I’m a graphic designer working between Freiburg im Breisgau and Zurich on books, digital matters, visual identities for clients from academia, culture and publishing. Since 2017, I design, research and teach with Loraine Olalia, Nadine Wüthrich, the folks at intercomverlag and several developers (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) on tools and formats for publishing academic research in hybrid form and as open access by utilizing generative design methods (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).
Glotterpfad 6, D-79194 Freiburg im Breisgau & Gertrudstrasse 4, CH-8003 Zurich
Nominations and Awards
2023 ⚪ Most Beautiful Swiss Books 2022, with Nadine Wüthrich for gta edition / intercom Mono
2019 ⚪ Finalist for the Josef Müller-Brockmann Advancement Award for Young Designers
2019 ⚪ Stiftung Buchkunst, Förderpreis für junge Buchgestaltung 2018, Shortlisted for “Palms on Balconies”
2018 ⚪ Project funding for “Palms on Balconies” through the ZHdK-AVINA Student Project Fund of AVINA Foundation Switzerland
Clients
Bauhaus-Universität Weimar – IKKM, Campus Verlag, ETH Zürich – Professur für Wissenschaftsforschung, Foraus – Forum Aussenpolitik, gta verlag, Helmhaus Zürich, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, ETH Zürich – Institut für Geschichte und Theorie der Architektur (gta), intercomverlag, Jalou Media Group Paris, JOM Architekten, Kultur Komitee Winterthur Kulturstiftung des Landes Baden-Württemberg, Kunstmuseen Erfurt, Literaturbüro Freiburg, Literaturhaus Stuttgart, MMKoehn Verlag, PKZ Schweiz, Roma Jam Session Art Kollektiv, Sies + Höke, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin: Institut für Museumsforschung, transcript Verlag, Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) – Istituto di storia e teoria dell’arte e dell’architettura, Universität Zürich – Institut für Sozialanthropologie und Empirische Kulturwissenschaft (ISEK).
Education
2018 – 2020 ⚪ PhD-studies at Collegium Helveticum, “Epistemologies of aesthetic practices” and University of Zurich, Deutsches Seminar, Kulturanalyse, Zurich, CH. “Wissen gestalten. Die Designpraxis von Ausstellungskatalogen ethnografischer Museen”. Unfortunately cancelled due to a lack of project funding.
2017 – 2018 ⚪ MA in Visual Communication, ZHdK, Zurich, CH
2012 – 2013 ⚪ Erasmus exchange, ECAL, Lausanne, CH
2009 – 2013 ⚪ BA in Visual Communication, HfG Pforzheim, GER
Work
2010 – 2019 ⚪ Employed, art directed, freelanced, interned at Source Associates AG, L’OFFICIEL Schweiz/Suisse, Raffinerie AG, Bureau Mirko Borsche
Teaching
since Fall Semester 2024 ⚪ Minor Publishing (BA/MA), module “Production and Realisation”, together with Nadine Wüthrich, Visual Communication, Departement Design, ZHdK, CH
Research
Design research about practice theory, books and design artifacts as knowledge devices for ethnographic representation, generative design methods for open access-publishing in hybrid form.
Jan 2022 – Dec 2023 ⚪ Project member, Design Departement, ZHdK, “Shared Habitats – A Publication as a Laboratory – Designing Biodiversity and Future Biotopes in the Built Environment”, ZHdK, Zurich, CH.
Jan 2022 – Dec 2023 ⚪ Project member at Visual Communication, Design Departement, ZHdK, “Multimediales Publizieren in Open Access: Alternative Navigation für das Publikationstool cache.ch”, Zurich, CH.
Jan 2019 – July 2020 ⚪ Project member at Institut für Designforschung ZHdK, “cache: an explorative study on Open Access as a socio-technical system”, Zurich, CH
July – Dec 2018 ⚪ Scientific assistant at Institut für Designforschung ZHdK, “Editorial Design für neue Formen von Wissen in der ethnografischen Forschung”, Zurich, CH
2017 – 2018 ⚪ MA-thesis “Palms on Balconies: A visual study of contemporary houses from Romania built for representation”. A publication for the series <struct> at intercomverlag is in the works.
Written Contributions
2020 ⚪ “Design research as an gesture for showing”, contribution for “Not at your service – Design Manifestos”, Hansuli Matter and Björn Franke, Department ZHdK, Birkhäuser Verlag
2019 ⚪ “Foreign agency as facilitator of status in post-revolutionary Romania”, contribution with Gabriel Amza for Migrant Journal No. 6
Workshops & Talks
2022, 2023, 2024 ⚪ “Design for Hybrid Publishing” at CAS Editorial Expanded, Input with Nadine Wüthrich, ZHdK Departement Design, Zurich, CH
2021 ⚪ “How can hybrid design create new approaches for publishing academic research?“, 5-day workshop with Loraine Olalia and Nadine Wüthrich, ZHdK Departement Design, Zurich, CH
2021 ⚪ “Zeigen – artikulieren – bezeugen. Erkenntnismodi in Kunst, Wissenschaft und Design”, panel with Johannes Bennke and Bruno Heller. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Ästhetik: Ästhetik und Erkenntnis, ZHdK, Zurich, CH
Exhibition contributions
2020 ⚪ Literaturhaus Stuttgart, “Homing” with “Palms on Balconies”, Stuttgart, GER
2019 ⚪ House of Arts Timișoara, “Homing” with “Palms on Balconies”, Timișoara, RO
2014 ⚪ 26th Intl. Biennial of Graphic Design, “Student works”, Brno, CZ
Coding by Jens Buss ⚪ 2025