Swiss design school, based in Lausanne, founded in 1821. With a focus on Industry collaborations, workshops and high-levels of production, the school has a great track record of producing graduates who are ready to enter the contemporary design industry and prepared for future developments. Quotes below are from an article on AIGA’s Eye on Design.
“The lecturers fuse tradition with the present context, which encourages work grounded in both craft and technology.” (Janna Lipsky, Vitra Design Museum)
There is an “emphasis on high production values” according to Jonas Berthod, who graduated with a Bachelor’s in graphic design in 2012.
“Once you’ve been set a brief there are one-to-one tutorials every week, which I think is a key reason ECAL students do so well. After the first two sessions where you might discuss an overarching concept, you have to show printed drafts of what you’re working on – abstract thoughts aren’t as welcome as concrete developments, teaching is visual and you learn by doing.” (Jonas Berthod)
“The briefs by the graphic design program varied from the applied to the conceptual, but were always defined by an output of graphic design objects; books, posters, typefaces, identities, or videos, for example. Projects that would be hard to define within a specific category—like those you might see in an art school in the UK—were a rarity. So in that sense ECAL is very much an heir of the Swiss style.”