From the conception to the production of all related media and printed matter (posters, books, newspapers and magazines), including the experimentation of digital media, digital publishing and motion design, this programme targets students wishing to master the tools and languages inherent in graphic design. Prospective, pragmatic and experimental, this Bachelor course is provided in the framework of the Visual Communication Department, which concurrently offers crossover courses and projects enabling students to acquire multidisciplinary skills (photography, interaction design, film).
Through courses and workshops provided by major figures on the Swiss and international scene, the students apprehend the various fields of graphic design such as editorial design, typography, illustration, or brand identity and art direction. Involvement in exhibitions, publications or assignments commissioned by institutions provides an actual immersion into the professional world. The students also benefit from a wide range of theoretical courses and conferences on the ECAL premises.
The skills and projects acquired throughout the curriculum serve to produce a portfolio of the highest professional standards. Whether they aim to become graphic designer, typographer or art director, either self-employed or working for a company, students who train at ECAL have a wide range of opportunities to choose from when they complete their CV. If they so wish they may also pursue in their chosen discipline by doing the Master Type Design at ECAL or an equivalent programme in another institution.
French
Bachelor of Arts HES-SO in Visual Communication, major in Graphic Design
180 ECTS
6 semesters
Open space BA Visual Communication Digital Printshop Technology Center
1/3
Acquire the basics of editorial design through the articulation of sequenced content and the creation of a simple printed editorial object.
Learn about typographic forms by sketching the skeleton of an alphabet.
Define the graphic elements that represent a visual identity on various communication media.
Articulate and arrange content on a website.
Design non-photographic images by addressing production and printing technique issues.
Immerse yourself in cross-disciplinary courses in Photography, Media & Interaction Design, 2D/3D Video Sequence (Cinema 4D, After Effects, Premiere).
Acquire background knowledge via courses in theory (History of Art, Photography, Film, Digital Culture, Industrial Design, Graphic Design, Contemporary Photography, Exhibitions and Publications).
Take part in weeks of workshops supervised by practitioners from all over the world with the aim of carrying out collective or personal projects
1/2
Get used to typographic design by acquiring technical and stylistic mastery of type design.
Design media and graphic content linked to a project developed for one or more digital media (html, CSS).
Represent and make recognisable a visual identity (institution, event, brand) on various communication media.
Synthesise and graphically process information or data.
Set fluid graphics systems in motion.
Broaden your horizons through practical cross-disciplinary courses within a sequence (videoclip or VR) or editing project (of your choice) in collaboration with Graphic Design and Media & Interaction Design students.
Enhance your knowledge through theory courses.
Take part in weeks of workshops supervised by practitioners from all over the world with the aim of carrying out collective or personal projects.
1/2
Design, produce and carry out a complex editorial project in a specific context.
Define, design and carry out a communication campaign aimed at a specific audience.
Develop a highly-complex font (title or text).
Create a graphic language based on visual research and experimentation with production tools.
Immerse yourself in cross-disciplinary courses to refine your collaborative skills in a transdisciplinary project.
Broaden your knowledge with theory courses.
Write a dissertation based on the knowledge acquired during the course of study.
Take part in weeks of workshops supervised by practitioners from all over the world with the aim of carrying out collective or personal projects.
Put into practice the know-how acquired in a graduation work and a portfolio, which will serve as a business card to integrate into the labour market quickly or continue your studies on an MA course.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
with Angelo Benedetto
During the information design course the students of the second year have been asked to design a cartographic poster based on a film in the road movie genre, in a direct or abstract representation.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
with Robert Huber
Designing a logotype means defining a strong visual identity anchored in a specific context. First-year Graphic Design students developed a hand-drawn logotype based on a subject, theme, or environment of their own choosing. This creation was informed by prior research in typographic archives. Each student produced a reference booklet and a specimen system based on six or more typefaces, to ground their visual and conceptual exploration. Balancing typographic culture and contemporary expression, each project investigates what makes a visual identity truly distinctive.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
with Nicole Udry
Genius Loci, or the spirit of the place, refers to the unique identity or essence of a location. In architecture, this principle suggests that the specific characteristics of a place should be reflected and extended in a design. In the case of the second-year graphic design students, they have applied this principle to communication projects focused on promoting or extending the identity of a particular place through design. Their work likely explores how to visually capture and communicate the essence of a space, using graphic design elements that resonate with the architectural features or history of the place.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
with Aurèle Sack
The second-year students had to vectorize a typeface they had drawn last semester.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
with Diego Bontognali
Development of an editorial system deployed across three publication formats, centered on the theme of prohibition.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
with Adeline Mollard
During the visual identity course with Adeline Mollard, the students had to develop an identity project promoting a collection chosen by them. Each project includes the design of a catalogue contextualising and presenting the collection, together with the design of a poster.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
with Guy Meldem
In the age of social media, Instagram has become a true space for graphic experimentation. This semester, first-year Graphic Design students created a printed edition of at least 100 pages, exploring the question: what does it mean to design for Instagram? Through this investigation, they examined the platform’s visual codes, its attention-driven dynamics, and the graphic forms it inspires. Each project reflects on how these creations can be translated, extended, or reinterpreted in the digital space. Balancing printed matter and online presence, these works outline new ways of inhabiting both images and networks.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
with Robert Huber
First-year students were invited to manually sketch the typographic skeleton of lowercase alphabet letters. The objective was to maintain the proportions, curves, and characteristic axes of each letter while paying close attention to visual coherence and consistency in the drawing.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
with Guy Meldem
First-year students were invited to design their own coloring book, while exploring bichromy and experimenting with different printing techniques to create the cover.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
with Harry Bloch
During the editorial design course with Harry Bloch, the 1st year students developed, during the fall semester, an edition around a personal survey.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
with Adeline Mollard
During the visual identity class, first-year Bachelor's students in Graphic Design were tasked with creating a poster project based on a randomly assigned event. They had to define their own visual system and explore a series of hand-drawn typographic posters. The visual identity of the event was developed through a poster and a flyer, accompanied by a research booklet documenting their entire creative process.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
with Gilles Gavillet
Through the prism of visual identity, this project addresses issues of graphic language and artistic direction. Each stage of the project examines an aspect of the development of a visual identity: research, concept, visual language, design and communication.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
with Alice Franchetti
During this workshop, each student was tasked with designing a poster inspired by the architectural legacy of Richard Neutra. Drawing from his modernist philosophy and formal principles — clean lines, transparency, strict geometry, and integration with the landscape — each student visually reinterpreted Neutra’s ideas within a 2D graphic format.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
MEDIA & INTERACTION DESIGN
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Vincent Veillon, Paul Walther, Florian Pittet (Sigmasix), Vincent Jacquier, Julien Gurtner
During an intensive week, first-year students from the Visual Communication department at ECAL had the opportunity to create and produce the first edition of ECAL Night Live. The goal was to design a show inspired by satirical television formats. Divided into multidisciplinary teams—including students from the Bachelor programs in Graphic Design, Media & Interaction Design, and Photography—they collaborated to create all the content, set design, and visual identity of the show, delivering a fully homemade project in record time. The main theme revolved around self-mockery, targeting the visual communication professions, students, and the institution itself, with a subtle touch of current events. This project was supervised by Vincent Veillon and Paul Walther, directors of the RTS show 52 Minutes, as well as Florian Pittet, a digital scenography expert who guided the creation of the show's set design.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
MEDIA & INTERACTION DESIGN
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Charlotte Krieger, Jean-Vincent Simonet, Florian Pittet (Sigmasix), Vincent Jacquier, Julien Gurtner, Matthieu Minguet, Cédric Duchêne, EPFL+ECAL Lab, Giacomo Bastianelli
For a week, the first-year visual communications students worked on an installation consisting of 15 screens, accompanied by a 360° sound system developed by EPFL+ECAL Lab. This chandelier, five metres in diameter and suspended from a height of three metres, served as a support for their experiments. Using music specially composed and spatialised for the occasion, the students explored the dynamics of sound both visually and in movement.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
by Candice Aepli, Amélie Bertholet, Coraline Beyeler, Delphine Brantschen, Léa Corin, Matteo Cortesi, Mathilde Driebold, Eliot Dubi, Marc Facchinetti, Emilie Müller, Dorian Pangallo, Paul Paturel, Hugo Scholl, Diego Steiner, Cyprien Valenza, Alfredo Venti, Arnaud Wenger, Constance Mauler, Flora Hayoz, Lidia Molina González
An Ode to the Poster 80 Attributes 80 Fonts 80 Posters During this week, the second year students had to create 80 posters, i.e. 4 posters per person. Based on a list of defined attributes, they had to create typography and concepts around them.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
with Eilean Friis-Lund, Alice Vodoz
Mise en scène An exercise centered around the poster format with a typographic approach. The goal is to convey the atmosphere of a film through lettering by graphically staging the text.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
by Candice Aepli, Amélie Bertholet, Coraline Beyeler, Delphine Brantschen, Léa Corin, Matteo Cortesi, Mathilde Driebold, Eliot Dubi, Marc Facchinetti, Emilie Müller, Dorian Pangallo, Paul Paturel, Hugo Scholl, Diego Steiner, Cyprien Valenza, Alfredo Venti, Arnaud Wenger, Constance Mauler, Flora Hayoz, Lidia Molina González, Vladislav Tschumi
During this week, the students had to create Obi Strip, a strip of paper surrounding the cover of a vinyl. A visible layer representing the world of their vinyl and an invisible layer creating a security raster. The result was screen-printed, using visible ink and UV ink for the security design.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
by Candice Aepli, Amélie Bertholet, Coraline Beyeler, Delphine Brantschen, Léa Corin, Matteo Cortesi, Mathilde Driebold, Eliot Dubi, Marc Facchinetti, Emilie Müller, Dorian Pangallo, Paul Paturel, Hugo Scholl, Diego Steiner, Cyprien Valenza, Alfredo Venti, Arnaud Wenger, Constance Mauler, Flora Hayoz, Lidia Molina González, Vladislav Tschumi
Workshop Atelier Brenda During this week, the students created posters based on Ken Nordine's music album "Color".
GRAPHIC DESIGN
with Angelo Benedetto, Diego Bontognali, Nicole Udry
Paisajes Políticos Summer University November 2022 During their trip, the students met several artists/designers and visited different cultural places such as Suizspacio, Pablo Suazo, Ciudad Abierta, Universidad Publica, Gam, Naranja Publicaciones, Tipo Movil.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
MEDIA & INTERACTION DESIGN
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Vincent Jacquier, Angelo Benedetto, Ali-Eddine Abdelkhalek, Jean-Vincent Simonet, Clément Rouzaud
In collaboration with the HYPEROUEST music festival, ECAL students were given the opportunity to design a visual installation in the room adjacent to the festival's ephemeral club, located on the Veillon wasteland in Crissier. For this project, 1st-year students worked in groups, mixing Bachelors in Graphic Design, Media & Interaction Design and Photography. Their main objective was to create powerful and creative visual sequences around the central theme of "HYPER". At the same time, second-year students in the Graphic Design option enriched this project by developing the exhibition's visual identity. These interdisciplinary collaborations stimulated exchanges and encouraged visual cohesion, connecting the different ideas and reinforcing the "laboratory" and experimental aspect of the project.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
by Candice Aepli, Amélie Bertholet, Coraline Beyeler, Delphine Brantschen, Léa Corin, Matteo Cortesi, Mathilde Driebold, Eliot Dubi, Marc Facchinetti, Sébastien Follet, Emilie Müller, Dorian Pangallo, Paul Paturel, Adam Saragoussi, Hugo Scholl, Diego Steiner, Cyprien Valenza, Alfredo Venti, Arnaud Wenger
Workshop with Helmo During this week, the students created a new version of vinyl cover by remixing their graphic elements.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
by Rebecca Alfandary, Valentin Bonzon, Jonas Buxcel, Camille Choquard, Alexandra Cupsa, Sacha Décoppet, Morgane Gilliéron, Flaurant Kadrija, Yohann Kampmann, Simon Maurer, Delphine Moënnat, Monica Müller, Océane Pasteur, Luca Reichenbach, Luca Riva, Angeline Rossetti, Pierre Teissier, Baptiste Torrent, Elsa Trummer, Chloé Vandewalle
Workshop with Stephanie Specht During the week the students had to produce one poster that makes people aware of their phone use, make them stand still. They had design their poster so that it inspires from a distance, and informs up close.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
with Guy Meldem
During this week, students organized a lottery. Printed in offset, the modular posters that turned into cards enabled the first lottery at ECAL.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
by Olympe Boutaghane
As part of the Ask Your Neighbor project, a library of methods, tools, and resources was developed in collaboration with 30 professionals from various fields. The goal is to promote a more collaborative and interdisciplinary approach to design. Opening up to others allows for renewal and helps uncover practical, technical, and creative solutions. This project aims to rethink how we work while encouraging reflection on the use of tools, techniques, and software. Ask Your Neighborseeks to evolve over time, enriched by contributions that deepen our understanding of design, particularly in educational contexts. To share this approach, the methods and resources are presented in workshops at design schools.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
by Alexandra Cupsa
1 Iunie is one of the last abandoned industrial factories in Timișoara that has not yet been demolished. Its demolition is imminent, and its existence might be forgotten. Piedică în Calea Uitării means "An Obstacle to Forgetting" in Romanian and marks the intention of this project. To prevent the factory from being forgotten, and to create a new space within the pages of the book to preserve fragments of 1 Iunie’s life. This is not only a visual journey but also an auditory journey accompanied by a vinyl record. Each episode of the factory's life is introduced through a song from the same period. Beyond 1 Iunie, the project also focuses on the issues of preserving the industrial heritage of the city of Timișoara.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
by Rebecca Alfandary
Everything is fated to disappear. This non-exhaustive collection explores the plurality of the manifestations and forms of impermanence, its impacts, its causes, as well as its different timescales. Great and little stories inhabit the same space, and make information and interpretation come together. Text and images, both linked and independent of each other, illustrate each subject and create a dialogue. Throughout the book, a series of interludes give it a more sensible dimension, by referring to our relationship with the ephemeral. The whole is both a testimony and a tribute to what is disappearing, what has disappeared, what will disappear.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
by Flaurant Kadrija
In this project I explore the figure of Kosovo's flag by deconstructing it into six main categories: territory, politics, history, culture, future and society. Each flag is represented by a static shape, symbolising its unchanging nature. However, through the use of specific iconography and imagery, these forms are transformed, creating new representations that reflect complexity and fluidity. The current flag of Kosovo, created according to European and American rules, lacks an authentic national identification due to socio-political differences. This project aims to represent the true identity of Kosovo through iconographic research. By transforming these static categories into dynamic symbols, I aim to capture the evolving and multifaceted identity of Kosovo.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
by Ruben Campoy Bähler, Monica Müller
Edizioni Arche unites the idea of inclusion under the umbrella of a publishing house that has as its founding pillars ‘always act in such a way as to maximise the number of possibilities’, a quote from the philosopher Von Foester, which we try to apply in our diploma. The importance of enabling fluent reading and understanding is a primordial concept: everyone should have the right to read and understand. Graphic design conveys this possibility. Arche researches and explores accessible editorial responses to all cases, from comprehension difficulties, motor problems, visual impairments or the simple desire to empathise with others. No less important, books aimed at a wider audience are not excluded: they raise the necessary awareness of sometimes underestimated problems.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
by Yohann Kampmann
Formant Festival is an audio-visual event featuring music and digital art installations in abandoned industrial sites in Valais in Switzerland. Valais's old industrial sites, once vital, are now neglected or demolished for unnecessary residential buildings. Formant repurposes these spaces for cultural events, preserving heritage and fulfilling community needs. The festival's visual identity uses these architectural spaces in an interactive 3D website, blending sound and visuals to immerse users. This approach encourages public curiosity and exploration, enhancing their understanding and enjoyment of new artistic forms. Formant means each of several prominent bands of frequency that determine the harmonic quality of a sound.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
by Karim Akel
Ma'as Typeface is a family of variable, experimental, Arabic and Latin fonts inspired by Al-Kufi Al-Handassi calligraphy, found mainly in Oriental architecture, and by early XXth century dutch geometric fonts. Through this work, I question the balance of power between Latin and Arabic script as well as the technological tools' efficiency that made for drawing Arabic characters. The theme of multi-script is currently revealing a plethora of issues linked to the balance of power between two distinct writing systems. Ma'as Typeface metabolizes my dissertation research, which explores questions of identity and power between Latin and Arabic scripts through their formal characteristics, evolution and historical context.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
by Lisa Grobet
Listening to the walls, perceiving the imprints they bear, remembering the ghosts of the past. Villa Trudy, in Sardinia, is a house marked by the passage of many lives. A father teaching his son to swim, this son becoming a father in turn. The walls bear witness to the changes and traces left by our ancestors. They observe the events that unfold within the house, but remain passive. In a way, they are the guardians of the place, witnesses of an invisible absence. Through sensitive intervention on the remnants of the place, this book aspires to become, in turn, the guardian of memories that would otherwise no longer be tangible, offering a new form of transmission. This project pays tribute to the soul of Villa Trudy by preserving its heritage.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
by Simon Schönmann
Délits is a newspaper which aims to shake up preconceived ideas about the police by showing the violence it generates. Taking a foothold in a Lausanne region known to be peaceful, its 70 pages confront the reader with a multitude of media relays, often brutal or sensationalist, part of interventions by the police with dramatic outlets, before reveal a more global structural problem. Proposals for alternatives and reforms are then presented.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
by Valentin Bonzon
Inspired by Gabriel García Márquez's Nobel Prize speech, I went to Bogotá to document a journey exploring the power of reading and writing in a city marked by violence and corruption. The project compiles initiatives promoting reading and writing, highlighting the importance of literature in Colombia. The main chapters address various topics, such as writing workshops for youth affected by armed conflicts or the extensive system of public libraries. Interspersed between these chapters are historical fragments providing context. Finally, poems printed on handmade papers and inserts from second-hand books found in Bogotá structure the work, giving it a unique form.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
by Pierre Teissier
The concept of identity as an organic process that evolves over time clashes with the essentialist approach of surveillance technologies. Algorithms probe us and inscribe us in shackles defined according to prosaic criteria. IDORAMA is a didactic experience which, while placing the human in front of the machine, aims to situate it in a wider context. Using several sensors, the program analyzes the user and collects his geolocation data during a certain time interval. At the end of the capture, a snapshot is returned to the user, in the form of a personalized digital map. The uniqueness of this map becomes a temporal marker, a memory testifying to the use of the program.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
by Camille Choquard, Chloé Vandewalle
To make an exhibition catalogue, there are Camille and Chloé, but also all the other hands, and everything that fits between the ends to enter the space of the book, like entering a house with a reading key. L'inventaire is an exhibition catalogue that tells its own story, and that happened in accordance with its own chronology. It invites you to take a closer look at the prologue, which describes the research process, to wander through its heart, which was printed during the opening, with a system of retranscription and live printing, and to thank you in the epilogue, which reverently marks the end of its production. In this way, the book becomes an exhibition space, then returns to its original form.
Graphic designer, Motion designer, Art director, Creative director, Publisher, Illustrator, Type designer, Web designer, Teacher…
Chaumont & Zaerpour, Clemens Piontek, Eilean Friis-Lund & Alice Vodoz Emmanuel, Crivelli (Dual Room), Eurostandard, Guillaume Chuard, Hugo Hoppmann, Ian Party, Jan Abellan (ARI), Louisa Gagliardi, Mads Freund Brunse, Marietta Eugster, Mateo Broillet, Mathias Clottu, Mathieu Meyer, Maximage, Maxime Büchi, Melina Wilson (A-Language), Nadja Zimmermann (NASK), Nazareno Crea (ABC ETC), Noémie Gygax, Olga Prader, Régis Tosetti, Teo Schifferli, Thibault Brevet (AATB), Vincent Devaud...
Visual Communication Department
Vincent Jacquier
Bachelor Graphic Design
Angelo Benedetto
Artistic assistant
Julien Gurtner
Assistants
Achille Masson
Antonin Ricou
Elodie Anglade
Louis Roh
Morgane Cachin
Technology Center
Jamy Herrmann
Matthieu Minguet
Vincent Jacquier
Angelo Benedetto
Aurèle Sack
Diego Bontognali
Gilles Gavillet
Guy Meldem
Harry Bloch
Nicole Udry
Antonio Albanese
Anouk Schneider
Calypso Mahieu
Claus Gunti
Joël Vacheron
Pauline Saglio
Vincent Jacquier
Violène Pont
Adeline Mollard
Alexandru Balgiù
Angelo Cirimele
Catherine Leutenegger
Chi-Long Trieu
Elodie Anglade
Giliane Cachin
Jonas Berthod
Jonathan Hares
Karen Schmutz
Laurence Salmon
Léonard Guyot
Lionel Tardy
Mehdi Derfoufi
Mélanie Boissonneau
Mélanie Courtinat
Olivia Schenker
Pierre Doze
Robert Huber
Sami Benhadj
Sébastien Agnetti
Atlas Studio
Brian Roettinger
Daniel Maarleveld
Eurostandard
Félicité Landrivon
Helmo
Ines Cox
Irene Vlachou
Jean-Vincent Simonet
Jessica In
Klap Roosje
Lamm & Kirch
Lineto
Marietta Eugster
Norm
Raphaël Garnier
Ronny Hunger
Sandra Kassenaar
Sebastian Strappazzon
Stephanie Specht
Syndicat
Vincent Devaud
Yehwan Song