Frankfurt, 11 December 2023 – From 14 to 16 November, the automation industry met in Nuremberg for the international trade fair SPS – Smart Production Solutions. Atelier Markgraph designed and realised the presentation of the PLCnext Technology Ecosystem for Phoenix Contact, the leading German company for electrical and automation technology. Under the claim “Innovate, Collaborate, Create Impact Now”, collaboration was at the centre of the presentation.

The latest trends and developments in the automation industry – this was once again the focus of this year's SPS in Nuremberg. The trade fair presented solutions for a wide range of work areas to over 50,000 visitors and offered a platform for dialogue with developers of automation solutions. The topics of exchange and co-operation were at the top of the agenda for Phoenix Contact this year. The central theme of collaboration also characterised the design of the trade fair presentation.

‍

‍Transparent architecture with acrylic glass

Correspondingly, the large workshop area formed the centrepiece of the 180 square metre special area. The focus on communication was continued and expanded by numerous work areas spread across the stand area. The atmosphere, dramaturgy and architecture of the stand were designed to bring visitors and experts into dialogue. The colourful, transparent architecture made of acrylic glass provided an eye-catching design element. It allowed an unobstructed view over the entire stand area and at the same time provided areas for individual discussions.

‍

‍High-tech beehive as a community project

The presentation of the Beehyve community project was met with particularly great interest. Visitors of the stand were able to find out how the data obtained from the comprehensive investigation and digital recording of a beehive can be transferred to a wide range of industrial applications. The resulting projects, including artificial intelligence, cloud and edge computing as well as a digital twin, could be discovered and discussed at the stand. A sweet extra: the honey collected by the bees - filled into small jars - was also presented at the stand.

‍

‍Visual storytelling

Atelier Markgraph developed a combined design to visualise the main content and make the dynamics and flexibility of the ecosystem tangible: the interplay of fixed typographic and graphic elements on the walls with moving media productions. For the viewer, this created the impression of standing in front of a kind of gap text that develops into a continuous story through the changing image and text content on the monitor.

The typographically designed exterior walls of the trade fair stand were also an eye-catcher. The words of the trade fair claim "Innovate, Collaborate, Create Impact Now", which were repeated on the walls in a large and staggered format, had a strong long-distance effect.

For Atelier Markgraph, it was the fifth SPS trade fair appearance in a row that the Frankfurt agency was able to design and realise for Phoenix Contact.

‍

‍Credits

Client: Phoenix Contact Electronics GmbH, Bad Pyrmont

Graphic production / space-defining elements & furniture: Leko Grafik Produktion, Schorndorf

Sound: Wolfram Gruss | Custom Sound Production and Licensing, Aschaffenburg

Photo documentation: Kristof Lemp, Photography & Digital Imaging, Darmstadt

Film documentation: Christian Gerster, Multimedia Director

Programming: wirmachenbunt GmbH & Co. KG, Hamburg

Lighting design: Raphael Demonthy, Sunrise Studios GmbH, Berlin

Light & sound equipment: Production Resource Group AG (PRG), Berlin

Video technology: Hibino Deutschland GmbH, Oststeinbek

Motion design: Matthias Schilder, Frankfurt am Main