For over 13 years, we have been advising the creative industries of Germany’s most populous federal state on behalf of the NRW Ministry of Economic Affairs – and have done pioneering work in the process: creative.nrw was one of the first and still one of the most influential cluster managements for the creative industries in Germany, establishing NRW early on as a pioneer in the structural development of this sector.
The task was not a classic communication task, but a location policy task: to give an industry that consists of over 53,000 companies and self-employed people and generates an annual turnover of around 39 billion euros the economic and political visibility it deserves. We developed narratives, formats and structures that make the creative industries visible not as a cultural phenomenon, but as a driver of innovation and a cross-sectoral industry – as a driver of digital transformation, as a source of inspiration for industries ranging from mechanical engineering to healthcare, as a location factor in the competition between regions.
We see the creative industries as seismographs of social change: what occupies creative professionals today – new value systems, immaterial goods, the economy of attention – will challenge other industries tomorrow. Our event formats and publications therefore lay the foundation for what lies behind the curve: they translate weak signals into strategically usable topics at an early stage and thus create a knowledge advantage for politics, business and the industry itself.
The result: NRW is now a nationwide reference point for the strategic development of the creative industries – with a platform that networks creative professionals, builds bridges to other economic sectors and has permanently strengthened the political connectivity of an often underestimated industry.
The illustrations by Shiwen Sven Wang lend the appearance an independent, recognizable signature with a high degree of appeal.
Selected merchandise items increase the visibility in the physical space as well as the identification of the community.
