Terms of Trade

Projects MA PRODUCT DESIGN

Motong Yang – Terms of Trade

From 17th century tea and porcelain to contemporary supply chains and social media feeds, China has been encountered through objects that circulate globally. These objects do not simply reflect this country; they produce ideas about it. Terms of Trade consists of lacquered cardboard boxes imposed with imagery assembled from export paintings, propaganda posters, and news media. By transforming disposable packaging with lacquer — a material historically associated with permanence, value, and decoration — Terms of Trade draws connections between crafts techniques and contemporary systems of circulation, asking how images of China are produced, consumed, and continually reconstructed.

Diploma project (2026)

Students
Motong Yang
Terms of Trade_Diploma_Mo Tong Yang 1_compressed.jpeg
Terms of Trade_Diploma_Mo Tong Yang 2_compressed.jpeg
Terms of Trade_Diploma_Mo Tong Yang 4_compressed.jpeg

Projets similaires
See more projects

ECAL AT THE FESTIVAL DES CABANES, VILLA MÉDICIS, ROME

MA 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.  
ECAL X GOOGLE - A Message From Tomorrow

MA PRODUCT DESIGN

ECAL X GOOGLE - A Message From Tomorrow

with Chris Kabel

The Industrial Design team at Google (Google ID) initiated a collaboration with ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne to develop a concept for a mobile-focused product inspired by a daily ritual. ECAL’s Master Product Design students were invited to envision innovative hardware engaging with contemporary habits. Through compelling storytelling, these conceptual projects consider the human dimension of mobile technology: how it shapes everyday gestures and how our relationships with devices might evolve in the future. This collaboration reflects ECAL’s forward-looking approach to design, combining experimentation, critical thinking, and a strong receptivity to emerging technologies.
Adam Friedrich – Airy

MA PRODUCT DESIGN

Adam Friedrich – Airy

by Adam Friedrich

Airy is a research project that explores the use of air as a primary resource. It uses inflatable structures to protect valuable devices during travel. The design employs contemporary materials and pays particular attention to detail to offer relevant, everyday solutions for safeguarding increasingly fragile and valuable electronic devices.
Alicia Stricker – Stricker

MA PRODUCT DESIGN

Alicia Stricker – Stricker

by Alicia Stricker

Folly approaches the craft of beaded embroidery from a product design perspective. It explores the value of tactility above the visual aspects that the technique is traditionally valued for. Consequently, the project manifested as something that is experienced by the body - a sofa. Scaling up the traditionally small beads and applying principles of beaded embroidery in the development of a textile sofa cover allowed for the sofa to transcend its classic typology, creating a three-dimensional surface with a biological sculptural presence - an object that breaks the mould of what we expect of something as familiar as a sofa and begs to be experienced through touch.
Brice Tempier – Péninsule

MA PRODUCT DESIGN

Brice Tempier – Péninsule

by Brice Tempier

  In a context where domestic space is being reduced and reconfigured, living sometimes becomes a temporary act. Places are passed through rather than settled in, and the question is no longer so much one of layout as of presence. Inspired by the archetype of the mezzanine, Péninsule takes the form of a mobile structure the size of a bed. Set within a room, it acts as a habitable frame, delimited without being enclosed, introducing domestic depth where there was previously only an available surface. Conceived as a place of rest, retreat, and appropriation, it combines a bed, a daybed, and a folding desk, as well as mobile elements such as shelves, hooks, and curtains, modulating light, movement, and presence. Without offering formal modularity, the object provides an open support for everyday uses and movements. Péninsule is thus defined less by what it can be transformed into than by the way it is used.  

Related courses
See all courses

MA PRODUCT DESIGN
Unlisted page: accessible only by direct link, hidden from the site and search results.
Nous utilisons des cookies pour collecter des informations sur la manière dont vous utilisez ecal.ch.
Nous utilisons ces informations pour faire fonctionner le site web au mieux et améliorer nos services.