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Course

Know-how

Years

2008 2025
Genius Loci - Spirit of the place

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Genius Loci - Spirit of the place

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.

Type Design BA1 S1 2024/2025

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Type Design BA1 S1 2024/2025

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.

Information Design

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Information 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.

Documentary film workshop with Alessandro Comodin

FILM STUDIES

Documentary film workshop with Alessandro Comodin

with Alessandro Comodin

The 2025 documentary film workshop for 2nd year students was lead by french italian director Alessandro Comodin.

Show more / Show less

MEDIA & INTERACTION DESIGN

Show more / Show less

with Alain Bellet

Fictional mobile apps based on the "Show more / Show less" theme, offering new ways of consulting, communicating, creating, playing, discovering and learning. Students in their 2nd year of Bachelor Media & Interaction Design designed a dedicated experience and graphic interface via interactive prototypes on Figma.

Type Design BA2 S2 2024 - 2025

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Type Design BA2 S2 2024 - 2025

with Aurèle Sack

The second-year students had to vectorize a typeface they had drawn last semester.

Editorial Design BA2 S2 2024 - 2025

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Editorial Design BA2 S2 2024 - 2025

with Diego Bontognali

Development of an editorial system deployed across three publication formats, centered on the theme of prohibition.

CITY TREES

INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

CITY TREES

with Elric Petit

As part of the CITY TREES project, students were invited to design an object in connection with a tree of their choice within the urban landscape of Lausanne. Drawing inspiration from dendrology, they observed an existing tree and envisioned a subtle, respectful, and reversible intervention. The aim was to highlight the unique characteristics of the tree while ensuring the project harmoniously blended into its surroundings.

ECAL LOCAL

INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

ECAL LOCAL

with Christophe Guberan

In collaboration with a local craftsman, the students designed a reusable packaging solution suitable for production in a little series. The project aimed to enhance the value of an everyday food product while addressing current challenges related to transport, sustainability, and the second life of packaging. The intervention had to be simple, functional, and eco-friendly, offering a purpose beyond its original packaging function.

Documentary film workshop with Benoit Rossel

FILM STUDIES

Documentary film workshop with Benoit Rossel

with Benoit Rossel

The 2025 documentary film workshop for 1st year students was lead by french swiss director Benoit Rossel.

Fine Art Photography

PHOTOGRAPHY

Fine Art Photography

with Natacha Lesueur

Documenteur – The Power of the Fake Based on projects developed around a common theme, students create a personal and in-depth body of work exploring the notion of deception. They build a project that plays with the boundaries of photographic truth, using the medium as an artifice of lies.

Pratique photographique

PHOTOGRAPHY

Pratique photographique

with Maxime Guyon

OBI: Object Brochure Investigation More than just a store, OBI has become an integral part of local history. This Renens landmark also maintains a close link with ECAL, serving as a landmark and source of inspiration for its students. In fact, there is an architectural filiation between the two: Jean Tschumi's son, Bernard Tschumi, is the architect who designed the ECAL's renovation. This generational dialogue further strengthens OBI's place in students' visual and creative imaginations. OBI embodies the spirit of “Do It Yourself” (DIY), a concept that emerged in 1968 under the impetus of Stewart Brand, founder of the Whole Earth Catalog, an alternative publication born of his exploration under 200 micrograms of LSD. The DIY movement advocated an alternative lifestyle and resistance to hyper-consumption. Today, this philosophy is far removed from that embodied by OBI, considered to be a mass-market store. This paradox will be the focus of this semester's project. Since DIY has been structured around a publication, students will come full circle by producing an OBI-inspired edition of their own.

Photographic Essays

PHOTOGRAPHY

Photographic Essays

with Matthieu Gafsou

This year's “Documentary Practices” course is devoted to a territory that is very close to us and, in a way for most of us, very far away: the countryside. For a city-dweller, the countryside is an out-of-town territory where you can go for a walk, where there are farmers, fields and forests. Recent votes in Switzerland testify to a considerable widening of the gap between town and country: the far right would be the place of rurality, while the left would be urban. This territory is not only topologically different from the city, but also seems to be inhabited by people whose lifestyles and thinking are at odds with the city. The reality, however, is obviously more complex and resists such simplification.

Visual Identity BA1S2 – Collector

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Visual Identity BA1S2 – Collector

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.

Image Creation BA1S2 – Insta Books

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Image Creation BA1S2 – Insta Books

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.

Stool Story

PRODUCT DESIGN

Stool Story

with Christophe Guberan

‘Stool Story’ invited students to explore innovative, re-contextualised, or intriguing materials and production techniques to create a simple yet fundamentally structural typology: the stool. Each process was documented through a short, vertically formatted video. The result is a range of stools, each demonstrating a unique perspective and approach.

Moving Images – 24-25

FOUNDATION YEAR

Moving Images – 24-25

with Sylvain Meltz

Introduction to moving images and animation (video, kinetics, etc.) using After Effect.

Romania Grand Voyage workshop

FILM STUDIES

Romania Grand Voyage workshop

with Radu Jude

<meta charset="UTF-8">On the first year of their Master degree, students embark on a “Grand Voyage” to discover the region and a filmmaker. In 2025, they went to Romania.

Realtime Narratives 2025

MEDIA & INTERACTION DESIGN

Realtime Narratives 2025

with Valerio Meschi

During the Realtime Narratives course, second-year students had to create a real-time narrative experience using Unreal Engine software. The aim of the project was to raise students awareness of the use of 3D realtime engines and the various links with other software specific to each stage of development.

Direction workshop with Patric Chiha

FILM STUDIES

Direction workshop with Patric Chiha

with Patric Chiha

In partnership with La Manufacture, the Cinema Dapartment invited austrian director Patric Chiha for a direction workshop destined to 3rd year students.

Color

FOUNDATION YEAR

Color

with Clelia Bettua, Luc Aubort

Work on the seven colour contrasts

Photography 24-25

FOUNDATION YEAR

Photography 24-25

with Tonatiuh Ambrosetti, Daniela Droz

Exercises: - Studio photography (a mirror, a portrait, a still life) - Photographic editing Theme: The problem doesn't exist

SolarPunk

PRODUCT DESIGN

SolarPunk

with Philippe Malouin

SolarPunk is a design exploration into how increasingly accessible solar energy might shape and integrate into our everyday lives in the near future. Embracing a hopeful vision of sustainability, the movement challenges traditional perceptions of renewable energy by imagining creative, aesthetic, and functional uses of solar power. This collection of work was created by first-year Master’s students in Product Design at ECAL, under the guidance of designer Philippe Malouin. Developed specifically for the Soleil·s exhibition at the MUDAC design museum in Lausanne, the projects reflect bold experimentation and speculative thinking. Rather than focusing solely on efficiency or utility, the students explored poetic, playful, and sometimes unconventional applications of solar energy, highlighting the emotional and experiential potential of this technology. Among the featured works are two standout projects which have been developed and feature in the exhibition: ‘Solar Shade' by Carl Johan Jacobsen, a wearable hat that powers a cooling vest using flexible solar panels, and ‘Butterfly Sunglasses’ by Takumi Ise, simple lightweight eyewear that combines colour, movement, and solar functionality.

Folklore Fusion

MEDIA & INTERACTION DESIGN

Folklore Fusion

with Pauline Saglio

Folklore Fusion – a CGI character project developed by students in Bachelor Media & Interaction Design at ECAL, exploring the creative collision between Japanese and Swiss folklore through the lens of contemporary visual storytelling.

Designed in CH Made in JP

PRODUCT DESIGN

Designed in CH Made in JP

with Augustin Scott de Martinville

Designed in CH, Made in JP is a collaborative project between ECAL Master Product Design, Karimoku New Standard, and Presence Switzerland. From 13 April to 13 October 2025, representatives from countries across the globe will gather to showcase innovation, culture, and sustainability at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan. For Switzerland’s pavilion, MA Product Design students at ECAL were tasked with designing a stackable wooden chair to be produced in Japan by Karimoku New Standard, intended to furnish the lightweight, bubble-inspired architecture by Manuel Herz. Under the guidance of Augustin Scott de Martinville, the class developed ten chair designs, each offering a distinct perspective. Some draw inspiration from the pavilion’s scenography, while others explore cultural iconography or celebrate the symbiosis between two nations—each unique in heritage yet united by shared values of craftsmanship and innovation. Of the ten designs, one was selected to be produced for the pavilion: HUG, designed by Jacob Kouthoofd Martensson and Min Xiyao, is a circular chair that stacks inversely—a feature that not only informs its name but also visually embodies the essence of collaboration. This versatile design accommodates a range of uses, from conferences to general pavilion seating. The final chair will be unveiled both in Osaka in the Swiss Pavilion at the World Expo 2025, and during Milan Design Week 2025, with the full project exhibited at the House of Switzerland.

Fiction film workshop with Klaudia Reynicke

FILM STUDIES

Fiction film workshop with Klaudia Reynicke

with Klaudia Reynicke

The 2024 fiction film workshop for 2nd year students was lead by swiss and peruvian director Klaudia Reynicke.

Staged Photography

PHOTOGRAPHY

Staged Photography

with Charlotte Krieger

SCREENPLAY This course introduces students to the creation of a seven-image series built around the theme Screenplay. 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.

Fine Art Photography

PHOTOGRAPHY

Fine Art Photography

with Natacha Lesueur

VULGAR Based on projects developed around a common theme, students create a personal and in-depth body of work exploring the notion of deception. They build a project that plays with the boundaries of photographic truth, using the medium as an artifice of lies.

Video

PHOTOGRAPHY

Video

with Olivia Schenker

Simulations By making a very short film, students learn fundamental notions in the narrative, visual and conceptual development of video production. The project provides essential technical skills in shooting, lighting, camera movement, sound recording, editing and post-production.

Editorial Design BA1 S1 2024/2025

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Editorial Design BA1 S1 2024/2025

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.

Visual Identity BA1 S1 2024/2025

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Visual Identity BA1 S1 2024/2025

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.

Type Design BA1 S1 2024/2025

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Type Design BA1 S1 2024/2025

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.

Image Creation BA1 2024/2025

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Image Creation BA1 2024/2025

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.

Hi-Lo-Fi

INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

Hi-Lo-Fi

with Stéphane Halmaï-Voisard

The first-year students of the Bachelor in Industrial Design (BADI) at ECAL, under the direction of Stéphane Halmaï-Voisard, head of BADI, embarked on a project to design their own unique interpretations of a Bluetooth speaker. This project challenged the students to work creatively within the constraints of an existing kit of technical components, encouraging them to explore innovative approaches in terms of form, materiality, and functionality.

Contemporary Photography - Spring 2025 - MAP1

PHOTOGRAPHY

Contemporary Photography - Spring 2025 - MAP1

with Kim Knoppers

Do Not Disturb – Curating in Progress The course Do Not Disturb – Curating in Progress is designed to give students a sneak peek into the craft of curating an exhibition from the perspective of an independent curator (formerly at Foam, Amsterdam 2011-2021). The course teaches to engage with the historical, theoretical, and practical matters of curating a photography exhibition, with issues regarding the desperate desire of mankind to display objects, the photography exhibition in the digital age, the blending of photography with other disciplines in a physical space, Imaging the Anthropocene and Photography in Times of Radical Change. Students were invited to create a group exhibition with a physical model and an online solo exhibition with their own work.

Visual Identity BA3 S1 2024-2025

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Visual Identity BA3 S1 2024-2025

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.

Self-Initiated Project - Spring 2025 - MAP1

PHOTOGRAPHY

Self-Initiated Project - Spring 2025 - MAP1

with Bruno Ceschel

The course is a platform for the development of personal projects that arise from the desire and curiosity of each student. The basic concept of the work must be relevant to the field of contemporary photographic images. Each project can take a different form depending on the specificities, contents and inclinations of each participant. From books to multimedia installations, from performance to CGI, group discussions will articulate a plural vision of photography’s applications today.

Type Design BA2 S1 2024 - 2025

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Type Design BA2 S1 2024 - 2025

with Aurèle Sack

The second-year students had to develop the lower-case letters of two display fonts by hand.

Applied Photography - Spring 2025 - MAP1

PHOTOGRAPHY

Applied Photography - Spring 2025 - MAP1

with Charlie Engman

This course explores contradiction, ambiguity, and authorship in photographic meaning and the role of aesthetics in shaping an image’s function across contexts. Photography operates in a complex space where visual style, context, and audience expectations interact to produce meaning. This course asks students to examine how photographic aesthetics influence interpretation and how an image’s function shifts when adapted for different applied photography frameworks. This course explores contradiction and ambiguity in photographic meaning and the role of aesthetic conventions in shaping an image’s function across contexts. Through the course, students will be expected to develop a coherent series of at least 10 images that applies a distinct treatment or aesthetic to a subject matter or multi-image narrative not typically represented in that style or aesthetic. Through this process, students will examine how visual codes, contextual shifts, and aesthetic strategies influence interpretation.

Materialized Photography- Spring 2025 - MAP1

PHOTOGRAPHY

Materialized Photography- Spring 2025 - MAP1

with Felicity Hammond

In this module, we will explore the potential for the photographic image to simultaneously be a backdrop, object, and prop. We will make images both for the purpose of being re-imaged and for their sculptural possibilities, ending in a work that investigates the potential for an endless cycle of images and objects. Crucially, we will consider the staging of the work, and the conceptual and physical site for which it is intended.

Editorial Design BA3 2024-2025

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Editorial Design BA3 2024-2025

with Jonathan Hares

The third-year students had to produce an edition over half a term, choosing as their subject an event that had appeared in the newspaper on the date of the first lesson.

Image Creation BA3 2024-2025

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Image Creation BA3 2024-2025

with Guy Meldem

Third-year students had to complete an image creation project based on a free subject and medium.

Type Design BA3 S1 2024-2025

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Type Design BA3 S1 2024-2025

with Aurèle Sack

Third-year students had to develop a typography and digitise it.

Dissapearing Bodies

PHOTOGRAPHY

Dissapearing Bodies

with Laurence Bonvin

Dissapearing Bodies invites you to think around the question of the disappearance of the body in today's world, which is increasingly virtualised and disconnected from physical reality, and in which more and more activities are delegated to machines. The augmented body, virtual reality, 3D, social networks - these are just some of the tools available to us through our new devices, smart phones and others, which are revolutionising our relationship with our bodies. Controlling, optimising and managing our physical activity, our sleep, our diet, our bodies that are slipping away from us.

Photographic revelation

PHOTOGRAPHY

Photographic revelation

with Laurence Bonvin

Process The notion of Process, in the context of this course, can mean developing a project in which the students focus on the process rather than just the concept or the results. This should allow them to experiment, to look for new solutions, to explore unexpected paths, techniques and forms, to lose themselves and find themselves again. Sometimes we give up on an idea for fear of failure, of not having a strong enough idea or of not succeeding in producing sufficiently interesting images. The idea is for the students to free themselves from these injunctions so that they can explore their ideas, desires, obsessions and desires more freely.

Fine Art Photography

PHOTOGRAPHY

Fine Art Photography

with Natacha Lesueur

Last minute risk As the students enter their final year of training at the ECAL, and their interests and methods take shape, it's time to take advantage of this last project to question our own rules, achievements and influences, not to be satisfied with them, and to take risks.

Applied Photography

PHOTOGRAPHY

Applied Photography

with Calypso Mahieu

ZOOM IN ZOOM OUT This course, both practical and technical, required students to develop a true photographer’s eye. Its goal was to introduce them to or help them refine their skills in various photographic genres, such as still life, portraiture, architecture, as well as documentary and staged photography. These disciplines demanded particular attention and great rigor in selecting models, locations, and objects. Mastery of composition, framing, and light management—whether natural or artificial—was essential for achieving successful shots. Throughout the course, students were encouraged to sharpen their sense of observation and their ability to create images that were both precise and expressive.

Editorial Design S3 2024 - 2025

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Editorial Design S3 2024 - 2025

with Diego Bontognali

This editorial project, "1 dépêche, 10 secondes, 100 pages", is divided into three formats: the book, the poster, and the animation. The students are tasked with creating content and defining an editorial line based on a current news dispatch or brief.

Newspaper

INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

Newspaper

with Elric Petit

Newspaper is an industrial design project that aims to cultivate fresh ideas with the potential to seamlessly integrate into our contemporary society and its economy. Under the guidance of Elric Petit, each student had the possibility to explore a chosen topic, expressing their personal affinities and interests, thereby enhancing the overall project experience. In the spirit of multidisciplinarity, the students underwent a writing workshop with a professional journalist, which culminated in 25 articles written by the students on their individual projects, collected in a printed journal.

Tease & Reveal

MEDIA & INTERACTION DESIGN

Tease & Reveal

with Kylan Luginbühl

Video sequences created as part of the 3D Graphics course, led by Kylan Luginbühl. The videos interpret the theme Tease & Reveal. Whether for a movie, a series, a product, or a video game, the teaser sparks our curiosity and invites us to engage with the subject in just a few seconds. Projects created during the 1st year of the Bachelor in Media & Interaction Design.

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