the surnames of its two founders and needs – pause for breath – a new visual identity. how should such a diverse design team credibly present itself in terms of corporate identity? to put it simply: by keeping it simple. first of all we take that long name and – reaching into the old box of tricks – take out all the vowels, which we don’t need here. what’s left includes three lots of TR, and the equally bothersome CH combination, which could be assumed to stand for switzerland. so out that goes, along with two of the TR pairings. two Ls together doesn’t look great either, and that’s rapidly reduced to one. so now we‘re left with DTRFLR − not bad, but still too long. plus the repeated R is trying to make itself look important, and there are six letters in all − an even number. odd numbers are more visually attractive and make better groupings, so one of those Rs has to go. what’s left is DTFLR. this works well when spoken out loud, with a bit of practice, and its form is symmetrical: bookended by the two letters with rounded shapes, each next to a letter with a vertical and a horizontal. in the middle, like a hinge, stands the only letter in the group with two horizontal bars. the new lettermark is readily recognisable and its abstract word-shape communicates the complexity of the company, with its many voices, young and old, female and male, calvinist and romanesque. jb dn! grt!

dietrich untertrifaller
visual identity
bregenz, frankfurt, munich, paris, st.gallen, strasbourg, vienna, 2024

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