Swiss Grand Award for Design 2025 to Bruno Monguzzi, the father of the USI logo

Bruno Monguzzi, a renowned graphic designer from Ticino and the creator of the logo for the Università della Svizzera italiana (USI), has been awarded the Swiss Grand Award for Design 2025. The motivation for the award emphasises how his work perfectly embodies his visual philosophy: reducing to the essential and making complexity clear and accessible. Bruno Monguzzi has successfully combined analytical thinking with graphic design, establishing himself as one of the most influential figures in Swiss graphic design internationally. He has consistently dedicated himself to cultural projects and education. The award ceremony is scheduled for Monday, 16 June, in Basel as part of the Swiss Design Awards exhibition.

Monguzzi was born in Chiasso in 1941. Before moving to London, he studied graphic design at the École des arts décoratifs in Geneva from 1956 to 1960. There, he studied the psychology of perception, typography, and photography at esteemed institutions such as St. Martin's School of Art, the Central School of Art and Design, and the London College of Printing. His career began in 1961 at Studio Boggeri in Milan, a hub for visual communication that had previously hosted notable figures like Xanti Schawinsky and Max Huber. From 1963 to 1965, he taught typographic design in Venice. In 1965, he was invited to collaborate with Studio Gagnon/Valkus to design nine pavilions for the Universal Exposition 1967 in Montreal.

After spending time in Milan, where he collaborated with Roberto Sambonet and Antonio Boggeri, he returned to Ticino in 1971 and settled in Meride. Here, he began an important teaching career: he taught at the Centro scolastico per le industrie artistiche (Csia) in Lugano, then at SUPSI and USI Academy of Architecture. He also gave lectures at universities worldwide, including institutions in the United States, China, and Japan.

His works include:

• Visual identity and signs for the Musée d'Orsay in Paris (1983), a project for which he received the Prix Janus from the French government
• Corporate image of Museo Cantonale d'Arte in Lugano (1987-2004)
• Visual identity of Ufficio Cultura in Chiasso (2001-2009)
• Graphic design for the Teatro San Materno in Ascona (2009-2014)

Among the numerous awards he has received are the Premio Bodoni (1971) and the Premio Yusaku Kamekura (2000), which made him the first non-Japanese graphic designer to receive it. In 2003, he was also named Honorary Royal Designer for Industry by the Royal Society of London, an honour reserved for a select few Swiss, including Jan Tchichold, Herbert Matter, Armin Hofmann and Joseph Müller-Brockmann. His works are preserved in prestigious collections, including the Museum für Gestaltung in Zurich, the Musée du livre et de l'affiche in Chaumont, the National Museum in Poznan, the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, as well as in numerous Swiss and international institutions.

For more information on the USI logo: https://www.usi.ch/en/university/who-we-are/images-and-logo/logo