Introduction: New Perspectives on Swiss Graphic Design

Davide Fornari is associate professor at ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne, where he leads the Applied Research and Development sector. He was co-coordinator of the SNSF-Sinergia research project “Swiss Graphic Design and Typography Revisited” (2016–2020), and co-edited the resulting publication Swiss Graphic Design Histories (Scheidegger & Spiess, 2021).

Robert Lzicar is professor at Bern University of the Arts HKB, where he teaches design history, directs the MA Design course, and coordinates the research field “Design History” at the Institute of Design Research. He was co-coordinator of the SNSF-Sinergia research project “Swiss Graphic Design and Typography Revisited” (2016–2020), and co-edited the resulting publication Swiss Graphic Design Histories (Scheidegger & Spiess, 2021).

Sarah Owens is Professor of Visual Communication and Visual Cultures at Zurich University of the Arts, where she chairs the subject area, heads research, and directs the graduate program in Visual Communication. She was subproject leader on the SNSF-Sinergia project “Swiss Graphic Design and Typography Revisited” (2016–2020), and co-edited the resulting publication Swiss Graphic Design Histories (Scheidegger & Spiess, 2021). She has lectured on her research worldwide, and has edited and contributed to several volumes on design theory, focusing on the history, production, and mediation of visual artifacts.

Michael Renner is a professor and head of the Visual Communication Institute at FHNW Academy of Art and Design in Basel. He was a member of “eikones,” the Swiss National Center of Competence in Iconic Research and the European research network “What Images Do” (2005–2013). He was subproject leader on the SNSF-Sinergia project “Swiss Graphic Design and Typography Revisited” (2016–2020), and co-edited the resulting publication Swiss Graphic Design Histories (Scheidegger & Spiess, 2021).

Arne Scheuermann is professor for Theory of Design and head of the Institute of Design Research at the Bern University of the Arts HKB. He was head coordinator of the SNSF-Sinergia research project “Swiss Graphic Design and Typography Revisited” (2016–2020), and co-edited the resulting publication Swiss Graphic Design Histories (Scheidegger & Spiess, 2021). Among his major books and edited volumes are Design als Rhetorik. Grundlagen, Positionen, Fallstudien [Design as Rhetoric. Basics, Positions, Case Studies] with Gesche Joost, eds. (Birkhäuser, 2008), Zur Theorie des Filmemachens [The Theory of Filmmaking] (Edition Text + Kritik, 2009), Handbuch Medienrhetorik [Media Rhetoric Manual] with Francesca Vidal eds. (De Gruyter, 2017). He has been President of the SDN Swiss Design Network from 2014 to 2020; he lectures and runs workshops on design research and cultural studies at numerous places.

Peter J. Schneemann is full professor at the Institute of Art History at the University of Bern and director of the Department of Modern and Contemporary Art History. He was co-applicant and subproject leader on the SNSF-Sinergia projects “The Interior. Art, Space, and Performance (Early Modern to Postmodern)” (2012–2016) and “Swiss Graphic Design and Typography Revisited” (2016–2020), and co-edited the resulting publication Swiss Graphic Design Histories (Scheidegger & Spiess, 2021). His most recent publications are Reading Room. Re-Lektüren des Innenraums [Reading Room. Rereadings of the Interior], with Christine Göttler et al., eds. (De Gruyter, 2019), and Localizing the Contemporary. The Kunsthalle Bern as a Model ed., (JRP|Ringier, 2018).