Word mill

Mühlheim at the river Main with 30,000 inhabitants is a quaint town within the area of Greater Frankfurt and a sought-after place of residence. Major Bernd Müller and the managing director of the city-owned property development company, Ralf Petzold, initiated a competition to find a new Corporate Design for the city and offered awards of 10,000 Euro. Citizens were invited to participate in finding a vision and a motto for the city. Based on their finding 14 students of HfG's class, Hesse developed designs during the winter semester 2008/09. The task was to showcase all the different communal services and companies under one roof, give them order and make them identifiable. A jury of well-known experts decided unequivocally upon Marco Gabriel and Arndt Poser's new concept of a “word mill” or in German “Wortmühle“. The logo of four lines uses the four available “M”s and becomes a playground for wordplay with notions in regards to administration, living, energy and culture. The jury praised a lively idea bound to make people identify with their city. Jury head, Prof. Andreas Uebele from Stuttgart, is convinced that the principle of a “word mill” mirrors the wits of the local citizens and will still be interesting in 20 years time. 

 

Viktor Balko's sophisticated graphical idea won the second prize. He created a circle using six “M”s, the centre being the wheel of a mill or a star. Khodadad Bahmani surprised with design for the media. The jury appreciated his illustrations and awarded him the third prize. At the presentation for the public in Mühlheim's Willy-Brandt-Halle Kathrin Polikeit and Caroline Senkel convinced the audience. Their “waved M” got as many votes as the “word mill”.  

 

The winners:   

1. prize: Marco Gabriel / Arndt Poser   

2. prize: Victor Balko   

3. prize: Khodadad Bahmani   

4. prize: Kathrin Polikeit / Caroline Senkel   

  

Jury:   

Prof. Andreas Uebele (Büro Uebele, Stuttgart)   

Peter Zizka (Heine/Lenz/Zizka, Frankfurt/M))   

Bernd Müller (Bürgermeister Mühlheim/M)   

Ralf Petzold (Geschäftsführer Wohnbau GmbH Mühlheim/M)