Minds of the week: Three wild men in the west of Zurich
Saloon is a young design studio in the wild west of Zurich. The start-up includes Sarah Lüscher, Vera Studhalter and Marcel Britt.
Saloon is a young design studio in the wild west of Zurich. The start-up includes Sarah Lüscher, Vera Studhalter and Marcel Britt.
"The sun burned down on their heads. The desert sand seemed barren and barren. The time had come. They saddled their horses and rode off towards the industrial desert. Saloon is the new design studio in the wilds of Zurich West, which has been seducing customers with its specially created aesthetics for a few months now. "This self-advertisement is quite poetic and could also do credit to a copywriting agency. "There is no second chance to make a first impression. Images have to be created that immediately draw you in," says Marcel Britt. The "project manager" of the salon relates this statement to the effect of communication design. "More and more brands are focusing on aesthetics to increase their appeal. They have realized that a good brand should not only be differentiating and enduring, but must also move with the times. Good design is good business."
Just as the term "aesthetics" makes sense in several ways, the term "saloon" can also be interpreted in several ways at this new agency. "We are inspired by the prairie, the wide open spaces, the unrestricted view. The saloon is a place for exchange and interaction," explains Sarah Lüscher. Vera Studhalter adds: "There is the literary salon, the beauty salon and the saloon in the Wild West. Life takes place in all of them."
Those who meet up in the saloon for an interview with the two designers Sarah Lüscher and Vera Studhalter as well as Marcel Britt can do some pretty aesthetic theorizing. Later, the impressive portfolios show that theory can be put into practice just as beautifully. We are particularly proud of the packaging design and the resulting POS measures for Dianne Brill's new perfume. The former New York pop icon and muse of Jean Paul Gaultier and Vivienne Westwood lives in Zurich and was looking for "a graphic designer who could work at an international level" for her new launch. And one day she suddenly found herself standing in a saloon.
The commission became a breakthrough for the studio, because you don't need a large infrastructure if you want to be involved in large commissions as a designer. The saloon, just under 25 square meters in size, is located on the Maag site. "There were no customers when we started, which is very risky," says Britt.
Britt started his career with a banking apprenticeship. On his return from a language year in Sydney, he found a job in the stock exchange department of Raiffeisenbank - "completely burnt out". Nevertheless, he was not enthusiastic about a career in the world of numbers. Because the bank still wanted to keep him, he was transferred to the advertising department. This world of advertising fascinated him - and Britt then decided to go straight for "the hardcore version". He trained as an advertising assistant at the Sawi day school in Biel. For the one-year internship, he found "a great start" at Pucci Sulzer and later Jung von Matt. After four years of a classic consulting career, Britt wanted to move closer to creation and, with Dominique von Matt's blessing, completed his vocational baccalaureate in design. Britt wanted to be able to have a say in design issues as well as the rules of marketing.
After this further training, Marcel Britt moved to the design agency Code because he was able to work "extremely close to the creation" as a consultant. During this time, he also met Sarah and Vera. It soon became clear that the three of them wanted to do something of their own. Before the dream became a reality, however, Marcel wanted to gain further experience at Atelier Raffinerie, which was more oriented towards culture than lifestyle and where he mainly worked for the Schauspielhaus Zurich.
Sarah Lüscher entered the world of communication at the daily newspaper Südostschweiz in Chur and Glarus. During her apprenticeship as a polygraph, she discovered that her dream job had to have something to do with design. Sarah studied relevant books and attended a day school for web publishing after her apprenticeship. This sector was experiencing its first boom at the time. But Sarah wanted to do more than "just" programming. An opportunity presented itself in Canada. She found a job in web design at Orion Compu Services in Toronto. "That was shortly after September 11, 2001. The head of the agency was Iranian. Due to the attacks, many of his customers bailed out because Muslim-run businesses were boycotted. This forced the company to lay off several employees, which in turn created an opportunity for me as an inexpensive intern."
On her return, Lüscher and her portfolio were immediately hired by Code. She was also responsible for various clubs as a visual designer for two years.
The third in the saloon, Vera Studhalter, attended the preliminary course at the Lucerne School of Design at the age of 15. In the four years of graphic design classes that followed, the time also came when she had to decide on an internship. "That was fascinating. I found promising addresses from all over the world in a reference book on design agencies. I then concentrated on New York, where I also sent my applications."
Fortunately, two well-known stars promptly got in touch. Her first internship was with Milton Glaser, the creator of the "I love NY" logo. After three months, Vera added to her New York experience with Steven Guarnaccia. Even more than with this top illustrator, however, Vera learned "just like that" in New York. "You're really overwhelmed by inspiration and realize that you're nothing yet." But as the Frank Sinatra song says: "If you can do it in New York, you can do it everywhere." Back in Switzerland, I got jobs at Dynamo Grafik, Cash Werbeagentur, Aldo Clerici and Code. At this "workshop for graphics", she initially only worked with the two founders Daniel Donati and Reto Gehrig. Over the following seven years, Vera not only witnessed Code grow to 14 employees. She also saw "how an agency builds itself up". The designers started with flyers for the Zurich party scene and were soon able to win large budgets for DaimlerChrysler or Coca-Cola, without losing the joy of working on smaller projects.
With their saloon, the three now operate as a full-service agency. "We can offer everything thanks to our network. Visual stimuli always play the central role. By these stimuli we mean intelligence, substance, aesthetics and functionality," explains Marcel Britt.
The Saloonies see an important opportunity in the trend that advertising clients increasingly want a design in their strategy "that is even more precisely tailored to the target group". They cite Swatch as an example. The watch brand commissioned Saloon to create a specially created visual for advertising in a magazine with a readership interested in design and art. The watch sellers were convinced: "This magazine is overflowing with beautiful illustrations. We have to let ourselves be staged by designers who put us in the fast lane despite the wild surroundings."
Andreas Panzeri
"The sun burned down on their heads. The desert sand seemed barren and barren. The time had come. They saddled their horses and rode off towards the industrial desert. Saloon is the new design studio in the wilds of Zurich West, which has been seducing customers with its specially created aesthetics for a few months now. "This self-advertisement is quite poetic and could also do credit to a copywriting agency. "There is no second chance to make a first impression. Images have to be created that immediately draw you in," says Marcel Britt. The "project manager" of the salon relates this statement to the effect of communication design. "More and more brands are focusing on aesthetics to increase their appeal. They have realized that a good brand should not only be differentiating and enduring, but must also move with the times. Good design is good business."
Just as the term "aesthetics" makes sense in several ways, the term "saloon" can also be interpreted in several ways at this new agency. "We are inspired by the prairie, the wide open spaces, the unrestricted view. The saloon is a place for exchange and interaction," explains Sarah Lüscher. Vera Studhalter adds: "There is the literary salon, the beauty salon and the saloon in the Wild West. Life takes place in all of them."
Those who meet up in the saloon for an interview with the two designers Sarah Lüscher and Vera Studhalter as well as Marcel Britt can do some pretty aesthetic theorizing. Later, the impressive portfolios show that theory can be put into practice just as beautifully. We are particularly proud of the packaging design and the resulting POS measures for Dianne Brill's new perfume. The former New York pop icon and muse of Jean Paul Gaultier and Vivienne Westwood lives in Zurich and was looking for "a graphic designer who could work at an international level" for her new launch. And one day she suddenly found herself standing in a saloon.
The commission became a breakthrough for the studio, because you don't need a large infrastructure if you want to be involved in large commissions as a designer. The saloon, just under 25 square meters in size, is located on the Maag site. "There were no customers when we started, which is very risky," says Britt.
Britt started his career with a banking apprenticeship. On his return from a language year in Sydney, he found a job in the stock exchange department of Raiffeisenbank - "completely burnt out". Nevertheless, he was not enthusiastic about a career in the world of numbers. Because the bank still wanted to keep him, he was transferred to the advertising department. This world of advertising fascinated him - and Britt then decided to go straight for "the hardcore version". He trained as an advertising assistant at the Sawi day school in Biel. For the one-year internship, he found "a great start" at Pucci Sulzer and later Jung von Matt. After four years of a classic consulting career, Britt wanted to move closer to creation and, with Dominique von Matt's blessing, completed his vocational baccalaureate in design. Britt wanted to be able to have a say in design issues as well as the rules of marketing.
After this further training, Marcel Britt moved to the design agency Code because he was able to work "extremely close to the creation" as a consultant. During this time, he also met Sarah and Vera. It soon became clear that the three of them wanted to do something of their own. Before the dream became a reality, however, Marcel wanted to gain further experience at Atelier Raffinerie, which was more oriented towards culture than lifestyle and where he mainly worked for the Schauspielhaus Zurich.
Sarah Lüscher entered the world of communication at the daily newspaper Südostschweiz in Chur and Glarus. During her apprenticeship as a polygraph, she discovered that her dream job had to have something to do with design. Sarah studied relevant books and attended a day school for web publishing after her apprenticeship. This sector was experiencing its first boom at the time. But Sarah wanted to do more than "just" programming. An opportunity presented itself in Canada. She found a job in web design at Orion Compu Services in Toronto. "That was shortly after September 11, 2001. The head of the agency was Iranian. Due to the attacks, many of his customers bailed out because Muslim-run businesses were boycotted. This forced the company to lay off several employees, which in turn created an opportunity for me as an inexpensive intern."
On her return, Lüscher and her portfolio were immediately hired by Code. She was also responsible for various clubs as a visual designer for two years.
The third in the saloon, Vera Studhalter, attended the preliminary course at the Lucerne School of Design at the age of 15. In the four years of graphic design classes that followed, the time also came when she had to decide on an internship. "That was fascinating. I found promising addresses from all over the world in a reference book on design agencies. I then concentrated on New York, where I also sent my applications."
Fortunately, two well-known stars promptly got in touch. Her first internship was with Milton Glaser, the creator of the "I love NY" logo. After three months, Vera added to her New York experience with Steven Guarnaccia. Even more than with this top illustrator, however, Vera learned "just like that" in New York. "You're really overwhelmed by inspiration and realize that you're nothing yet." But as the Frank Sinatra song says: "If you can do it in New York, you can do it everywhere." Back in Switzerland, I got jobs at Dynamo Grafik, Cash Werbeagentur, Aldo Clerici and Code. At this "workshop for graphics", she initially only worked with the two founders Daniel Donati and Reto Gehrig. Over the following seven years, Vera not only witnessed Code grow to 14 employees. She also saw "how an agency builds itself up". The designers started with flyers for the Zurich party scene and were soon able to win large budgets for DaimlerChrysler or Coca-Cola, without losing the joy of working on smaller projects.
With their saloon, the three now operate as a full-service agency. "We can offer everything thanks to our network. Visual stimuli always play the central role. By these stimuli we mean intelligence, substance, aesthetics and functionality," explains Marcel Britt.
The Saloonies see an important opportunity in the trend that advertising clients increasingly want a design in their strategy "that is even more precisely tailored to the target group". They cite Swatch as an example. The watch brand commissioned Saloon to create a specially created visual for advertising in a magazine with a readership interested in design and art. The watch sellers were convinced: "This magazine is overflowing with beautiful illustrations. We have to let ourselves be staged by designers who put us in the fast lane despite the wild surroundings."
Andreas Panzeri
