Divided Together - Typography & Identity
Designed whilst working at Neonpastell GmbH
The Heimat Museum Oettingen required an advertisement campaign for their upcoming exhibition Geteiltes Miteinander – Divided together.
context
Over 500 years ago, rival ruling families divided the town of Oettingen, a split that later acquired religious significance following the Reformation. As a result, Catholics and Protestants lived side by side yet remained strictly separated by physical and social boundaries that shaped daily life and attitudes for centuries.
Divisions in the town influenced how each group perceived the other: Catholics were often seen as more festive and relaxed, while Protestants were viewed as stricter and simpler. Religious identity was not merely symbolic but visibly embedded in everyday life, with household objects, wall decorations, and even clothing signaling affiliation. Such markers reinforced social boundaries that were deeply ingrained and difficult for newcomers to the town to understand.
Over time these divisions gradually lost their power. Reforms, including the introduction of a unified Bavarian school system in 1968, helped integrate previously separated communities and reshape shared civic life.
strategy
The social and physical transformation experienced by the people of Oettingen provides the foundation for the museum exhibition and the campaign theme advertising its opening. Through colour, shapes, typography, and archival imagery, I explore both the separation and coexistence that characterise the town’s past. This creative investigation examines how communities occupied the same spaces, how their relationships evolved, and how their history reflects both conflict and cooperation.
Two sides, two stories, two worlds. The old meets the new.
Final Campaign
A legacy that is at once divided and shared.
Neonpastell GmbH is a design & communication agency based in Augsburg, Bavaria.