Even though Muehlenweg is a name, not an address, people always ask where she is… a child of the 60′s with wanderlust and a never-ending love for new technologies in her blood. Born and raised in Hamburg, she lived in Los Angeles for 14 years. A dual citizen known as Claudia Muehlenweg in the US and Claudia Mühlenweg in Germany. A lot of her old German friends still think of her as Claudia Wriedt though, but that’s another story.
She finished four years of art college at Fachhochschule Hamburg Armgartstrasse with the Bachelor of Art (Diplom-Kommunikationsdesignerin) degree. An internship during college at then ultra-hot boutique agency Springer & Jacoby lead to a full time job and the nickname „Pogo“, given to her by “Reini” Springer. She still uses that name for obscure online activities (remember MySpace?)
After five and very successful years at S&J she co-founded Jung von Matt in the old Warner Corset factory in Hamburg’s Karolinenviertel, when the slaughterhouse next door was still in use… As the first and only Art Director back then she designed JvM’s CI, edited architectual plans, worked on current client’s creative and many, many pitches. All the sleepless nights paid off in the end, the bountiful awards granted her an immediate green card after having moved to L.A. in 1993.
After many years of freelance design work she started as Interactive Art Director at Team One Advertising where she honed her automotive advertising skills working on all things digital for Lexus. In 2007 she was granted US citizenship which allowed her to spend a few years in Germany so her daughters could become truly bilingual.
This summer of 2011 brought her back to the shores of Los Angeles where she continues to work as a freelance Interactive Art Director and Designer.
Agencies
Dailey, Markenfilm Crossing, von Lobenstein, Unterweger, BM8, KMF, Leonhart & Kern, Leagas Delaney Hamburg, Team One Advertising, Saatchi & Saatchi L.A., The Designory, Deutsch L.A., Fraser Communications, Jung von Matt, KolleRebbe, Springer & Jacoby.
Awards
Silver Clio, 3 x Finalist Cannes, Gold Award of Montreux, Gold Effie, 4 x Lulu
1 x Gold, 4 x Silver, 7 x Bronze, 21 x Honorable Mention (ADC Deutschland | Europe), Silver & Bronze IAAA, Best Automotive Microsite & Integrated Campaign IAC