On a hot Thursday at the end of June, the Digital Hub Mainz once again opened its doors to the local creative and design industry: as a pioneering event format, the Open Festival brought young talent into contact with renowned studios and media, including a variety of tours through the agencies in the state capital, lectures and networking opportunities. What was particularly fascinating for us as a media partner was that the day was largely organized by students from the Department of Design at Mainz University of Applied Sciences themselves.
Individual routes through the creative landscape of Mainz
Not a bad place to spend a great day: The Open Festival Mainz took place on the picturesque Rhine, more precisely in the centrally located Gutenberg Digital Hub, a regional hub for networking business, science and public institutions. In the morning, around 150 participants gathered there in six groups to explore the diversity of Mainz's creative landscape on individual routes: From photography and film studios to digital agencies, architecture and design offices - the participants were given an in-depth insight into a wide range of creative disciplines.
First the tour, then the dialogs
The 30 participating agencies, studios and ateliers included Tip-Top Express, Herzblut & Bock, Supernju, Funk, Mathilda Mutant, 3st Kommunikation, BB25, alma, Schiebezimmer, Designfunktion, MPM, Formaat, descom, Autorenkombinat, martin & Friends, N,Eis, Amor Coffee, Signalkraft, Worthafen, Frau Annika, Kontrastfilm, REZO, flyingshapes, Stephan Günther, tripmind, Eumel Film, Less, Labor and Faerber Architekten. The special thing about this year was the expansion of the event program: After the tours and divseren exchange opportunities, the "Open Talks" took place - a kind of speed dating with the agencies, which offered a direct and dynamic exchange opportunity. All participating studios came together again in the evening in the Gutenberg Digital Hub and were available for discussions over wine and snacks. This allowed the up-and-coming creatives to make valuable contacts in a short space of time, hand over business cards or portfolios and ask questions about the presentations given by the various creatives.
Who has the best questions? The next generation!
It is a great privilege for us at Grafikmagazin to be able to accompany such groundbreaking networking events as a media partner and experience the exchange directly on site. When do so many well-known creative agencies come together in one place to answer students' questions directly? It's actually a simple idea - but of course time-consuming to organize and implement. So it's all the more impressive that a dedicated group of students, led by Silke Philipps-Deters from Designforum Rheinland-Pfalz and Professor Gregor Ade from Mainz University of Applied Sciences, were responsible for the planning themselves.
It was a great pleasure for us to experience this side-by-side with our peers from Slanted Publishers and Verlag Hermann Schmidt and to exchange ideas about publishing with each other and with the students. We were extremely enthusiastic about the many complex questions about print production, payment models, creative idea generation and the editorial process that followed our keynote speeches. The fact that we are also in Mainz, in the cradle of book printing, gave us a lot of hope for the future of the print landscape...
Joint conclusion and outlook
At the final get-together, the President of Mainz University of Applied Sciences, Prof. Dr. Susanne Weissman, and Manuela Matz, Head of Economic Affairs of the state capital Mainz, spoke and concluded the day with enthusiastic words that emphasized the importance of creative and media networking in Mainz. The relaxed atmosphere provided the ideal setting for in-depth discussions and making new contacts. Last but not least, the commitment and support of the university and the city of Mainz itself made the festival an impressive example of student commitment and professional implementation. The event team not only showed their organizational talent, but also a creative vision for the entire region, which made the festival an unforgettable experience - for everyone involved.
What remains? Great gratitude for such inspiring event formats that promote dialog and the anticipation of the next Open Festival Mainz, which will once again bring together the city's diverse media and creative industries next year and open its doors for a day full of inspiration and exchange. Until then: Open your eyes for creativity!
All photos © Jan Bema
To the website of the Open Festival Mainz
More about the work of Designforum Rheinland Pfalz
What Mainz University of Applied Sciences has to offer
To the events offered by the Gutenberg Digital Hub
