Philippe Wassenberg

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Information

Luminous Tile
Crossing the Alps
Elbe-Mulde-Ultra
Plymouth Journal
Collection of Doors
Sprout
weissraum
Masto
Shirts

Education / CV

Hi! I am Philippe.
An interdisciplinary designer based in Leipzig, working across graphic design, type design, photography, illustration, and material based practice.

I am interested in the way people experience things, both consciously and unconsciously. Therefore, my work is rooted in visual communication and driven by the question of how design can inform, shape perception, and create emotional resonance. Visual impressions, textures, light, sound, and atmosphere all influence how we perceive and use spaces, objects, and images. This is where my work begins. I explore everyday conditions and familiar structures in order to understand their effects and shape them with intention. Rather than limiting myself to a single discipline, I move between different fields and methods depending on what a project requires. What matters is the interaction between different forms of expression and their combined impact. Curiosity is at the core of how I work. I am drawn to experimentation, material exploration, and processes that allow ideas to develop through making. I value clarity, sensitivity, and strong concepts. But I also believe that design should be felt, not only understood.

I studied Integrated Design at Hochschule Anhalt in Dessau and am currently continuing my studies at the Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig, where I focus on type design. Beyond my studies, I have worked across academic, practical, and self-initiated contexts, experiences that have influenced both how I think and how I engage with others.

If you want to realise a project or just want to know more, feel free to reach out.
By the way, I am fluent in German, French, and English!

0049 162 9648578
info@philippewassenberg.de
@pifflle

Luminoius Tile (2025)

Bachelors Thesis at Hochschule Anhalt
Supervised by Prof. Katrin Günther
and Maria Volokhova.

Light is a constant in our lives. It structures our day, shapes our states of alertness and rest, creates orientation, atmosphere and a sense of safety. A glance into lit windows on an evening reveals just how naturally and often unconsciously it is used. A single press of a button is enough to flood a room with harsh brightness or bathe it in any number of colours. Technically speaking, light is available at any moment, in varying intensities and colour temperatures. Its effects on the body and mind, however, frequently go unnoticed.

The Light Tile engages with this tension. In its resting state it is dimmed, providing orientation and a quiet sense of security even when a room is otherwise dark. As a person approaches, the light source moves a few centimetres out from its resting position and increases in brightness. As they move away, it draws back and softens once more. The technical mechanism remains hidden; what is perceptible is solely the movement of the light source and the shifting cone of light it casts.

In this way, it reflects the natural rhythm of activation and rest, deploying light deliberately and in response to the moment. The starting point is the tile, one of the oldest architectural elements in existence. As a ceramic tile, the natural resilience of high-fired ceramics makes it suitable for both indoor and outdoor use. As a plaster tile, it can be seamlessly set into dry-lined walls, plastered over and painted. In becoming a light source, its role shifts from purely functional building component to an element that actively enters into a relationship with the people around it. The Light Tile is my attempt to bring light back closer to the human, to shape it as a conscious, tangible presence within
a space.

Curious about the process? Watch the production process here.

Crossing the Alps (2024)

Personal Project produced at Hochschule Anhalt

The 80-page photo documentary documents a crossing of the Alps from Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GER) to Colico (IT), undertaken with my father in the summer of 2024.

It navigates a tension inherent to travel photography: the coexistence of images made on a smartphone and those captured with a digital camera. Rather than resolving this difference, it is made visible. iPhone photographs are presented within their natural frame, the smartphone screen, acknowledging the device as part of the image rather than merely its container.

Education

Academie of fine Arts Leipzig (HGB)
Graphic design (Diploma)
April 2025—ongoing

Anhalt University of Applied Sciences Dessau
Integrated Design (BA)
October 2020—March 2025

Arts University Plymouth
Photography (BA)
September 2021—March 2023

Albert–Ludwigs–Universität Freiburg
Economics (BA)
October 2019—September 2020

Gymnasium Ettenheim
A-Levels
September 2010—July 2018

Primary School Münchweier
Primary school
September 2006—July 2010

Awards / Scolarships

German Design Awards
Newcomer Nominee 2026

Scholarship 2025
Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes

Idea Cup 2025
Semifinalist

RIMOWA Design Award 2024
Semifinalists with Masto

Bestform Award 2023
Saxony Anhalt

ERASMUS Scholarship 2022

Work experience

Student assistant for plastic workshop
for Dipl. Des. Jan Bauer
November 2024—March 2025

Student assistant at VorOrt
for Prof. Brigitte Hartwig
October 2021—June 2022

Ui/Ux-Designer
at SchulLV GmbH
October 2021—February 2022

Student assistant
for Prof. Pollmeier
October 2020—March 2021

Order picking
for Aldi Süd Mahlberg
October 2018—April 2019

Architecture internship
at Schaudt und Lamprecht
August 2018

Architektur internship
at CM2A Numen Muñoz
April 2015

Exhibitions

HGB x Ecal Atlas Exhibition 2026
Leipzig

Light+Building 2026
Frankfurt

Kunst for a Fuffi 2021
Dessau

Kunst for a Fuffi 2022
Dessau

German Student Union
38th Poster exhibition
Berlin