Open Switzerland

Interrogating Swiss Identity With Provocative Graphic Design

For a relatively small country, Switzerland packs a lot of symbolic punch. You’ve got the Swiss Alps. You’ve got neutrality. You’ve got cheese and chocolate and banks and those handy little knives. What it all amounts to is a hugely recognizable brand--a national identity known the world over. Of course, as we know, those types of symbols and stereotypes don’t always ring true when you’re one of the people they’re meant to represent. And that’s precisely what a new campaign by a group of Swiss designers is meant to address.

Open Switzerland is a conceptual design project born from the merger of GVA Studio with the international network Base to create BaseGVA in Geneva Switzerland. The initiative, comprising provocative, rethought, iconic Swiss imagery, an interactive website and a custom-made « neutral » typeface, launches a debate about what it means to challenge a country’s identity and, in doing so, its very reason for being.

Here you can explore the website, download the font and also design you own poster! Here's mine (I decided to mix both swiss and portuguese cultures - the swiss knive and the portuguese wine):