Brief
Ferrero commissioned a large-scale art wall project for its workplace environment with the goal of increasing employees’ awareness of safety at work.
Rather than approaching the theme through more rules, warnings, or didactic messaging, the challenge was to create something employees would genuinely connect with — something that could strengthen attention, care, and a sense of shared responsibility from within.
Challenge
How do you communicate safety in a way that does not feel like another instruction?
The project asked for a visual language that would resonate emotionally with employees, reflect Ferrero’s identity, and create a more human, memorable atmosphere inside the workspace.
The challenge was to move from external compliance to internal motivation:
not simply telling people to be careful, but creating an environment that reminds them why care matters — for themselves and for one another.
Concept
My response was a concept I described as reverse advertising.
Instead of using promotional imagery to sell products, I used familiar characters, nostalgic visual codes, and emotionally charged everyday scenes to reflect back to employees what is precious: life, family, memory, belonging, nature, warmth, and the feeling of home.
The idea was that safety should not emerge from fear or repeated instruction alone, but from a stronger emotional connection to one’s own life and to the people around us.
In this sense, the project became a visual reminder of:
- the value of one’s own life
- the importance of looking after others
- the dignity of everyday work
- the family spirit within the company
The overall tone could be described as a German take on La Dolce Vita — rooted in Ferrero’s heritage, but reimagined through a contemporary artistic lens.
Research and process
To ground the work in the employees’ own emotional world, we invited them to share photos, videos, and images of their happy places.
These contributions became an important starting point for the visual development. Across the material, recurring emotional themes emerged — moments of rest, family, nature, warmth, memory, belonging, freedom, and simple pleasures.
From there, I developed different concept directions, including:
- retro travel poster-inspired imagery
- vintage advertising references
- scenes influenced by Ferrero’s Italian heritage
- visual links between Stadtallendorf, Ferrero history, and employees’ own emotional landscapes
The goal was not nostalgia for its own sake, but to use familiar visual codes to create recognition, warmth, and identification.
Visual direction
One of the core directions explored a modern take on vintage advertising and retro travel posters.
These references offered a strong emotional bridge:
they feel familiar, optimistic, and culturally embedded, while still leaving room for reinterpretation through my own visual language.
The concept combined:
- Ferrero’s historical imagery and brand legacy
- Italian cultural references such as Alba, Piedmont, lakes, mountains, villages, and family life
- employees’ own associations with comfort, belonging, and joy
- a warmer, more human visual atmosphere within the workplace
Rather than placing products at the center, Ferrero products and iconic characters were treated more subtly — as part of a broader emotional and cultural story.
My role
- concept development
- artistic direction
- visual research
- moodboards and narrative framing
- translating the brief into a distinct artistic approach
- drawing the final large-scale visual artwork
Format
- Project type: large-scale workplace art wall / commissioned spatial artwork
- Client: Ferrero
- Location: Stadtallendorf
- Dimensions: each 3x2m
- Medium: digital painting / large-format print / installation
- Year: 2026
Outcome
The project transformed a functional internal communication goal into a more human and emotionally resonant visual experience.
By shifting the focus from rules to recognition, the artwork supported a workplace atmosphere shaped by care, identification, storytelling, and shared value — helping safety become not only a policy, but a felt relationship to self, others, and the environment.
