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 Léa Corin
Neither Fully Free, Nor Fully Captive explores the theme of day parole. Through a video installation and a book, this project archives and documents the activities of an association dedicated to reintegration. The projection, conceived as an emotional archive, combines experimental videos with sound testimonies from individuals on day parole supported by the association, revealing the complexity of this transition. The book, as a complement, adopts a documentary and sensitive approach, blending stories and visual creations. This project transcends graphic form to foster social dialogue and shed light on an essential yet often overlooked issue.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
by Emilie Müller
It is good to believe that the library is resilient. Not as a relic of the past, but as a presence that reinvents itself, oscillating between the tangible and the intangible. It's not a question of denying the digital, nor of clinging to our yellowed pages. But to understand that if we accept the library as a moving space, an organism that mutates with the times, then its future may not be so bleak. My diploma is a non-linear immersive library, conceived as a virtual house. Each piece evokes one of six themes from the Jan Michalski Foundation's Varia collection. In the form of a web interface, the project celebrates the serendipity inherent in physical libraries, while questioning how digital technology can translate the book experience.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
by Diego Steiner
Hybrid Modules explores the link between traditional craftsmanship and contemporary technologies through the creation of a 3D-printed modular typographic tool for use with a manual letterpress. Designed on a grid, the modular alphabet becomes a set of physical dies, which can be inserted by hand into the press. The slow, repetitive process becomes an integral part of the visual language, making visible the time and care of the gesture. A series of A2 posters promotes a series of fictitious conferences entitled “ART, CRAFT & TECHNOLOGY - Guests in Switzerland”.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
by Eliot Dubi
At the individual level, we can neither predict nor prevent the next disaster; we can only arm ourselves with the right reflexes to face it. JUST IN CASE is a website that gathers, through four scenarios — large wildfires, dam failures, industrial accidents and earthquakes — the key actions to remember when everything turns upside down. A clear tree-like navigation, concise texts and flat-style illustrations keep learning accessible without resorting to sensationalism. A triptych of posters promotes the site to the wider public. Designed for a generation flooded with anxiety-fuelled alerts, the project turns worry into simple, immediate actions — just in case.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
by Hugo Scholl
MODULAT is a variable typeface designed around the concept of a musical visualizer. Starting from a neutral design, it branches out into multiple character sets, each allowing adaptation to different graphic and sonic worlds. Its variation axes enable it to adjust to a wide range of display formats, making it suitable for use across various digital platforms. Conceived as a modular tool, it questions how a typeface can accompany music while maintaining visual coherence. The project combines formal experimentation with a search for graphic adaptability.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
by Flora Hayoz
FACE À FACE is an exploration of loneliness through two mediums: dance and graphic design. This project brings together two practices to give shape to a hybrid creation. On one hand, a choreographic piece co-choreographed with Gaia Menchini, centred on states of loneliness and then captured on video. The second medium is a publication that extends the piece. By questioning the book as an object, it is designed to be read by two people and becomes a tool for dialogue and listening. The publication thus diverts from its usual uses, creating a sensory experience. The two media interact with each other, inviting us to experience solitude both in movement and in the sharing of reading. Thus, FACE À FACE offers an experience where solitude becomes the starting point for an encounter.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
by Constance Mauler
My project explores the Club Kid scene. Born in the 1980s in New York, this movement emerged as a radical response to artistic and social elitism. Led by queer and marginalized individuals, it transformed nightlife into a space of freedom, resistance, and self-invention. This publication aim to create a dialogue between the original generation of Club Kids and the contemporary scene, to show how this movement continues to challenge norms, invent new codes, and assert liberated identities. An immersion into a flamboyant and deeply political subculture.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
by Paul Paturel
Grime Index is an interactive VJ-ing project that centralizes, visualizes, and enables navigation through iconic moments of grime — a chaotic genre born on London’s pirate airwaves. By turning audio data into visual identity and live signage, the project makes a performance-based, oral, and improvised culture more readable. Designed for both newcomers and longtime fans, it is built around three interchangeable modules — MC, instrumental, and lyrics — honoring the culture of sampling, MCing, and mixing. Diarization, transcription, dynamic typography, and real-time effects combine to reveal grime’s living and navigable memory.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
by Coraline Beyeler
5R is a documentary book explores the contrast between urban and rural agriculture, focusing on developments driven by new generations. It addresses issues related to pollution as well as social, health, and economic challenges.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
by Marc Facchinetti
The Swiss Climate Report is an editorial design project that explores climate change through data. Based on recent meteorological records, put into perspective with historical averages sometimes dating back more than 150 years, the book is supported by plugins custom-developed for InDesign. These tools translate scientific data such as temperatures, UV radiation and Dobson units into typographic variations and ASCII forms. This experimental approach offers an alternative reading of climate information. The project offers a raw and precise computer graphics perspective.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
by Lidia Molina González
It all started with taking a break. A pause. A moment alone in a shared space: quiet, ordinary, a little strange. Toilets might not be the first place you’d look for big ideas, but that’s why we chose them. Toilet Break uses this overlooked space to explore how we live together, take space, and connect. This first issue is about in-betweens: between public and private, inside and outside. It gathers voices from Switzerland, Belgium, Japan, across generations and practices. A place where ideas circulate freely, where serious things can be said with a wink. A collective and personal space to test new editorial forms, listen more carefully, and believe in detours as a way forward. To take, quite literally, a moment to reflect and sit with things.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
by Candice Aepli
Brindille et Azilise invite you to imagine children's space differently, by offering a lively, playful universe in their bedrooms. Here, the story is not read between the pages, but lies on the floor and climbs up the windows. It slips under an arm. It tucks in dreams. It's a whole world at children's level, where ecosystems come to life through furniture, transforming everyday life into a playground for exploration. Le jardin, collection no. 1 The gardener has slipped seeds into the soil, the bright sun warms the petals, the mouse nibbles on the sly, and in this corner full of life, everyone is busy and smiling.
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