GRAPHIC DESIGN
Type Design BA2 – S2 2026
with Aurèle Sack
Second-year students were required to develop the whole alphabet for one typeface.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Editorial Design – BA2 S2 2026
with Diego Bontognali
As part of this editorial design course, students developed a research-based project focused on the selection and design of texts around a shared theme. Based on a curated set of sources, each project presents two editions with identical content, produced in both a large and a small format.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Visual Identity – BA2 S2 2026
with Adeline Mollard
As part of the visual identity course with Adeline Mollard, the students developed a visual identity based on a randomly drawn business card. By appropriating a graphic element and its title, each project offers a singular interpretation of it. Each proposal also involves the selection of a tool linked to the associated event (tattoo machine, sander, lithography equipment, etc.), used as a conceptual and graphic extension of the project. The identity is deployed across a range of formats, from business card to F4 size, including posters, flyers, business cards, as well as an animated poster.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Contextual Design – BA2 S2 2026
with Adeline Mollard
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.
AWARDS & DISTINCTIONS
AWARDS & GRANTS 2026
The graduation ceremony held on 26 June 2026 was also an opportunity to highlight many diploma projects through the awarding of Grants and Prizes. Congratulations to all the graduates and award winners!
AWARDS & DISTINCTIONS
Awards at Design Parade 2026 for ECAL alumni
Congratulations to Blanche Mijonnet, MAS in Design for Luxury & Craftsmanship alumna, and Eduardo Altamirano, Master in Product Design alumnus, on their outstanding achievements at Design Parade 2026 at Villa Noailles.
OTHER
ECAL Talent Day,
24.06.2026,
ECAL, Renens
Dedicated to young graduates and professionals alike, the “ECAL Talent Day” event aims to build bridges between academia and the professional world by offering the opportunity to meet and network.
EXHIBITIONS
ECAL A Typographic Atlas in New York,
22.06–02.08.2026,
The Cooper Union, New York
For its fourth stop, the exhibition ECAL A Typographic Atlas is presented in New York by The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art and the Herb Lubalin Study Center of Design and Typography.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Création photographique– 2026
with Natacha Lesueur
Documentary, the power of make-believe Based on projects developed around a common theme, the students develop a personal, in-depth project around the theme of pretense. They build a project that plays with the limits of veracity in photography, using it as an artifice of deception.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Création cinématographique– 2026
with Natacha Lesueur
Off-camera By exploring what lies outside the frame, students develop a sensitive and reflective approach to audiovisual creation. Throughout the semester, students are encouraged to reflect on the political and formal issues surrounding the moving image, as well as the relationship between the visible and the invisible.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Analog Medium format workshop – 2026
with Anoush Abrar
Deconstructed Portrait The goal of this workshop, led by photographer Anoush Abrar, is to explore the meaning of the contemporary portrait. Working with the concept of the “deconstructed portrait,” the students created an image in pairs. The Digital Medium Format workshop week serves as an introduction to both photography equipment and specialized software.
AWARDS & DISTINCTIONS
Lea Favre's film at 2026 Nuits en Or
Congratulations to Lea Favre, graduate of the Bachelor Cinema, whose film Hunting was selected by the César Academy for the 2026 Nuits en Or.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Staged Photography – 2026
with Charlotte Krieger
Unseen This course introduces students to the creation of a seven-image series built around the theme Unseen. They will learn to combine set design, characters, and lighting to produce strong, coherent staged images. Through a practical and technical approach, the course develops their ability to conceive and manage a complete photographic project, direct models, work with natural and artificial light, and collaborate under conditions similar to professional editorial or commercial shoots. Students will refine their photographic vision while preparing for the creative and technical demands of the industry.
AWARDS & DISTINCTIONS
8 ECAL graduates win the Swiss Design Awards 2026
Following the nomination of 16 of its graduates as finalists for the Swiss Design Awards 2025, ECAL is proud to announce that 8 have been awarded this prestigious distinction by the Federal Office of Culture.
AWARDS & DISTINCTIONS
Kiefer Hablitzel Göhner Art Prize for Iulia Bucuresteanu
Congratulations to Iulia Bucuresteanu, ECAL Master Fine Arts student, for winning the Kiefer Hablitzel Göhner Art Prize.
AWARDS & DISTINCTIONS
ADIAF 2026 Emergence Grant for Ange-Frédéric Koffi
Congratulations to Ange-Frédéric Koffi, an ECAL Master Fine Arts graduate, on receiving an Emergence Grant from the Association for the International Promotion of French Art.
LECTURES
The RATS' Song,
29.05.2026, 20:00,
Cinéma Bellevaux
As part of the "No Sound: Sound Reflection" class of the Fine Arts Bachelor, students present an evening of concerts, performances and talks.
EXHIBITIONS
Cristallina x ECAL at Design Days,
28–31.05.2026,
La Rasude, Lausanne
For the Design Days 2026, ECAL presents a selection of projects from its collaboration with Cristallina Design, focusing on a rare material: the only marble quarried in Switzerland.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Type Design BA3 – S1 25–26
with Aurèle Sack
The third-year students had to develop a typeface and digitize it.
PRODUCT DESIGN
ECAL AT THE FESTIVAL DES CABANES, VILLA MÉDICIS, ROME
with Camille Blin
For the 2026 Festival des Cabanes at the Villa Medici in Rome, students from the Master in Product Design were invited to develop a project related to the Villa's garden, in collaboration with the renowned Italian ceramics manufacturer Mutina. The Villa's gardens offer a rich historical and spatial context, conducive to exploring aesthetics, function, and interaction with visitors. Students had access to the entire Mutina catalogue (tiles, bricks, and other materials) to build their installations. The project was selected and mentored by the French designer Ronan Bouroullec, ECAL, Villa Medici and Mutina.
EXHIBITIONS
ECAL at the Festival des Cabanes,
20.05–28.09.2026,
Villa Médicis, Rome
For the 2026 Festival des Cabanes, ECAL is presenting an installation in collaboration with Mutina and French designer Ronan Bouroullec.
EXHIBITIONS
ECAL A Typographic Atlas in Paris: exhibition, book and conference,
19–27.05.2026,
Program/me, Paris
As part of the presentation of ECAL A Typographic Atlas at Program/me, the launch of the exhibition's book, as well as a conference with typographers, teachers, researchers, and publishers, will also take place.
PARTNERSHIP
MAZDA × ECAL Collaboration
Mazda and ECAL renew their partnership and place design and craftsmanship at the heart of innovation in the electric era.
ANNOUNCEMENT
ECAL and the Swiss Pavilion at Biennale di Venezia 2026
At the 61st Venice Biennale, the Swiss Pavilion presents The Unfinished Business of Living Together, an exhibition conceived by a collective that includes Yul Tomatala, a graduate of ECAL’s Bachelor’s program in Photography, and Miriam Laura Leonardi, a faculty member in the Bachelor’s program in Visual Arts.
AWARDS & DISTINCTIONS
Marvin Merkel and Noa Epars' film at 2026 Cannes Film Festival
Congratulations to Marvin Merkel, graduate of ECAL's Bachelor Photography, and Noa Epars on the selection of their film Always Wanted to Be God, Never Wanted to Do Good for the 2026 Cannes Film Festival.
ANNOUNCEMENT
New leadership for the Bachelor and Master Photography
In keeping with the legacy of Milo Keller, whose passing deeply affected the school, Calypso Mahieu and Clément Lambelet have been appointed to lead ECAL’s Photography programmes.
LECTURES
ECAL MASTERCLASS – Alain Gomis,
07.05.2026,
Auditoire IKEA, ECAL
On the occasion of the Swiss release of his latest feature film, Dao, the Cinema Department at ECAL is hosting French-Senegalese director Alain Gomis for a masterclass.
EXHIBITIONS
ECAL at Mapping Festival 2026,
07–17.05.2026,
Genève
On the occasion of the Mapping Festival 2026, ECAL presents the ECAL 360 LAB for the third consecutive year.
LECTURES
Symposium – Don’t Die Now! : Cinema & artificial intelligences,
05–06.05.2026,
Auditoire IKEA, ECAL
This two-day symposium is part of a research project by the Cinema Department at ECAL focusing on the impact of artificial intelligence on cinema.
LECTURES
ECAL Conferences – Parasonic,
30.04–04.05.2026,
Espace Sébeillon, Lausanne
As part of the Parasonic : the transmission of fugitive aural practices research project, ECAL’s Fine Arts Bachelor proposes two public events.
3'188
840
229