Keychain in the signals of hope design
Frankfurter Buchmesse

Signals of Hope

* Campaign

* Digital Event Plattform

* Content Marketing

* Brand Platform

* Digital Branding

Digital event, web platform and digital campaign - A digital forum for the annual international Book Fair sends signs of hope to the world in 2020, a year characterized by a pandemic.

The Frankfurter Buchmesse is THE cultural event of each fall and always a place for socio-political discussions. But how to discuss topics such as climate, racism, sea rescue or equal rights when the gates of the fair are closed due to a pandemic - and how can opinion leaders participate in the discussion to bring it to a broad public? Together with experts inside and outside the fischerAppelt Group, we developed, implemented and launched the "Signals of Hope" concept for the Frankfurter Buchmesse 2020.

Jürgen Boos, Direktor der Frankfurter Buchmesse, vor Signals of Hope Log

Jürgen Boos, Director of the Frankfurter Buchmesse, in front of Signals of Hope logo

The task

In mid-June 2020, the Frankfurter Buchmesse commissioned us with the conception, development and marketing of a digital panel event.

Signals of Hope-Generator, Logo auf T-Shirt

Signals of Hope-Generator, T-Shirt

The execution

Under the guiding principle SIGNALS OF HOPE, the first digital and international panel event of the "Frankfurter Buchmesse" was launched. Inspired by the international signal flag alphabet, we developed a striking and playful visual language that presented the diverse program in a consistent, attention-grabbing and playful way - and one that could be picked up and amplified by multipliers.

On our virtual stage, people affected as well as experts from organizations such as the UN , Amnesty International  and Fridays for Future  discussed topics such as sea rescue, gender justice and climate change. Curator Mahret Ifeoma Kupka  posed questions about Black literature in Germany in a video essay. Poetry slams, readings, DJ sets (in collaboration with United We Stream ) and podcasts continued the themes on a dedicated website. Here, visitors and influencers could create their own SIGNAL OF HOPE and broadcast it to the world: #signalsofhope.

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"Working with Fork was a treat. The people working there are smart and combine an in-depth understanding of content with great design and strong digital solutions. Even when we had to act quickly and many things had hardly ever been done before, the project always progressed constructively. My client-heart leaped with joy!”

Katja Böhne, VP Marketing & Communication Frankfurter Buchmesse GmbH

Webseite „Signals of Hope“ der Frankfurter Buchmesse

Signals of Hope entry page, with program

Signalflaggen-Alphabet für Signals of Hope

Signal flags alphabet

Signals of Hope, published on social media channels


The result

The message and design of Signals of Hope had an impact far beyond the actual program and were picked up by almost all media covering the "Frankfurter Buchmesse". Signals of Hope made its mark as the central message and look of the Frankfurter Buchmesse 2020. The conclusion of the organizers of the Book Fair was as follows: "What started as an exciting experiment turned out to be a great success: The aim was to transmit signals of hope during these difficult times: to the entire industry and to all fans of culture around the world. All of our expectations for this year's predominantly digital book fair were exceeded."

Responsive Layout

Responsive layout

Karin Schmidt-Friderichs vor Signals of Hope

Karin Schmidt-Friderichs in front of Signals of Hope Logo

Play Video

 

Walkthrough Webseite Signals of Hope

Signals of Hope, mobile view

mobile view

Signals of Hope, Signals on social media

Signals of Hope, signals on social media

Signals of Hope-Generator

- 7 Images

Gallery with different Signals of Hope motifs