Mainz University of Applied Sciences has been nominated for the Corporate Design Award 2025 in the “Corporate Design Redesign” category. This prestigious international competition annually recognizes outstanding design solutions and forward-looking brand identities from across Europe. The nomination underscores the creative quality and strategic relevance of Mainz University of Applied Sciences’ new corporate design—a significant achievement in a field traditionally dominated by large corporations and popular brands.
The judging panel’s nomination focuses on Mainz University of Applied Sciences’ updated corporate design, which has been modernized since 2023 by Neusitzer Brand Identity agency in close collaboration with the university. The redesign aimed for an evolutionary adaptation of the existing visual identity to meet the changing requirements of digital media and communication channels. While the logo was retained, the wordmark received a clearer design and the corporate font “Simple” was strengthened as an identity-defining element.
“Our new corporate design was selected from a large number of submissions and nominated in the Corporate Design Redesign category by a very wide-ranging panel of judges, alongside a total of 27 entries. The nomination alone in such a high-profile competition represents tremendous success for us as a university,” emphasizes Prof. Gregor Ade, Vice President, Communication and Community Outreach, and Professor of Corporate Identity and Design at Mainz University of Applied Sciences. “It recognizes our efforts to position the Mainz University of Applied Sciences brand more clearly, attractively, and memorably in the university market. When a panel of experts also validates this vision, we are naturally delighted.”
The nomination of Mainz University of Applied Sciences not only underlines the design excellence of its brand identity, but also its ambition to position itself clearly in competition with other universities. During the development process, particular attention was paid to target group-oriented use of numerous communication channels and consistent brand management across digital and analog touchpoints. With this nomination, Mainz University of Applied Sciences makes a strong statement: University communication can be just as innovative and design-forward as major brand identities. The Corporate Design Award, an industry benchmark for over 30 years, has once again become a platform for institutional identities that convince through clarity, attitude, and design quality. “We are proud of this nomination—as an expression of our commitment to design and as inspiration for future developments. We view design not merely as form, but as an attitude: sustainable, credible and identity-creating,” says Prof. Ade.
The panel of judges praised the nominees’ designs as “bold, strategically clever, and executed with high design quality.” The award is presented annually to outstanding projects that create lasting impact on the brand identity of companies, institutions, or products. In the selection process, each submission undergoes two rounds of evaluation before nominees are confirmed in a final meeting of the panel. The winning entries, including nominees, special mentions, and a Grand Prix, are featured in the official award yearbook.
