Workshop (2020) by Dominik Bissem, Giacomo Bastianelli, Laura Zsófia Csocsán, Sam Fagnart, Amélie Gallay, Raphaela Haefliger, Joana Siniavskaja, Elena Baranowski, Charly Derouault, Stefan Fitze, Sergei Rasskazov, Karima Deghayli, Samira Schneuwly, Alexandre Lescieux
Handpainted compositions inspired by the typeface Arnold Böcklin from Schriftgiesserei Otto Weisert (1904).
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MA TYPE DESIGN
with Larissa Kasper
Following a collaboration with the Swiss avant-garde brand On, ECAL is proud to present the interdisciplinary work carried out jointly by the 2nd year students of the Product Design, Photography and Type Design Masters.
MA TYPE DESIGN
by Chandra Sperle
How we perceive and interpret the world is influenced by scale—by the distance, size, and the spatial relationship between observer and object. This project explores how scale influences meaning and perception through an experimental dialogue of type design, photography, and visual art. At its core is Gradual, a typeface that remixes Ladislas Mandel’s Galfra and Adrian Frutiger’s Roissy, reversing their original scale of habitat. In collaboration with artist Pai Litzenberger and the design duo Scinema (Leidy Karina Gómez Montoya and Tonda Budszus), the project expands the typographic concept of optical sizes from nano to macro dimensions. Together, Gradual offer a multi-layered reflection on our spatial interactions with the world.
MA TYPE DESIGN
by Giulia Zanzarella
How long does a Minut last? Time is standardized, but its experience follows no rules, being mathematically equal for all, but felt differently by each. Minut explores this gap: a play on words between “minute” and “unit,” it is a type family built around four styles defined by width constraints—72 units (proportional), 9, 3, and 1 (monospace). Each style reflects a degree of mechanization, inspired by unit systems used in proportional spacing typewriters. Celebrating the beauty of constraint, the characters of Minut find their own rhythm, generating textures with subtle variations. Rather than being interpolated, each style of Minut is drawn individually, prioritizing the overall texture of each font—going against the limitless flexibility of digital design.
MA TYPE DESIGN
by Jamie Michiki
Dutyfree is a bi-script sans-serif typeface that supports both the Latin alphabet and Japanese scripts. It includes eight weights and covers the full range of Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji characters. Designed to harmonize the atmosphere of both writing systems through shared skeletal structure, detail, and contextual nuance, Dutyfree bridges two distinct typographic origins: the Latin typeface Venus and the Japanese Ishi Chu-Futo Gothic. With a theme of overlap and crossover between writing systems and design cultures, the project was developed under the concept of "logistics graphics." Beyond just a typeface, Dutyfree also includes symbols and signage elements designed for use in logistics and packaging contexts.
MA TYPE DESIGN
by Jonathan Bruun
Sekvens is a typeface family of five weights with corresponding italics shaped by a continuous dialogue between perceptions of time and the design of letterforms. Revisiting early digital aesthetics and humanist sans serifs, Sekvens balances a standardized structure with subtle, idiosyncratic details. It navigates the familiar, embracing defaults, norms, and conventions, while simultaneously questioning how the inherited connotations of these forms are aging within the current landscape of type design. Embracing this duality, Sekvens represents both a documentation of past tendencies and a search for new proposals.