Renée Gebhardt – Freelance Art Director Berlin

Freelance Art Director · Filmmaker · Co-Founder Karada House. Based in Berlin, working worldwide. She/her.

20 years as an Art Director. IKEA. VW. Die PARTEI. Bosch. Porsche. 200+ awards. Cannes Lions for furniture ads. A documentary about power and kink. Turned a church into a queer art space.

I don't separate commercial from cultural work. From ads to films to cultural spaces — I make work that people talk about the next day.

Selected Work

  • The Artist & The Pervert — Feature documentary. 40+ film festivals. HotDocs Canada, Thessaloniki Doc Fest, Raindance. Best Documentary Pornfilmfestival Berlin, CineKink NYC.
  • IKEA Cinema Catalogue — Guerilla campaign. 2× Cannes Silver, 1× Cannes Bronze.
  • BUND Time is Running Out — Environmental campaign. Cannes Gold.
  • BOSCH Fresh Stone Age Meat — 5× Cannes Lions.
  • Die PARTEI iDemo — Political campaign. 4× ADC Gold.
  • Fresh'N'Friends — Package design. Red Dot Grand Prix.
  • IKEA Delivery — Service campaign. 7× London International Awards.
  • Museum of Bureaucracy — Exhibition design. 2× ADC Silver.
  • Projektil — International lecture series, Bauhaus Universität Weimar, 2007–ongoing.
  • Porsche Dreamjob — Recruitment campaign.
  • Siemens Laundry Gallery — Pop-up exhibition.
  • Bombs from Berlin — PR campaign against German arms exports.
  • Kino-Zeit — Cinema magazine rebrand.

Awards

200+ awards including: 10× Cannes Lions · Red Dot Grand Prix · ADC Gold · One Show Gold · LEAD Award Campaign of the Year · Best Documentary Pornfilmfestival Berlin · Audience Choice CineKink NYC · 40+ film festival screenings worldwide. Also: Flop of the Week in W&V.

Career

Freelance Art Director (2014–present)

Clients include Antoni, BBDO, Edelman, Fischer Appelt, HEIMAT, Jung von Matt, Ogilvy Germany, Scholz & Friends, Serviceplan, THJNK Berlin, Zum Goldenen Hirschen.

Karada House – Co-Founder & Director (2019–present)

Queer collaborative art space in Berlin-Moabit, former church. 1,600+ events. Deutschlandfunk Nova, TAZ, Tagesspiegel, Siegessäule. Founded Queerope — first international queer rope conference.

Senior Art Director, Scholz & Friends (2010–2014)

Clients: Die PARTEI, Aktion Aufschrei, Bayer, Caparol, Fisherman's Friend, Penny, Saturn, Stihl.

Junior Art Director, DDB Berlin (2007–2010)

Clients: Volkswagen, IKEA Österreich, Bild.de, Bosch Hausgeräte.

Book Author, Verlag Hermann Schmidt Mainz (2005)

"Don't Panic! Der Praktikantenguide" — 320-page guide for creative industry interns. Co-authored with Björn Kernspeckt, Sebastian Locke, Antje Gerwien. Presented at Frankfurter Buchmesse.

Education

Bauhaus-Universität Weimar (2002–2007), Visual Communication. Cannes Young Lions Competition 2004 — represented Germany with Björn Kernspeckt. Co-founded PROJEKTIL lecture series, still running after 20 years.

Contact

Email: mail@rene-gebhardt.com · LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/renegebhardt · Website: rene-gebhardt.com