Launch Event - Wish Frame The Collage Edition

The launch event for the Wish Frame on Wednesday, 29 May 2024 at betahaus Berlin was a complete success. Thanks to the numerous guests, the wonderful catering and the surprise performance by Ain The Machine, it was an evening I will always remember.

From the "Why" to the "What for" of the Wish Frame

In my opening speech, I responded to the questions from some coworkers who asked me about the "purpose" and "why" of this project. "Why are you doing this?" "Who is the target group?" In both entrepreneurship and art, the question "Why are you doing this?" can be powerful, but also very challenging. Because art speaks to personal interpretation and its impact often goes beyond words. A more effective question than "Why are you doing this?" is: "What are you doing this for?" I asked myself what effect the Wish Frame should have and found what I was looking for.

In the world of personal development, the effect of vision boards or post-its with affirming beliefs on the bathroom mirror or on the desk has become indispensable. We have also been working with the New Work Heroes publishing house for years to produce all kinds of postcards in collaboration with illustrators and artists. So it was obvious to develop a product like the Wish Fame, only with a slightly higher standard of aesthetics and functionality than a pale yellow Post-it.

Together with Felicitas Gerlach from WilsonFreitag Design, I went on a search and visited various print studios in Berlin. It was not at all easy to fulfil the requirements, but in the end we developed a product with the experts from Maren Thomsen that met our expectations. A stand-up display made of 1 mm thick cardboard with a black passe-partout and the surprising play of colours on the pink inside and back. The Wish Frame is open at the top so that there is space for an A5 card to be attractively presented.

The collaboration with the artist Dorsa Ahari

When I met the artist Dorsa Ahari at an art market in betahaus Berlin, I quickly realised that I wanted to do something with her. Her precise eye for compositions of bodies, colours and shapes really inspired me. On the further journey to the conception of the Wish Frame, I realised that the narrative of the hero's journey, which the New Work Heroes use in books, podcasts and also workshop formats, could be the ideal basis. So Dorsa asked whether he could imagine developing artworks for the four phases of the hero's journey: Abyssos, Metamorphosis, Agon and Lysis. The result is four unique collages that capture the spirit of the hero's journey in a unique way and leave plenty of room for inspiration and creativity.

In the podcast episode attached to this blog post, you can find out exactly what the process of creating the four artworks for Dorsa looked like. We talk about Dorsa's journey from Iran to the UK and Berlin. We talk about their experiences with different cultures. How Dorsa's work as a developer complements her artistic ambitions. And about the astonishing similarities between art and computer science.

When you believe in something and you actually hold on to it like a glimpse of hope. And you find an answer to the question: What is it that makes me sparkle? And you hold on to that and you keep on doing that until you really know what it is. Then suddenly one day you come out of your cocoon like a butterfly.

Launch Event und Vernissage

Wednesday 29 May was the day. I invited people to a launch event and also to a vernissage where Dorsa's original collages were framed and on display. The event was fully booked and over 60 people attended. The wonderful catering by Ria Effendi "The Travelling Soulchef" carried us through the evening, as did the special performance by Ain the Machine, which we thoroughly enjoyed. We enjoyed the art with good conversation and non-alcoholic cocktails, I talked a little about the concept in my keynote speech and there was the video premiere of the great motion graphics that Yohannes Tesfu developed especially for this evening. I would like to thank all the guests for their support at our small sales stand, some of the limited edition copies of the "Wish Frame - The Collage Edition May 2024" were sold. Many thanks also to Johannes Goudefroy for the beautiful photos.

The Collage Edition of the Wish Frame with art by Dorsa is limited to 100 pieces and includes both the stand and the art prints in DIN A5. I would be delighted if you could also order one of the limited editions. Because the rule here is: "First come first serve!" - There is no reprinting. Further collaborations are planned in the near future so that your Wish Frame can be filled with your very own thoughts and also with the various works of art.