The shape finder

Raspberry pink, pistachio green, chocolate brown. For some years now, Luxemburgerli from Confiserie Sprüngli have no longer been sold in the white and blue cardboard box, but packaged along the lines of the sweet macaroons. Contents and packaging match, the inside corresponds to the outside. "A perfect symbiosis," says André Hauser, who helped give the traditional product a new cover. With his company Hauser & Partner, the owner has been communicating for companies, brands, agencies for 32 years. Messages and emotions are transported via three-dimensional means of communication. With packaging, in a shop window, via the design of a trade fair stand, corporate architecture or event marketing. For the cosmetics chain Marionnaud, Hauser & Partner is in charge of the entire branch network in Switzerland; hundreds of shop windows that are renewed every two weeks. The company helped McDonald's to a fitting appearance at the OLMA, and realized a multifunctional lounge for the Wirz agency. On the occasion of the Credit Suisse annual general meeting, the Zurich Hallenstadion was remodeled - including reception, stage area, conference and aperitif zones, and a wayfinding concept.

The goal is always to find the perfect form for each company, for each product. From a black cardboard box, Hauser pulls out a new men's perfume. It's a slim, cylindrical bottle with Bakelite caps at the ends. "The shape expresses what's inside." Round, simple and strong, like the product itself - a tart scent reminiscent of incense. Hauser sees everything in pictures. Numbers are not abstract to him, but carry a certain color. The 3, for example, is always green. There's no other way. "Synesthesia was the reason why it took me longer than the others to do mental arithmetic." Hauser knew early on that he would one day design. As a teenager, however, he had architect in mind as his dream job. The apprenticeship he began as a structural draftsman was abandoned after just three months. It was "too narrow" for him.

With the subsequent apprenticeship as a window dresser, a world opened up to him. He dealt with agencies, manufacturers, craftsmen and customers, gaining insight into the entire process, from concept to production to presentation at the POS. "I knew a relatively large amount, a little bit of everything, but nothing really." He didn't want to leave it at that. Hauser wanted to understand every single step independently. So that he could once produce his ideas himself. Today, Hauser & Partner covers the entire process: from the initial idea to planning, production, assembly and dismantling, and disposal. On an area of almost 3500 square meters, the company conceives, designs, prints and produces in Dübendorf. 75 people are employed for this purpose: Poly designers, interior designers, advertising technicians, graphic designers, construction and furniture carpenters, civil engineering draftsmen, model builders, textile technicians, etc. A large number of the three-dimensional communication materials are produced right on site, in the new building that was occupied in 2012. Hauser gives a tour of the building, showing printing presses and the production facility. The elevator takes us down to the basement. Here, counters, tables, chairs, armchairs, chandeliers, spotlights, cushions and much more are stored on 9000 cubic meters. Everything that is needed for an event.

A large hall in the center of the building offers space to set up installations - and to present them to customers. At the moment, huge light chains are being installed on the concrete wall. "Hauser is convinced that "three-dimensional communication has to be experienced. "That's the only way it unfolds its impact." He takes the perfume packaging in hand again. "When I see this box as a picture, it's just a black box. Only when I touch it do I get a sense of what it really is. How big it is, how rough the surface. " During the walk through the offices, Hauser comes to talk about the company's philosophy. He emphasizes that his employees are involved in the work process from conception to result and take responsibility. The owner is convinced that this increases job satisfaction and motivation. Nothing was left to chance in the design and furnishing of the office building either. The workstations are set up flexibly. The height of the desks, for example, can be adjusted at the touch of a button. A cafeteria with a large courtyard has been set up on the top floor. This is where people eat together. Shortly before noon, a cook is busy preparing food in the open kitchen.

"For me, André Hauser is an exemplary entrepreneur," says Dominique von Matt, owner of Jung von Matt/Limmat. "He has managed to build a special corporate culture: open, participative, inspiring, with a light touch and a high degree of humanity. In our business, that's the key to success." With the new company headquarters, a wish has come true for Hauser. Now the environment also matches the company. The cool and unagitated aluminum and glass building offers the 3-D specialists an ideal environment in which to design. "Our work is loud, so the surroundings have to be discreet," explains Hauser.

Loud, that means to stand out. Hauser & Partner surprises without having to resort to the stylistic devices "even bigger ", "even shoutier". For the launch of the new Mini Convertible, Hauser cracked the top of an ordinary Mini with a 250-cm-long can opener. True to detail down to the last screw. "André Hauser's work is characterized by stylistic confidence and independence," says von Matt. Hauser thinks beyond the given. This is how he scores points with clients. "His three-dimensional solutions are not 1:1 implementations of an existing communication concept. He always surprises with his own ideas and thus creates added value. That's what's fascinating about the collaboration. " "He is a creative and visionary mind who sets high standards for himself in terms of organization, perfection and execution," says Tomas Prenosil, CEO of Confiserie Sprüngli. The family-owned company has had Hauser & Partner provide holistic support for years. "André Hauser is a sensitive and reliable partner and has a feel for what a company needs." There is often a tendency among clients to show as much as possible, to communicate a lot, says Hauser. That leads to a mess, he says, in which it's no longer clear what it's all about. "The art is called omission." Hauser's credo: Show as little as possible - but really loudly. He demonstrated this for Sprüngli, for example, in the production of the truffle creation "Blanc&Noir": a white shop window with just four black bars enclosing a small glass display case with the product.

Even though no one goes into town to look at the shop windows anymore - except maybe at Christmas - Hauser is convinced of the strength of the medium. "It is an efficient means of communicating values and strategies," says the entrepreneur. In the short term, to draw attention to a product and increase sales, but equally in the longer term, for branding and positioning the company. Prenosil also emphasizes this. "The shop window is a very essential communication tool for us, and also a good measurement tool for our promotions," says the CEO of Confiserie Sprüngli. "The customers' reactions are immediately noticeable." Thus, at least the short-term success after a product has been presented in a new way can be determined straightforwardly on the basis of sales figures.

Hauser finds it exciting to integrate new media into three-dimensional communication. Technically, he says, screens are slowly getting to the point where they can be used. But he often underestimates the fact that a digital medium makes people believe that everything is new and up-to-date. The content therefore has to change constantly. "If a screen runs the same thing three times, that's much worse than a good installation." In a fast-paced age where passersby are bombarded with news, images and music, Hauser then finds it equally exciting to leave everything out and focus on just one thing. "I want to create something that sticks." Something that makes people look again, take their time and let something sink in. "We've forgotten how to feel with our eyes." No wonder, Hauser particularly likes the diamond network of steel stretched around the facade at the company headquarters. Because you have to look closely here. From the front, the shear cut is practically invisible, but it gains in intensity the closer you look at it at an angle to the façade, until finally there is only steel to be seen, no more glass. The facade seems to move steadily until you realize that it is you who is moving. "It's like life. Nothing happens by itself, you have to do it yourself," Hauser says. "Once you realize that for the first time, you accomplish a relatively large amount."

Isabel Imper

In a nutshell

After training as a window dresser, Andre Hauser (59) worked at Jelmoli from 1975 onwards (3D designer/marketing/merchandising). In 1981 he founded Hauser & Partner. With 75 permanent employees and a freelancer network, the company communicates in the third dimension. The spectrum includes window dressing and object staging, packaging, interior design, trade fair design, signage systems as well as exhibitions and event marketing. Clients include companies such as Beyer Chronometrie AG, Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprungli (Schweiz) AG, Confiserie Sprungli AG, Credit Suisse AG, Engadin St. Moritz Mountains AG, Exersuisse Service AG, Flughafen Zurich AG, Gais Center Aarau, KPMG AG, LVMH PC Parfums Cosmetiques SA, Marionnaud Switzerland AG, Shoppingcenter Gaupark, Shoppi Tivoli, Sihlcity Center, Tissot S.A., UBS AG, Walo Bertschinger AG.