INTERVIEW WITH MAXIMILIAN SCHNEIDER,
BRAND DESIGNER

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN AT KUHN RIKON?
It doesn’t feel as though it has been that long at all… since August 2015.

WHAT IS YOUR AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY?
I am responsible for the external look of Kuhn Rikon. This includes the design treatment of our dual brand strategy (Kuhn Rikon Switzerland / Kuhn Rikon Swiss Design) as well as the classic corporate uses such as letter paper, business cards, envelopes etc. In addition, I am also responsible for the areas of packaging, printing, the web, presentations, forms, certain parts of our exhibition presence at fairs, imagery, our pictogram systems and product labelling. It’s highly likely that I have left something out. Thanks to the energetic and straightforward support of my colleagues, with some success, as I see it. Here I work in particularly close collaboration with our product managers, the marketing and industry design departments as well as with freelancers and agencies.

WHAT DISTINGUISHES GOOD DESIGN?
For designers this has to be the mother of all questions. I think that drafting a treatise here on my convictions about good design would be out of place and really bore some readers. However, as we are a global company, it is always exciting for me to observe how the concepts of good design vary so widely from country to country. It is particularly interesting to find solutions, which work in a relevant region of the world or for the entire world. This is often a matter of compromise, and a constant exchange of ideas with our subsidiaries and those responsible in the different markets is indispensable. In this the focus always remains on the challenge of keeping the recognisability and identity of our firm clear and unmistakable.

WHAT DO YOU LIKE DOING BEST BESIDES YOUR DREAM JOB?
This has to be spending my time with the people I am fond of. At best, this would be whilst participating in one of my favourite activities such as snowboarding, mountain biking, playing football (or watching it), walking, swimming, enjoying good food or wine. I really like doing something for the first time. Even if this is sadly getting rarer.

WHAT DO YOU LIKE COOKING BEST?
I really like conducting culinary experiments. Even if they don’t always work out. Apart from that, I find Asian cuisine very appealing.

WHICH COUNTRY HAVE YOU BEEN WANTING TO EXPLORE FOR A LONG TIME?
Japan, Canada and Finland are the three countries that been tempting me for a long time. I have just got back from Australia, and Japan is planned for next year.