Swiss Graphic Design & Typography Revisited

14/03/2023

We are pleased to announce that “The Cultural Turn in Swiss Graphic Design from the 1980s to 2020” was launched on 1 March 2023. The project examines the phenomenon of “cultural graphic design” – which focuses on cultural commissions promising creative freedom and a definition of the profession as a lifestyle – in three stages: the emergence of new values (1980–1992), the development of a discourse (1993–2002) and its institutionalisation in federal policy (2003–2020). The project team consists of Chiara Barbieri, Jonas Berthod, Davide Fornari, Miriam Koban, and Robert Lzicar. It is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation for four years and led jointly by ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne (HES-SO) and Hochschule der Künste Bern HKB / Haute école des arts de Berne HKB. Read more about it at https://cultural-turn-in-design.ch/.

11/03/2022

We feel honoured that our publication “Swiss Graphic Design Histories” was chosen as one of Switzerland’s most beautiful books in 2021. On this joyous occasion, we would like to thank the graphic designers Simone Farner and Katja Naima Schalcher, as well as the publisher Scheidegger und Spiess/Park Books, for the enjoyable collaboration. Looking forward to toasting with you at the vernissage of the exhibition! https://www.schweizerkulturpreise.ch/awards/de/home/design/design-archiv/design-2021/ssb-2021/ssb-jahrgang-2021.html

01/03/2022

Since our project funding has ended, we have revised the About section of our website. You will find information about the project, the subprojects, the results, the relevance and much more on https://sgdtr.ch/about/.

29/12/2021

The SRF Kultur dedicated a programme to our valued colleague, sub-project leader and winner of the Swiss Design Awards Grand Prix Design Sarah Owens. You can read and listen to the episode of “Kontext” at https://www.srf.ch/kultur/kunst/sarah-owens-design-revolution-warum-auch-eine-vermisstmeldung-design-ist (unfortunately only in German).

Sarah Owens krempelt momentan den Designprozess um. Sie nimmt ihre Studierenden in die gesellschaftliche Verantwortung.

25/10/2021

Accompanying the exhibition max bill global, the Berner Design Stiftung and the Zentrum Paul Klee organize a Design Weekend on November 6 and 7 with various talks and panels. One of them will be a conversation on Max Bill’s role in developing and disseminating Swiss graphic design (in German) with Robert Lzicar, co-coordinator of Swiss Graphic Design & Typography Revisited and the curator of the exhibition Fabienne Eggelhöfer. Tickets are available at https://www.zpk.org/de/musik-literatur-theaterbegleitprogramme/kalender/1246-typografie-7.html?event_date=29637.

Sonntag 07. November 2021 11:00

28/09/2021

Today the NZZ Neue Zürcher Zeitung published a review of “Swiss Graphic Design Histories”. Read it at https://www.nzz.ch/feuilleton/ganz-gross-im-detail-swiss-graphic-design-histories-ld.1646468 (in German, only for registered users). We would like to thank Karin Gimmi, curator at the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, for the profound and favourable reflection on our work!

In «Swiss Graphic Design Histories» fügen sich inhaltliche Häppchen und originelle Geschichten zu einem facettenreichen Kompendium.

06/09/2021

Did you know that “ Histories” is entirely available in under a CC BY NC ND 4.0 license on the website of Scheidegger & Spiess? Find the link and a lot more interesting information about our main output on https://sgdtr.ch/journal/swiss-graphic-design-histories-now-available/.

As the main output of “Swiss Graphic Design and Typography Revisited”, the entire research team contributed to “Swiss Graphic Design Histories”, a three-volume publication. It publishes the findings in a form that should appeal to an academic and non-academic audience and makes available the...

12/07/2021

It was a beautiful launch, presentation and celebration of our final publication “Swiss Graphic Design Histories” last Thursday at the Hochschule der Künste Bern HKB / Haute école des arts de Berne HKB, supported by Scheidegger & Spiess and the Berner Design Stiftung. Read more about the event and find some images on https://sgdtr.ch/journal/launch-of-swiss-graphic-design-histories/.

02/07/2021

Feel invited to listen to a contribution by SRF Kultur on the publication of “Swiss Graphic Design Histories” with co-editor Robert Lzicar (unfortunately only in German) at https://www.srf.ch/audio/kultur-kompakt/neue-publikation-swiss-graphic-design-histories?id=12012891.

(00:00:00) Vier Jahre lang haben zwölf Forscherinnen und Forscher von sieben Schweizer Universitäten alles zusammengetragen, was über Schweizer Design verfügbar war. Was sie herausgefunden haben, ist nachzulesen und anzuschauen in der Publikation «Swiss Graphic Design Histories».

23/06/2021

Fresh from the bindery, our publication has arrived at the desk of Scheidegger & Spiess. We look forward to presenting it to you at the Launch “Swiss Graphic Design Histories” next Thursday.

14/06/2021

The research team of 'Swiss Graphic Design and Typography Revisited' is pleased to celebrate the Swiss Grand Award for Design 2021 attributed to Prof. Dr Sarah Owens, sub-project leader of “Networks of Practice”, conducted at the Zurich University of the Arts.
Sarah Owens receives the Swiss Grand Award for Design attributed by the Swiss Federal Office of Culture for her generous commitment as a design lecturer and researcher, as well as for her inclusive, open and interdisciplinary approach that has shaped the next generations of designers and promoted the design discourse in Switzerland within the educational field and for the public at large.
Bravo, Sarah!

Design in the plural Prof. Sarah Owens is a design educator and researcher whose biography resists neat narratives: it is best imagined as a map whose regions have porous borders. An anecdote on her decision to study design illustrates this well. Initially, Sarah Owens thought of a career as a music...