Sammeln — German for "to collect". A film about why every living being, feels the urge to gather, sort and keep things. Even a simple stick can become a piece of art.
In collaboration with Kevin Jaeger.

Sammeln — German for "to collect". A film about why every living thing, feels the pull to gather, sort and keep. Even a simple stick can become a piece of art.
In collaboration with Kevin Jaeger.

Sammeln

Company

Rennmeister, Heizr Club

Rennmeister, Heizr Club

Timeline

2025

2025

Role

Concept, 3D, Art Direction

Concept, 3D, Art Direction

The Idea

"Sammeln" began as a personal project between Kevin Jaeger and me — a way to challenge ourselves, improve our technique and find a shared style without a client or a brief in the room. Following our common interests, we landed on the act of collecting itself as the theme, and then kept asking the obvious-but-hard questions: what even is collecting? What makes something worth keeping? Why do we feel the urge to gather at all? The film became our attempt to answer those questions visually rather than verbally — a study disguised as an art piece.

The Concept

We have discovered that gathering is by no means a human invention. It runs through the entire natural world—animals gathering food, building nests with astonishing precision, and organizing their world. Gathering is a living being’s fundamental interaction with its environment: organizing, filtering, and sorting what surrounds it. This new perspective became the backbone of the film—gathering not as consumer behavior or hoarding, but as something instinctive, almost beautiful, shared by all species.

The Value of Things

Another recurring theme in “Sammeln” is value and how elusive it is. What is valuable to one person means nothing to another. We came to the conclusion that the value of an object does not lie in the object itself—it lies in the appreciation for it, in the process of acquiring it, in the care with which it is curated, and in the way it is ultimately presented. That is the alchemy of collecting: with enough attention and the right presentation, even a simple stick becomes a work of art. Most of the film revolves around proving exactly that.

The Film

The result is a short animated art film — abstract, serene, intended to be felt rather than understood. Instead of narrating the idea, we let it speak through the images: collected, sorted, and highlighted objects, nature, and instinct, rendered in CGI. It is the most purely artistic project either of us has ever undertaken, and the one that leaves the most room to breathe.

The redesigned Fourpoints website launched as a clean, professional, and engaging platform. Visitors could quickly understand the firm’s offerings, explore case studies, and access thought leadership content seamlessly. Interactive infographics and visual storytelling made complex sustainability initiatives easy to grasp, while responsive design ensured accessibility across devices. Post-launch feedback indicated increased engagement and longer session durations, and Fourpoints reported a rise in inquiries from prospective clients. The project successfully positioned Fourpoints as a modern, credible leader in sustainability consulting while giving them a scalable digital platform for future growth.

The redesigned Fourpoints website launched as a clean, professional, and engaging platform. Visitors could quickly understand the firm’s offerings, explore case studies, and access thought leadership content seamlessly. Interactive infographics and visual storytelling made complex sustainability initiatives easy to grasp, while responsive design ensured accessibility across devices. Post-launch feedback indicated increased engagement and longer session durations, and Fourpoints reported a rise in inquiries from prospective clients. The project successfully positioned Fourpoints as a modern, credible leader in sustainability consulting while giving them a scalable digital platform for future growth.

The redesigned Fourpoints website launched as a clean, professional, and engaging platform. Visitors could quickly understand the firm’s offerings, explore case studies, and access thought leadership content seamlessly. Interactive infographics and visual storytelling made complex sustainability initiatives easy to grasp, while responsive design ensured accessibility across devices. Post-launch feedback indicated increased engagement and longer session durations, and Fourpoints reported a rise in inquiries from prospective clients. The project successfully positioned Fourpoints as a modern, credible leader in sustainability consulting while giving them a scalable digital platform for future growth.

Collaboration

“Sammeln” was created through close collaboration—Kevin Jaeger and I shared the concept, art direction, and 3D animation rather than dividing up the tasks. This close collaboration with another artist was an essential part of the project: it brought our techniques and styles to a level that neither of us could have achieved alone. The film is as much about this creative exchange as it is about its subject matter.

Craft & Process

Behind the calm of the finished film lies the usual, unglamorous groundwork—the making-of feature shows the creative process, the various drafts, and the technical work required to transform an abstract idea about collecting into moving images. The further development of our craft was an explicit goal of the project, not a side effect, and it was precisely in this process that the bulk of that development actually took place.

The redesigned Fourpoints website launched as a clean, professional, and engaging platform. Visitors could quickly understand the firm’s offerings, explore case studies, and access thought leadership content seamlessly. Interactive infographics and visual storytelling made complex sustainability initiatives easy to grasp, while responsive design ensured accessibility across devices. Post-launch feedback indicated increased engagement and longer session durations, and Fourpoints reported a rise in inquiries from prospective clients. The project successfully positioned Fourpoints as a modern, credible leader in sustainability consulting while giving them a scalable digital platform for future growth.

Recognition

“Sammeln” resonated far beyond the scope of a personal project. It was featured by Stash Media — a compilation of some of the best motion and animation work from around the world — and went on to become one of the most-viewed pieces in my portfolio. For a film that was created without a commission or a client, but simply to explore an idea and advance our craftsmanship, this reach was the clearest sign that the idea worked out.

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