The lecture introduces the joint project “The Cultural Turn in Swiss Graphic Design from the 1980s to 2020” by the ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne, HES-SO and the HKB, funded by the SNSF Swiss National Science Foundation. It investigates the shift away from graphic design as a pure service and towards commissions from the cultural sector in Switzerland from the 1980s to 2020 in three stages: the emergence of new values (1980–1992), the development of a discourse (1993–2002) and its institutionalisation in federal policy (2003–2020). Instead of aiming for maximum return, graphic designers chose their commissions according to whether they promised them creative freedom and whether they contributed to the profiling of their portfolio in alignment with their new definition of the profession as a lifestyle. 

Speaker:
Miriam Koban, Robert Lzicar

Host:
Institute of Design Research + MA Design