What is Swiss graphic design? Which objects can or cannot be associated with it and why? And what is typically Swiss about them? A project team composed of teachers and students of the BA in Visual Communication at the Hochschule der Künste Bern HKB is investigating the historiography of Swiss graphic design. Within this explorative exhibition project, they complement well-known stories with alternative and personal approaches. Swiss graphic design history is not only a catalogue of ‘masterpieces’, as is often implied in design collections, exhibitions and publications. Interesting examples can be found just as easily in Swiss homes, in grandparents’ basements, or at the charity shop. Anonymous everyday graphic design of past decades tells important stories – if we allow it to.

Photo © Bern University of the Arts / BA Visual Communication