Updated July 3, 2025
I feel especially comfortable creating for screens, but Iām notoriously curious, driven to explore, learn and experiment across all kind of media. Thatās why I like to collaborate interdisciplinary and do projects that cross-scale in production, going back and forth between digital and analog.
If you need to slap a single label on what I do, I like the German term āGestaltingenieurā (which translates to something like āengineer of formā), but basically Iād prefer for you to simply think of me this way: Iām not specialized in **anything**, Iām specialized in **everything**.
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Experience
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Beeing a habitual beginner and ālearn-aholicā, I grow my skillset primarily by doing. Most recently Iāve leveraged my roughly 15 years of experience in creation and code by
teaching Game Design and co-developing said degree program at Euro-FH, University Of Applied Sciences
since **2024**ā¢Remote (Hamburg, Germany)
teaching Game Design and co-developing said degree program at Wilhelm Büchner Hochschule (Wilhelm Buechner College)
since **2024**ā¢Remote (Frankfurt, Germany)
exploring technology and its effects on culture and society as founder and chairman of the non-profit Virtuelle Kultur e.V. (Virtual Culture)
on a project basis since **2020**
shaping visual systems and helping brands through strategic design thinking and art direction as self-employed **design consultant**
occasionally since **2018**
planing, designing, and building digital solutions and helping brands evolve as designer and front-end developer at Wagnerwagner
since **2013**ā¢Remote (Reutlingen, Germany)
running an experimental art practice dubbed **allyourhype!**, acting as a formless archive for random self-expression and creative experiments
infrequently since **2012**
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You might be thinking _āThatās a hell of a lot of stuff pal!ā_ and youāre absolutely right. I do a shit load of things.
Do I do too much?
_Maybe._
Do I spread myself too thin?
_Probably._
Do I enjoy every little piece Iām working on, though?
_Absoā(pardon-my-french-)fuckingālutely!_
Design Ethos
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Even though Iām utilizing my craft in as many forms as I possibly can, I try to align all of my design work with what I like to think of as my design ethos. As fashion designer Rick Owens explained perfectly:
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> »Whenever I get asked to do a project, I always think of it as an opportunity to promote my values.«
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So while preferences and focus points change and my attitude towards specific design philosophies and style concepts may shift, the following ideas are more fundamental, allowing for a better understanding of my values and how I aspire to approach design projects on a broader scale.
At their core the outlined sentiments are meant to withstand the test of time, yet this is a āliving documentā originally drafted in 2023, but **last updated in February 2025**:
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> I believe design is best approached with a ādonāt-know-mindā and in a playful yet meticulous manner. At the beginning of each project, we need to learn as much as possible about context and the flow of things, to then develop an individual approach and finally design from inside to outside, from the userās experience backwards to the solution.
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> The crucial part is to ask questions, listen closely and be empathetic to the culture we create for. And since design draws from and feeds back into the world around us, good designers borrow from multiple places. We have to go through life with our eyes wide open, we need to study everything around us.
> To design is to shape the future. Therefor, good design is holistic and sustainable, robust and consistent, innovative yet accessible. To achieve that, the baseline has to be simplicity and clarity, but we shouldnāt shy away from offbeat aesthetics, playful storytelling and even lavish beauty, if appropriate, either.
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> Design needs balance, it has to speak to the head and the heart. Form follows feeling, just as form follows function.
> I furthermore believe in doing good work without rushing, crafting with intention and that the best āstuffā is built by happy folks. Creativity is thriving when people are.
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> Design is not meant to be a sprint to a finished product nor a one-time thing, but a perpetual refinement of the given. Itās a process of growth, a steady search for value meant to be organic and iterative. To craft consistently well we need our working relationships to be long-term partnerships built on trust and care.
> As designers, we have to acknowledge circumstances as they are, but our work has to be future-positive, it has to be beneficial and empowering. Design is not just _āwhat it looks likeā_, or even _āhow it worksā_, ultimately design is about the meaning it produces, itās about what it enables. We might be hired by companies and organizations, but we work for those affected by our craft.
Projects
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After completing my design degree back in 2012, Iāve developed brands and built digital solutions mainly through my full time engagement at Wagnerwagner for more than a decade now. This means two things;
First, most of the (big) commercial projects Iāve worked on start to finish since 2013 have been a team effort within said full-service design agency and it doesnāt feel right to put those center stage and in-depth on my personal website. Theyāre much better off at wagnerwagner.de, but Iāll be happy to share some of them upon request.
Second, Iāve successfully developed brands and built digital solutions on a professional level for more than a decade now. I know my shit.
Contact
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Due to my numerous long-term commitments and extremely limited remaining capacities, I rarely take on new assignments for the time being. If you have something special you want to collaborate on and therefore talk about, though, message me on Linkedin.com or get in touch via good olā Email. Iām always down to casually meet and muse over fresh ideas with a good cup of coffee or a nice matcha.
And if thereās only one thing about me to take away from this website, itās that Iām always interested in learning something new to broaden my horizon.
Alternatively, thereās of course the solid option to join forces with the tried-and-tested team of Wagnerwagner or the collective mind of Virtuelle Kultur e.V. if you want to end up working together.
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(more) About Me
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Iām convinced how we spent our spare time not only tells a lot about us as a human being, but strongly influences our output as creatives, as well. In the wise words of the amazing Frank Chimero:
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> Ā»Iād say slow down, find a quiet place and create time for solitude so you can hear yourself. Itās so noisy out there. And find the good ones around you āthe patient, compassionate and interestedā then elevate the conversation as often as you can. The things that nourish you are also the things that will nourish your work, give it purpose, depth and soul.Ā«
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So here are a few things that nourish me.
### Music
Besides art, all kinds of design and technology, I get most excited about music. Iāve worked on graphics and artworks for a few bands in the past and Iām dabbling into making music myself from time to time, but mainly I enjoy growing and listening to my beloved record collection.
Here are some of the recently purchased LPs occupying my record player most often at the moment:
### Games
I probably do not deserve the title āGamerā and might not conform to the stereotype either, but Iāve been into video games since eight year old me watched my big brother play Secret of Evermore on his SNES back in 1996.
Besides the sheer entertaining qualities and the frequent utilisation of experimental hardware and emerging technology, I believe video games are still crucially underrated as an artform and cultural property.
Here are some good or at least interesting games Iāve played recently:
#### Hades II
install from Steam \[Early Access\]
#### Possessor(s)
\[Demo\] wishlist on Steam
#### Songs of Conquest
install from Steam
### Books
Even so I spent most of my reading time with my first-born daughter and her favourite childrenās books right now, I manage to squeeze in a few pages of the books recently added to my āantilibraryā and some re-readings of a few of my favourites every now and then.
Here are some books Iām currently reading:
##### Fumitake Koga, Ichiro Kishimi
#### The Courage to Be Disliked
buy this book
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On the topic of reading and time spent; Thanks kindly for stopping by and taking the time ( so far) to read through this website, your attention isnāt taken for granted!
Thatās it with the āme\-me\-me\-festā for now. Have a great day and remember to scroll slow.
Much Love.
Colophon
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This is the 2024 iteration of my personal website which has existed in various forms since around 2009. The current version is composed of a bunch of dead simple handwritten files. This website is hosted green, all files necessary to run lucasrees.com are served through my own webspace.
If given a choice, I build websites without tracking, fingerprinting or personalised cookies. This one leads by example: I only use a selfhosted instance of Matomo (cookieless and anonymised) to get a basic idea of the visitors of this site. If you still want to opt-out, though, you can.
Text is set in āSatoshiā by the Indian Type Foundry, the Serif font used in some graphical includes is set in āRecklessā (by Displaay)
The JavaScript utilizes GSAP and paper.js
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Ā©2025 Lucas Reesā¢Imprint (in German)
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