Professor Gregor Krisztian is the current president of the Friends of the Communications Design Program "Die gestaltende Gesellschaft e.V."

Die Gestaltende Gesellschaft supports the communications design program in material and immaterial ways, especially in the areas of teaching and research, which are especially vital for the program's quality. At the last meeting, the outgoing chair of the association Professor Jürgen Schwarz reported on the activities of the Gestaltende Gesellschaft and concluded with a critical summary. Professor Gregor Krisztian was then elected new president. The new chair advocated for a better integration of the members into planned activities and intends to especially focus on maintaining alumni relations in future. At the next meeting, an action plan is going to be discussed and resolved with participation of all members.

Board:

• Professor Gregor Krisztian (President)
• Professor Cornelia Freitag-Schubert (Vice-President)
• Professor Jörg Waldschütz (Vice-President)
• Kai Staudacher, diploma candidate (Public Relations Officer)
• Petra Dietlein, diploma candidate (Secretary)
• Ursula Neumann (Treasurer)

The DDC Academy provides interdisciplinary course offerings with rotating instructors from the practice and was initiated at the former Fachhochschule Wiesbaden in 2007 by the DDC's advisor Professor Gregor Krisztian. In the upcoming winter semester, three DDC members will offer corporate design workshops and accompany the project from its conception to the final presentation. Responsible for the concept, administration and evaluation: Professor Gregor Krisztian

Overview of the DDC instructors so far:

• Kerstin Amend, Standardrad/Offenbach
• Oliver Aumann, Aumann & Hochmuth/Frankfurt
• Elisabeth Budde, Transparentdesign/Frankfurt
• Michael Eibes/Wiesbaden
• Niko Gültig, Crossmark/Frankfurt
• Claus Koch/Düsseldorf
• Frank Koschembar/Frankfurt
• Gregor Krisztian/ HochschuleRheinMain
• Dominik Lammer, Scholz + Volkmer/Wiesbaden
• Dieter Ludwig Architekten/Stuttgart
• Peter Oehjne & Ilka Eiche, Oehjne Eiche/Bad Homburg
• Ursel Schiemann/Düsseldorf
• Sandra Wolf/Darmstadt

Go to the DDC website www.ddc.de.
(The link leads you to the site's page for up-and-coming junior designers.)

The Agency Project is also a practice-oriented multi-part project and was initiated by Professors Gregor Krisztian and Jürgen Schwarz. In four-week classes, participants grapple with complex advertising assignments that range from the initial briefing to a final presentation. Responsible for the concept, administration and evaluation: Professor Jürgen Schwarz

Overview of the agencies involved so far:

• DDB Düsseldorf (Philipp Böttcher, Creative Director)
• Leo Burnett Frankfurt (Christina Mendach, Bernd Knothe, Ulf von Wallersbrunn)
• McCann Erickson Frankfurt
• Ogilvy & Mather Frankfurt (Dr. Stephan Vogel, Creative Director)
• Vier für Texas, Frankfurt (Sebastian Sell, Chief Executive Officer)
• Young & Rubicam Frankfurt (Uwe Marquardt, Creative Director) 

By presenting weekly lectures from the academy and from the practice, this series of talks encourages participants to take a look beyond the rims of their teacups. The lecture series aims at 

• informing about current themes and issues for designers
• familiarizing with as well as critically questioning value systems
• developing effective project and workflow models
• giving insights into relevant developments and trends
• interpreting broader design contexts
• increasing competitiveness

The series was initiated and is organized by Professor Gregor Krisztian.

Participating speakers so far:

• Christine Mendach & Bernd Knothe; Leo Burnett, Frankfurt
• Kimberly Lloyd; M Publishers, Wiesbaden
• Rolf Frenzel; TreTorri Verlag, Wiesbaden
• Ute Grünewald; Deutsche Post, Bonn
• Lutz Hackenberg; AGD, Braunschweig
• Karin Schmidt-Friderichs; Verlag Hermann Schmidt, Mainz
• Holger Schmidhuber; Fuenfwerken, Wiesbaden
• Claus Koch; Düsseldorf
• Gerald Hensel; Neue Digitale, Frankfurt
• Bettina Prange; Scholz & Friends Identify, Berlin
• Tim S. Weiffenbach & ; Illustratoren-Organisation
• Dr. Albert Heiser; Berlin
• Ulrike Walther; Designerdock ,Frankfurt
• Britta Hesse; Leo Burnett ,Frankfurt 
• Art Directors Club; Pink Saturday

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