The “Visual Archives” series is the result of research projects initiated and carried out at ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne. It is devoted to unresearched material left by designers, authors and brands. Documents and visual material from archives are put into context and accompanied by critical essays. Short essays accompany these visual materials, thus providing reference and context: they are the result of research projects conducted internally by ECAL.
The first volume of the series is dedicated to the teaching career of Swiss graphic designer Hermann Eidenbenz (1902–1993).
Hermann Eidenbenz was one of the first persons in Switzerland to describe himself as a graphic designer. From the first half of the 20th century into the 1950s, he was involved in graphic design education in Zurich, Magdeburg, Basel and Brunswick, first as a student and later as a teacher.