Das Tegernsee Branding

Das Tegernsee
Brand Identity Design
Client: Rob Coneybeer, Founder of Das Tegernsee
Role: Creative Direction, Brand Identity, Typography, Wayfinding

// Overview

Das Tegernsee is both a place and a summit. Each year, leaders in transportation, design, and technology gather above Lake Tegernsee in the Bavarian Alps for an invitation-only event focused on the future of mobility. Founded by Rob Coneybeer, Reilly Brennan, and Lars Kamp, the summit brings together visionaries shaping how the world moves, from autonomous systems to electric aviation and sustainable vehicle design.Set within one of Germany’s most iconic landscapes, the experience reflects the same tension the brand needed to convey: precision and freedom, heritage and modernity, reflection and motion. The environment is intimate and rigorous, with every session designed to spark conversation and collaboration among global innovators.The identity system needed to represent both a destination and a forum of ideas. It had to feel German in structure, international in tone, and timeless in execution. The result is a brand language that bridges place and purpose, uniting hospitality and thought leadership under one mark rooted in clarity, craft, and confidence.​​​​​​​

We started by framing the brand around four principles:

Unity and Release: a visual rhythm connecting architecture and experience

Each design direction explored a different interpretation of these themes before converging into a mark that captures motion, craft, and confidence.​​​​​​​

// Round One: Exploration

Early explorations focused on the relationship between form and engineering.
We tested a range of visual directions. Heritage-inspired insignias, geometric compositions, and modular line systems, all to understand how far the brand could stretch.

Three visual ideas stood out:

Modern Heritage: clean geometry and subtle national references

Technical Elegance: proportion and measurement as design language

This phase defined the visual foundation, characterized by Dunbar Tall's architectural rhythm, a bold primary palette, and a focus on precise alignment across applications.​​​​​​​

// Round Two: Refinement

The second round, titled Autobahn Executive, distilled the strongest direction into a more refined and engineered system.

The wordmark, set in Dunbar Tall Bold Italic, introduced movement and confidence while staying grounded in a grid of perfect proportion. The supporting palette drew from the German flag but elevated through modern tone and material contrast:

Together, they create a visual conversation between warmth, light, and grounding. The overall effect is quiet authority: refined yet approachable.

// Round Three: Systemization

In the final round, the identity system matured into a full visual language.

The Mark
A circular emblem, known internally as The Nest, captures the essence of Tegernsee. Three angled bars represent nature, hospitality, and craft: meeting within a circle that symbolizes unity and precision.

Primary lockup: horizontal alignment along the mark’s centerlineStacked: vertically proportioned using the width of the “E” as a spacing constant​​​​​​​

Dunbar Tall Bold Italic for expressive titles. Open Sans Bold for body and digital clarity

Color System
Each tone was tied to a specific behavior and atmosphere.
Alpen Sunset warms, Festival Gold draws attention, and Tegernsee Stone grounds the system with stability and weight.​​​​​​​

// Implementation

The system extended across all physical and digital experiences:

Environmental: signage, wayfinding, and large-scale exhibition panels

Digital: presentation templates, event graphics, and motion backdrops

Every touchpoint reinforced the same architectural logic and emotional restraint—a brand that feels effortless, even when built on precision.

// Outcome

The final identity captures the essence of Das Tegernsee as a summit for innovation and reflection. It expresses a quiet authority that balances engineering discipline with creative openness. The circular emblem, known as The Nest, became a unifying symbol for the event’s materials, signage, and stage design, embodying motion through proportion and purpose through restraint.Today, the mark represents more than a location—it signals a community. It stands for a gathering where ideas move as seamlessly as the vehicles discussed within its walls. Das Tegernsee has evolved into a design language for dialogue itself, rooted in precision, shaped by connection, and alive with meaning.

// Key Takeaways

Clarity through structure: letting precision drive beauty

Motion in stillness: energy conveyed through proportion

Cultural depth: national cues reimagined through modern simplicity

Das Tegernsee is more than a destination. It’s a study in how clarity, craft, and culture can coexist within a single visual system.