Best Design Agencies in Zurich (2026)

Introduction

Zurich has one of Europe’s densest clusters of independent design studios, and the 10 below cover graphic, editorial, type, exhibition, furniture and transport design. Most are small, partner-led practices with long client relationships in culture, architecture and Swiss industry.

The city’s studios carry a lot of weight in Swiss design. Designers based in Zurich were credited on 11 of the titles selected for The Most Beautiful Swiss Books 2025, the Federal Office of Culture’s annual competition, with NORM and Huber/Sterzinger among them. Zurich studios also work at national scale: Bellprat Partner designed the Swiss Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka for Präsenz Schweiz, and Nose’s work on the SBB Giruno high-speed train won a Swiss Design Prize.

Every studio here has an active Zurich office in 2026. The list is unranked. Identity-strategy specialists are covered on the branding page and digital product teams on the UX page, so this list concentrates on multidisciplinary studios that make printed, spatial and physical work.

The best design agencies in Zurich

1. Hubertus Design

Independent · Zürich-West · hubertus-design.ch

Hubertus Design is a studio led by founder Jonas Voegeli and director Kerstin Landis, working for art, architecture, culture, education and political clients. Its record includes repeated selections in The Most Beautiful Swiss Books, medals and diplomas from the Most Beautiful Books in the World competition in Leipzig, TDC awards in 2022, and the Jan Tschichold Prize for Voegeli in 2019.

The work spans books, magazines, identities, typefaces, signage and exhibitions. Recent projects include publications for EPFL, the Musée d’art et d’histoire in Geneva, a Sheila Hicks book, Tashkent Modernism XX/XXI and campaign work for Greenpeace and Miller’s theatre.

2. Atlas Studio

Independent · Altstetten · atlasstudio.ch

Atlas Studio is the collective practice of Martin Andereggen, Claudio Gasser and Jonas Wandeler, founded in 2011, with studios in Zurich and Basel. It comes from a print background and treats analogue and digital work as equals, covering identities, posters, books, signage, exhibitions and websites.

Clients include Kunsthalle Basel, Aargauer Kunsthaus, Literaturhaus Zürich, Helmhaus Zurich, Kunstverein Zürich and the Swiss Art Awards. It designs books for Spector Books, Park Books and Scheidegger & Spiess, and has made the monthly posters for Bad Bonn since 2013.

3. Moiré

Independent · Zurich · moire.ch

Moiré is a graphic design studio founded in 2000 and run by Marc Kappeler and Dominik Huber. It works across editorial design, corporate design, type design and art direction, with a strong architecture and publishing client list.

The studio designs Reportagen magazine and its infographics, with issues through to number 90 in September 2026. Other work includes catalogues for Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, books for Fotomuseum Winterthur and ETH Zurich’s Studio Caruso, and the GT Pressura typeface for Grilli Type.

4. Raffinerie

Independent · Kreis 4 · raffinerie.com

Raffinerie AG für Gestaltung works in branding, digital and editorial design from its studio on Anwandstrasse. Its client list mixes cultural institutions with banks, insurers and consumer brands.

Its roster includes Museum für Gestaltung, Zürcher Kantonalbank, Helsana, On, SRG, Schauspielhaus Zürich, Theater Neumarkt, Solothurner Filmtage and Stiftung Mercator Schweiz. Recent work includes the Independent Paper Show 2025.

5. Nose

Independent · Zürich-West · nose.ch

Nose was founded in 1991 as Nose Design Intelligence and now presents itself as Nose Design Experience. It works in transportation, product, interaction, spatial and branding design, and is best known for rail. Its design for the SBB Giruno train, built by Stadler, won a Swiss Design Prize for design leadership.

Recent rail work includes turning Nederlandse Spoorwegen’s design guideline into regional train styling (December 2025), the overall design concept and interior elements for ÖBB vehicles (July 2025), and the Traverso fleet (February 2026). Other clients have included Zurich Insurance, Swiss International Air Lines, Mammut and PostFinance.

6. Bellprat Partner

Independent · Zurich · bellprat.ch

Bellprat Partner is a Zurich studio for exhibitions, brand worlds, expo pavilions, tourist destinations and digital spaces. It works where spatial design, content and media meet, from museum shows to corporate visitor centres.

It designed the Swiss Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka for Präsenz Schweiz, and its archive includes the Azerbaijan pavilion at the same expo and an exhibit for the energy company BKW. A studio of this kind suits clients who need a permanent or touring exhibition designed and built as one project.

7. Gottschalk+Ash International

Independent · Altstetten · ga-z.com

Gottschalk+Ash was founded by Fritz Gottschalk and Stuart Ash, and is now run in Zurich by a second generation, Mattia Conconi and Sascha Lötscher. It works in brand and environmental design, signage, annual reports, exhibitions, packaging and editorial design, and lists a second office in Toronto.

The portfolio includes the Swiss passport, environmental design for the Novartis Campus and Europaallee, reports for Banque Pictet & Cie and work for UBS, the Swiss Bankers Association and ETH Zurich’s architecture department. It is a good fit for organisations that need signage and print to work as one system.

8. NORM

Independent · Altstetten · norm.to

NORM was founded in 1999 by Dimitri Bruni and Manuel Krebs, with Ludovic Varone joining in 2005. The studio designs and publishes books and typefaces, and its typefaces include Simple, Replica, Riforma and Normetica.

Its design for Savoir-faire sans panique was selected for The Most Beautiful Swiss Books 2025. NORM suits clients who want rigorous typography and a studio that will push the format of a book or identity.

9. Kueng Caputo

Independent · Seebach · kueng-caputo.ch

Kueng Caputo is the practice of Sarah Kueng and Lovis Caputo, working in furniture, objects, porcelain and interior concepts. Both took up guest professorships in industrial design at the ABK Stuttgart from October 2025.

Projects include porcelain for the Japanese brand 2016/ in Arita, interiors for a converted barn in Maloja, and the education centre for health (ZAG), nominated for the Swiss Arc Award 2025. Their brick furniture is sold in Jimmy Choo stores, and their brick objects were shown in “Backstein Reloaded” at Gewerbemuseum Winterthur from June to November 2026.

10. Huber/Sterzinger

Independent · Zurich · hubersterzinger.ch

Huber/Sterzinger is a Zurich studio focused on books, publishing and identities for cultural projects, with its own imprint, Edition HS. Its book La valise égyptienne was selected for The Most Beautiful Swiss Books 2025.

Recent work includes Techno for the Swiss National Museum (2025), the identity, website and publication for the Klöntal Triennale, and Bewegung tut Gut, a book marking 40 years of Rote Fabrik.

What to look for in a Zurich design agency

Start with the studio’s main medium. Many Zurich studios built their reputations on books and posters for museums and publishers, and they bring that typographic discipline to corporate work. Others, such as Bellprat Partner or Nose, are built around space or physical products. A studio that has shipped the format you need, whether that is a 300-page catalogue or a train interior, will price and plan it more accurately.

Check languages early. Most Zurich studios work in German day to day and handle English comfortably, but projects for national clients often need French and Italian versions too. Ask who sets the type for each language and how translations are fed into layouts.

Expect small, senior teams. Several studios on this list are run by two or three partners who design the work themselves. That gives close attention, but it also means capacity is limited, so agree timelines and review rounds at the start, especially around exhibition openings or print deadlines.

Finally, ask how files and feedback are handled. Design projects produce large layout files, image libraries, 3D models and repeated proof rounds. A studio with one place for the latest files and a clear way to collect comments from several stakeholders saves time on every round.

How Fabric helps design agency teams

Fabric gives a design studio one workspace for its files, client feedback and project knowledge, with AI search across all of it. The setup for designers fits studios that run several projects at once, with one space per client holding briefs, references, layouts and meeting notes.

Large files live in Fabric’s cloud drive, which streams them on demand so they take no local disk space. Search works by meaning across documents, images and PDFs, and colour search finds visual assets by shade. Similar search finds related images by composition, colour and subject, which helps when pulling references from past projects. Early direction can go on a canvas that embeds Figma files and exports to SVG or PNG, as described in the guide to moodboards.

For review, share a file or folder with the client as a commenter. Shared links work without sign-up. Clients can highlight and comment on PDFs and documents, draw on images and attach a comment to the drawing, and leave timestamped comments on video, with annotations. The studio marks each comment completed as it is handled, so a proof round works like a checklist. There is more on this workflow in review and approval.

For final delivery, any file or folder can be published as a web page, which is view-only, with optional download and password protection. Fabric uses AES-256 encryption and is CASA Tier 2 verified, and customer data is not used to train AI models.

Password protection is included on Pro and Team plans. See plans for teams.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best design agency in Zurich?

There is no single answer, as it depends on the project. For books and type, Hubertus Design, NORM and Moiré have strong records in The Most Beautiful Swiss Books. For exhibitions and pavilions, Bellprat Partner designed the Swiss Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka. For transport and product design, Nose is the established name.

Do Zurich design studios work in English?

Most do. German is the usual working language, but studios on this list regularly work for international publishers, museums and companies in English. Ask about French and Italian if the project needs national versions.

Which Zurich studios design exhibitions?

Bellprat Partner specialises in exhibitions and expo pavilions. Atlas Studio, Hubertus Design and Gottschalk+Ash also design exhibition graphics and signage, often working alongside architects or scenographers.

What is the difference between a design studio and a branding agency?

Design studios here make the work itself, such as books, signage, exhibitions and products, and often build identities as part of that. Branding agencies lead with positioning and identity strategy. For those, see the list of branding agencies in Zurich.

How should I share files with a Zurich design studio?

Use one shared folder for briefs, references and source files, and give stakeholders commenter access so feedback lands on the files themselves. Agree in advance who signs off each round, since studios here often work with committees in museums, foundations and public bodies.

Related lists

Design agencies in other cities: New York · London · Los Angeles · Chicago · Berlin

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Run your studio on Fabric: Fabric for designers · Fabric for creative teams · Best design feedback tools