Laura Prim's posters for Rosenberg Kollectiv combine graphic shapes with expressive line work

Having founded her own studio in her hometown of St Gallen in 2014, Swiss graphic designer Laura Prim has created posters, book covers and visual identities for a range of exhibitions, festivals and events. Her work takes place predominantly in the cultural sector, in conjunction with galleries, museums, institutions and arts venues.

After completing her studies at the Lucerne School of Art and Design, Laura undertook agency and studio work across Berlin, London, Zurich and St Gallen, before deciding to further hone her typographic and design skills with the CAS Typography and Print course at Zurich University of the Arts. It was during the same year that she set up her graphic design studio in St Gallen.

Speaking of her preferred modes of working, Laura tells us: “I love to work on projects with a lot of creative freedom within clearly defined framework conditions. It’s great if I have enough time for development and execution – and if the work is well paid!”

Laura’s designs are, as she says, “reduced”, and “typography always plays an important role.” Her recent work for Rosenberg Kollektiv is exemplary of these stylistic principles. Tonally simple, making use of the negative space between two bold colours, the series of poster designs are composed according to basic forms and restrained shapes which resonate with one another and are offset by the more unrestrained, eruptive line work.

The project arose, Laura states, simply from the studio’s participation in the local creative community: “Rosenberg Kollektiv is a new music label founded in St.Gallen, Switzerland by four friends. The label organises events and produces electronic music. St.Gallen is a small town, so we have known each other for some time. However, the request to develop the identity for the label was a nice surprise, a great project.”

Going into more detail about the composition and concepts behind the poster designs, Laura reveals: “The logo as well as the image plays with the two circles and the square. These three shapes emerge from the letterforms – they can be abstracted until only the three forms remain. The illustrations take up these basic forms again. There is always a circle in modified form within a rectangular field. The size of this field is defined by a grid and by the typography in the top line. Meanwhile the logo is made so wide that the poster format is always filled in. Utilising the grid creates an exciting dynamic in its various applications across the design.”

As well as her work for Rosenberg Kollektiv, Laura’s practice is highly collaborative and involved with different arts initiatives in her area. She tells us: “I am currently working with Daniel Weber of Data Orbit [a graphic design studio also based in St Gallen] on a book about the beginnings of speleology in Eastern Switzerland.” Between Laura’s work with local institutions, her correspondence with other studios and her upholding of newly founded musical and artistic projects, graphic design is showing itself to be at the forefront of creative exploits in St Gallen.