MUTABOR celebrates
25 years
of independence.

MUTABOR celebrates
25 years
of independence.

Creative Independence –
The winning mindset.

"25 years of experience and the courage to keep entering new fields of business is our formula for success," says CEO Johannes Plass and predicts: "Independent creativity will be an invaluable asset for the clients of creative advisory services in the future.

Mutual trust.

"Independence is a result of mutual trust, needs a relation to necessity and opportunity, provides decision-taking of one’s own free will, enables us to make a difference." – Philipp Buhl, Head of Marketing & Channel Management, GCX

Equality, diversity and sustainability.

"Being flexible and independent allows me to focus on other topics next to my regular job as an Art Director, such as equality, diversity or sustainability." – Corinna Ruttert, Art Director

Working from abroad.

"For me, independence means being able to implement my own work ethic and methods. This includes working from abroad, which is refreshing and encourages creativity." – Ruben Koch, Account Manager Digital

Pushing boundaries.

"Independence fuels my passion for developing innovative concepts, pushing boundaries, and leaving a lasting impact on the world around me." – Niklas Karbowiak, Manager Strategy & Business Development

Corporate culture.

"Independance, as part of our corporate culture, encourages and supports employees to develop their creativity." – Anne Papin, Associated Partner / Client Service Director

Shape my own career.

"Independence means that I can take my career into my own hands and shape it — even if I want to change paths within the agency. Mutabor gives me the independence." – Felicitas Patt, Senior Manager of Operations, Transformation and Training

Give advice to clients.

"In an independent agency, I can give advice to my clients - I don't have to sell them anything." – Tobias Flosdorf, Client Service Director

Find new solutions.

"Being independent means having the chance to deviate from the beaten path and to find new, exciting solutions." – Phillip Kortlang, Executive Creative Director

Deliver what we promise.

"Independence means sovereign decisions, independent opinions, personal trust and the ability to deliver what we promise." – Oliver Dering, Associated Partner / Creative Director / Architekt

Do things you believe in.

"Independence means being able to do things that you believe in and enjoy." – Christoph Ortmann, Head of UI Design, BSH

Challenge the status quo.

"Independence offers the potential to challenge the status quo and try new ways of doing things. Today, independence is essential for positive change." – Paul Neulinger, Creative Director

Our independence in milestones.

Explore twelve important steps we took. Each milestone started something new that is now an integral part of what we are and will be. Each of them shaped our portfolio, our team spirit and our attitude.

1993
Born as publishers – Mutabor Magazine and books.
1998
Design hot shop for automotive - with BMW.
1999
We pack the 3 stripes - Global Packaging.
2002
For Volkswagen & Co: magazine makers on a large scale.
2003
With 4 rings around the world – Brand Experience.
2006
Cutting-Edge digital Experiences - for adidas in Paris.
2010
In the first league of corporate identity creators - Bundesliga.
2012
B2B branding on a new level – Clariant.
2014
A strategic milestone. The Mutabor Brand Report
2016
The Königkontor – a big step towards New Work.
2019
Porsche Retail – a design spreads worldwide.
2020
Next level Report - The first CSR report of a design agency.
1 / 12

Born as publishers – Mutabor Magazine and books.

Mutabor Magazine started as a design fanzine and became a collector’s item, available in Paris, Milan, New York, Tokyo and London. As magazine makers, we discovered our passion for publishing – which led to several design books, all edited by Gestalten, Berlin. The magazine helped us build our, attracted the first clients and was the nucleus of the founding team.

2 / 12

Design hot shop for automotive - with BMW.

The founders acquired BMW as partner for their university diploma and as their first client. So, from the first moment on, Mutabor had the chance to learn from the best marketing pros and created numerous international top-level design concepts. The love for the automotive market remained – as well as BMW’s love for Mutabor, coming back as a client more than a decade later.

3 / 12

We pack the 3 stripes - Global Packaging.

The next life-changing client was adidas. Mutabor was set the challenge of coming up with a global packaging concept and was signed. It was our first packaging job ever. For the next years, all packaging for performance and originals was developed in Hamburg – and adidas stayed as a client for more than 13 years.

4 / 12

For Volkswagen & Co: magazine makers on a large scale.

Following the concept of combining the areas of automotive and lifestyle, we started a number of content publishing projects that made us one of the leading players in corporate publishing. Amongst the clients were Condé Nast, the German icon Auto Motor Sport and the Premier Automotive Group. The biggest account was Volkswagen magazine, which stayed with us for a decade.

5 / 12

With 4 rings around the world – Brand Experience.

Maybe the most important booster for our development: at the IAA 2003, we debuted as a live communications agency for Audi. In the following years (16 in total up to this day), we helped to shape the brand’s appearance in all dimensions – leading to incredible projects, numerous awards and a reputation as world-class experience design experts.

6 / 12

Cutting-Edge digital Experiences - for adidas in Paris.

Technology has always had a huge impact on our work. With the immersive digital installation ‘adidas mi innovation Center’, made for sensoric shoe customisation, we reached a new level that earned us worldwide attention. From there, we built up broad-ranging expertise for digital experiences from interactive spaces to smartphone apps and AR/VR.

7 / 12

In the first league of corporate identity creators - Bundesliga.

It was not our first big CI/CD project, but a lasting one. For more than 12 years, we have been consulting the Bundesliga in terms of corporate design, brand building to turn it into an international sports brand and continuously refreshing its appearance. Among a long list of awards, the Bundesliga/DFL was named digital brand of the year in 2018.

8 / 12

B2B branding on a new level – Clariant.

With the 360° identity shift for one of the biggest chemical companies, we started to reach a new level as brand consultants in the B2B and industry markets. Up to this day, we have helped the company develop their brand ever further – and many other B2B companies followed suit and asked for our guidance.

9 / 12

A strategic milestone. The Mutabor Brand Report

Our first brand study introduced a new perspective on brand measurement and ranked international brands according to new, digitally driven KPIs. This publication, that also included a blog and media partnerships, was the first cornerstone to our new strategy department.

10 / 12

The Königkontor – a big step towards New Work.

A true milestone: we had the privilege to design and plan the home of our brand. The König Kontor in Hamburg opened in 2016 and features not only flexible workspaces but also our own cafe and a vast auditorium with a conference centre. Our Bauhaus idea of interdisciplinary working became a reality.

11 / 12

Porsche Retail – a design spreads worldwide.

We have done retail before, even on an international level. But with the redesign of the Porsche dealerships, we created a holistic global retail design starting with a modular system of materials and furniture that extended to a new branded facade that is now part of the Porsche Design DNA.

12 / 12

Next level Report - The first CSR report of a design agency.

As a design-driven company, we are eager to contribute to society. That’s why we started to up our sustainability, equality and data security engagement. To document this, we published our first CSR report and achieved the ECOVADIS silver seal, awarded to Germany’s most sustainable companies.

8th of May

Creative Independence Congress

On 8 May, we are going to host our first Creative Independence Congress – MUTABOR Talks for Creatives, Consultants and Change-Makers at Königkontor. In addition to selected MUTABOR heads, we are going to invite top speakers from the creative industry to the stage to discuss the importance of independence in the context of brands, business and transformation.

A short review of 25 years of independence

Heinrich Paravichini
CCO & Founder, MUTABOR

Johannes Plass
CEO & Founder, MUTABOR

Strategies for developing iconic brands

Corinna Asmus
Global Director Brand Identity, NIVEA

Peter Kettenring
Team Lead Product Design, Canyon Bicycles

Ipek Molvali
Managing Partner, MUTABOR Packaging

From Corporate Identity to Change Identity

Marle Janßen
Executive Strategy Director & Associated Partner, MUTABOR

Christian Breid
Managing Partner, MUTABOR Design

The next industrial revolution

Matthias Schrader
Founder/Thought Leader/Autodidact

Marco Ivers
Designer/Innovator/Managing Director, Vioki

Burkhard Müller
CDO, MUTABOR

On the Way to New Work

Michael Trautmann
Top Manager/Entrepreneur/HR Expert

MUTAVERSE
The Mutabor Futurelab

An immersive world where we take our imaginations to the next level and revolutionise the way we work. A place where we play with our visions and experiences using AR, VR, Web3 and AI. The platform on which we develop ideas for the future together with our clients.

“We have been independent consultants for 25 years, using the power of great design to drive change for brands, businesses and organisations.”
MUTABOR Website

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Katja Kopatz-Pritchett
Director Operations
Press
Cathrin Knefelkamp
Corporate Communications