Surprising combinations
He connects things that, at first glance, seem unrelated, and presents the result in a striking and straightforward way. A visit with Simon Hofer, grandson of Bernese advertising pioneer Max Hofer.
A gravel path leads to an old town house that was originally a property owned by the Bernese patrician Madame De Meuron. The façade is covered in greenery, ivy climbing upwards. The graphic designer and art director has rented space here on the first floor with his small Simon Hofer advertising agency. Drawings, illustrations and photos decorate his office and give the space a special touch. Hofer attaches great importance to welcoming his clients in a personal atmosphere. Countless photos are also stuck to the tiled stove, on whose shelf rests a large black Buddha. No one should be "processed by a smoking graphic designer" here. The creative designer takes time for his customers - especially SMEs. They come for coffee, chat in the office or on the terrace in the lounge - right next to the hammock. Visitors gain an insight into Hofer's work as soon as they enter the agency. He has hung up a selection of his work. Here is a poster for the Bernese Young Boys, there a motif that Hofer created for the Camel Creative Challenge.
Two in one
His office is decorated, but his work is tidy and straightforward. It has to be clear and simple for the graphic designer. And another line is recognizable in his works: Hofer loves to mix objects from two different contexts. For the Spanish wine and spirits producer Osborne, he has modeled the arms of a tap puller on bull horns. For the "Faith in YB" campaign, he brought football and world religions together. And for a furniture retailer, he rooted the four legs of a wooden table like tree trunks in the forest. Hofer deliberately seeks out these correspondences. For him, the appeal lies in giving things a new meaning through these connections.
When he started out under his own name in 2008, he initially still had employees on board. Now he steers his boat without a crew. The graphic designer is a lone fighter. Working independently allows him to concentrate fully on a project, to power through creative phases until the tank is empty. After that, there is sometimes a lull. Hofer's working rhythm is like an up and downhill ride, which he prefers to take on alone. Hofer works with a network of freelancers on specific projects. Often with the advertisers from Franz&René, a bilingual agency that has its office in the same building.
Not in grandfather's shoes
The Simon Hofer advertising agency is not his first self-employed project. After several years as an art director at Polyconsult and Contexta, Hofer founded the Siebensinn agency together with two partners. He finally broke away from this agency in 2008.
His grandfather, who founded the Hofer Kommunikation agency in Bern over 60 years ago, served as a source of inspiration on his path to independence. However, Hofer never got to know him in everyday professional life. By the time he finished his apprenticeship at Hofer Kommunikation, Max Hofer had already retired from advertising. Joining his grandfather's agency later on was out of the question for Simon Hofer. "That's a generational story." He wanted to leave his own mark. (Hofer Kommunikation is now managed by Reto Steiner and Daniel Scheuzger; see "Head of the week" in Werbewoche on February 17, 2012).
Loaded with ideas
What connects Simon Hofer and his grandfather is their talent as draughtsmen and illustrators. And their thirst for action.
Hofer's ideas come out of the blue. A machine gun with colored pencils as ammunition hangs on a wall in his office. "Once I have the idea in my head, it has to come out," says the graphic designer. And then it is implemented - even without an order. Like his latest idea, a product development that he is stashing safely in a corner cupboard until he finds a buyer for it. Everything is still top secret. But this much can be revealed: Hofer has remained true to his line of mixing things up in surprising ways. Isabel Imper
In a nutshell
The trained graphic designer Simon Hofer (* 1975) completed his years of training and traveling at Contexta and Polyconsult, among others. As art director at Contexta, he supported and created campaigns for clients such as Swiss Lotto, Euro Millions, Swisscom Mobile and Swisscom. In 2004, he founded his first advertising agency Siebensinn with two friends. He has been running his own business, Simon Hofer Werbeagentur, since 2008 and develops campaigns as a freelancer for the following clients: Blatter AG Keramik, Olmo Market, Musikhaus Krompholz, BMW, Swiss Red Cross, USIC and others. www.simonhofer.ch
