Our proposal for the new Swiss banknote series, “Switzerland as Ecosystem”, was awarded second prize by the Swiss National Bank (SNB). The concept celebrates the richness and diversity of Switzerland’s natural environment through a unifying theme: the ecosystem.
From mountain streams to alluvial meadows, each ecosystem is defined by the dynamic interaction between living organisms and their environment. This holistic approach reveals the ecological networks that connect the Swiss landscape, from Alpine peaks to lowland plains, while highlighting contemporary issues such as biodiversity conservation and the impact of human activities.

The banknote design offers both an intuitive and analytical reading of Switzerland. Each ecosystem is represented through one of its key components: Light, Fauna, Flora, Water, Minerals, and Air. The reverse side adopts a cartographic approach, combining a detailed map of Switzerland with specific data for each denomination, including temperature, population density, vegetation cover, river systems, geology, and hertzian waves. Together, the six banknotes form a complete map of Switzerland at a scale of 1:1,500,000, creating a miniature Swiss atlas.

Security features are fully integrated into the design. Holograms (B) and security windows (A) enhance protection, while the watermark (F) visualizes altitude and the see-through register (E) reinterprets the Swiss cross. A millimetre scale (C) printed along the edges allows the notes to function as a ruler. Like the Swiss Army Knife, these banknotes become multifunctional objects.

The point of departure for the book «Black Ark» with Lee “Scratch” Perry (1936–2021), a Jamaican musical and visual artist who was based in Switzerland, is a detailed inventory of photographs and writings (Spring 2021) from the Black Ark Studios in Kingston, Jamaica, where Lee produced his music from 1973 on. He was a seminal pioneer of dub, an electronic subgenre of reggae that uses sampling, looping, remixing, reverb and echoes to create new songs as well as rework and appropriate pre-recorded songs and tracks.

Black Ark Studios was one of the cradles of dub. It’s also where Lee “Scratch” Perry’s musical approach found an enduring visual counterpart in the form of continuously evolving mural paintings and drawings as well as shape-shifting assemblages of records, instruments, found objects, posters, newspaper and magazine clippings, and appropriated books. The artworks form actual layers upon layers that are rhizomatically intertwined with the studio building itself as well as with the furniture inside—and with Perry’s biography and persona.

Perry created his very own, dense and eclectic world—a world that is documented in «Black Ark», before it disappears for good: the premises have recently been sold. «Black Ark» which reflects the rhythm and layering effects of collage both in its content and the materials used to craft the book. Perry was involved in the conception of the book in its early stages. It also interweaves various media and chronologies. The new photographs of the Black Ark Studios will be juxtaposed with stills from old documentaries and archival photos.

The idea of a “house” serves as both a working hypothesis and a metaphor. It will be the starting point and endpoint of various thematic strands, both visual and textual: for example, the book will explore the Black Ark as a “spiritual yard” in the context of African diaspora, as well as looking into archeomusicological aspects. Furthermore, extended captions by Perry’s biographer will provide the backdrop for a kaleidoscopic panorama of Perry’s eclectic and ingenious work.

Meticulously crafted, this book marks the 20th anniversary of Tambour, Louis Vuitton’s line of modern luxury watches. Launched in 2002, the first Tambour model became an instant classic, with its drum-shaped case, superb Swiss engineering and innovative, uncompromising aesthetic.

Featuring works from Gae Aulenti, Yayoi Kusama, Takashi Murakami, Christopher Nemeth, Jake and Dinos Chapman, and Virgil Abloh. With pictures from Annie Leibovitz, Jean Larivière, Paolo Roversi, Eric Maillet, Martin Parr, Guido Mocafico, Erwan Frotin, David Sims, Jacob Sutton, Kenta Cobayashi, Jean-Vincent Simonet, Bruno Aveillan, Piotr Stoklosa, Daniel Jackson and and an exclusive photographic series of the Tambour watch collection by Maxime Guyon.

Essays by journalist and luxury watch expert Fabienne Reybaud explore the creative origins of the Tambour design and the history of Louis Vuitton watches, along with the precision work of the Geneva watchmakers behind the brand’s reputation for excellence. A catalogue raisonné of Tambour models and insights from leading watch connoisseurs make this a useful resource for collectors. This is a visually striking and luxuriously crafted book, illustrated with custom photography and many never-before-seen images from the Louis Vuitton archives. With more than 400 illustrations, this book is a beautiful object in its own right, for all lovers of luxury accessories and the Louis Vuitton lifestyle.

The first comprehensive monograph on the work of Swiss artist Raphael Hefti is published on the occasion of his major solo exhibition in 2020 at Kunsthalle Basel. With a career spanning over a decade, Hefti is celebrated for upending and disrupting—seemingly ordinary—industrial and post-industrial processes. Hefti’s intimate encounters with materials take form in colossal sculptures, performances that (at times) flirt with the brink of disaster, and sprawling public interventions. Often operating under the light of Murphy’s Law, he unveils everyday things so well hidden in plain sight (and turns the principles of minimalism on their head).

This richly illustrated volume captures the artist‘s complete body of work through his process of making in factories across Europe to their installation in museums and galleries. With contributions from a diverse cast of authors—a philosopher, a science-fiction writer, and an art historian among others—Hefti’s material transformations come to life in saturated words and images that tell stories of error, risk and wonder (from the scale of the particle to the universe at large).

Every copy of this book is unique. The distribution of pigments is the result of their manipulation during screen printing, and no two covers are alike. Printed by the artist and Maximage in collaboration with Atelier für Siebdruck, Lorenz Boegli, Müntschemier, CH.

A virtual exhibition created collectively with all finalists of the 2021 Swiss Design Awards.

For its 2021 edition, the Swiss Design Awards’ website works as a virtual exhibition which has been co-created alongside all the finalists. As the sanitary crisis didn’t offer the guarantee to held an event that year, we believed this was an opportunity not to replace what can’t happen physically, but to finally invent new forms of exhibiting using online tools, exploring what a digital show can be: not only in its aesthetics, but also in the way it is created – collectively.

Each finalist created a custom space with red metaballs to exhibit their work. Printed and digital medias playfully interact with blobby aesthetics oscillating between 2D and 3D worlds. A teasing campaign with social media assets accompanies the website’s launch.