For his final project, Matthias Gieselmann visited designers at their places of work every week and talked to them about their work, their attitudes and their lives. An episode appeared every Monday, and many people interested in design listened (and still listen). formfunk is the only podcast in German-speaking countries on the topic of communication design.

Why audio? Because it leaves enough room in your head to think along. And a podcast, like its big sister, radio, is a good incidental medium. This is meant in a positive sense: anyone who is driving, ironing or photoshopping has time to think about what they are hearing. It becomes particularly interesting when we are talking about visual design. In the program, all of the guests have to describe design in order to activate the cinema in the listeners’ minds.

Twelve episodes have been produced so far, and they were heard over 2,000 times on average. The series is diverse: young and old, established and aspiring men and women from different sub-disciplines can have their say. Two examples: Matthias Gieselmann interviewed Daniela Burger (Art Director of Missy Magazine, Berlin) and Birgit Bauer (Professor of Design Theory, Berlin) on the subject of gender equality in the design profession. He talked to the educationalist and Author Frank Berzbach (Cologne) about having a healthy attitude towards one’s own work.

How can you introduce a podcast, which is actually at home in the internet, into an exhibition? At a table, the viewer can slip into the role of the interviewer. When he places one of about 80 interview cards – the notes that served as preparation for the interviews – on the table, an audio clip of the relevant interview sets in at the moment corresponding to the note. The podcast was awarded a grant by the Heinrich Hertz Society in July 2016.

formfunk-podcast.de