Research for the networked society. In a new design!

We have big plans - and that's why we've fundamentally updated our external image once again.

We are delighted to be able to present a first impression of our revised corporate design! We have revised our colors to make them more distinctive and updated our fonts to make them easier to read. Overall, we have become brighter, more colorful and fresher. We have remained true to the backslash, our key visual, but have developed it into a design line that opens up new creative spaces for us.

We have also optimized our logo. The double backslash \\ in front of our word mark is not only reminiscent of our old design and picks up on the names of network paths, servers and resources in various programming languages. It also takes up a word from our namesake, the German-American computer science pioneer and social critic Joseph Weizenbaum, who called for a dividing line between the intelligence of humans and machines. In this sense, the Backslash reminds us again and again of this non-identity of human and machine thinking and decision-making and challenges us to work out and critically redefine the interrelationship between humans and machines or society and networked computers. In practical terms, the double backslash will help us to visually link the various groups, formats and series of the Institute with a common bracket.

A first result is the revision of this website. In addition to implementing our new look, we have tidied up the structure of the site and fundamentally revised the navigation and user guidance in particular. We will be adding further new functions here in the future. Stay tuned!