Making men’s help centers visible

2023

UX / UI / Implementation / Corporate Design / Illustration

The Männerberatungsnetz is part of the civil society project »Promoting sustainable masculinity — overcoming toxic masculinity«. The website offers information and presents a network of support services for men. We created the corporate design, the website with an interactive map, and the illustrations.

Made for Männerberatungsnetz, which is operated by the Bundesforum Männer, and funded by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth.

Screenshot of publication »Silence and Omissions« with some descriptive elements like example illustrations and an example double page from the physical book.

We approached the redesign of »Männerberatungsnetz« holistically, taking into account other projects run by the client, »Bundesforum Männer«. After a needs analysis, we agreed that the website had a different target group than the client as a political interest group: »Männerberatungsnetz« is an offer to men looking for concrete support and advice in their area. Therefore, we decided to develop an independent corporate identity and web appearance.

Inclusivity is important, especially around sensitive topics such as identity or counseling. In the project, we naturally paid attention to technical accessibility and barrier-free design. The decision to use neutral illustrations instead of photos in the stage areas of the subpages was taken for this reason: It allows users to identify more easily with them and as such can make a high-threshold topic more accessible.

The implementation of the interactive map that shows counseling, advice and support services for men in all walks of life, was based on our experience in other map-based projects. We paid attention to intuitive usability, regardless of the device. At the same time, the backend needed to be easy to maintain and operate for the client’s team.

Client

Männerberatungsnetz

A project by Bundesforum Männer.

Funded by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth.

Link to project

maennerberatungsnetz.de

When developing the visual identity of the Männerberatungsnetz, we also worked on the color selection. We defined a color set for screen use and translated it into colors for print. These are less luminous, because mixed from ink, not from screen-light.

The illustrations for Männerberatungsnetz used isometry to remind of technical drawings. They communicate: We have a plan!

In the logo, floating stairs symbolize positive development.

The interactive map can be searched using filters and locations.

project facts

Almost two thirds of fathers are now in favor of equal career opportunities and financial independence for both parents. At the same time, fathers are sticking to the traditional family model when it comes to the division of time between childcare and employment. Fathers are less likely than mothers to make career sacrifices in favor of the family and are less likely to work part-time (2022: fathers 8%, mothers 68%).
bmfsfj.de 12.09.2023 Pressemitteilung Väterreport

The Bundesforum Männer is calling for the federal government’s key family and equality policy plans to be implemented as a matter of priority: The Family Start Time, a paid two-week leave of absence for fathers and second parents after the birth. A draft on this has been undergoing departmental coordination since spring 2023.
Bundesforum Männer - Interessenverband für Jungen, Männer und Väter e.V.

Some self-help forums for men [...] have a misogynistic and anti-feminist character. They explain male crises by saying that men are the real victims of society [...]. For men looking for help online in personal crisis situations, it is therefore crucial what kind of offers they find and what answers they receive to their questions.

Bundesforum Männer e.V., Männer online beraten, Berlin 2024, Seite 11

Neutral and slightly abstract illustrations — especially of people — help to ensure that as many people as possible feel addressed.

Across all age groups, men commit suicide significantly more often than women. In 2023, men killed themselves in almost three quarters of cases.
tagesschau.de

»We at the Bundesforum Männer — Interessenverband für Jungen, Männer und Väter e.V. are convinced that equality and sustainability are mutually dependent and that one cannot exist without the other.«
Klaus Schwerma

If you want to address men, you should do this actively and name them as a target group instead of just including them. This means, for example, not addressing parents in general, but mothers and fathers specifically.
Bundesforum Männer e.V., Männer gut beraten, Berlin 2022, Seite 39

Client

Link to project

project facts

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