Demian Conrad is an award-winning designer, author and Creative Director, and the founder of Automatico Studio. His work spans graphic design, publishing and experimental practices, with a strong focus on architecture, wayfinding, and contemporary visual culture. Alongside commissioned work, Demian develops an independent practice situated between art and applied design, exploring transdisciplinary approaches and the grey zones between disciplines. Demian has exhibited his work in numerous museums and cultural institutions, including Grand Palais Paris, Museum Tinguely, Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Kunsthalle Biel, Centre d’art d’Yverdon, Musée des Beaux-Arts Le Locle, Porto Design Biennial and Weltformat Festival, among others. He is a member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI) and Architekturforum Biel/Bienne.
Automatico Studio Founded in 2007, Automatico Studio is a design consultancy applying a conceptual and research-driven methodology to visual identities, wayfinding systems and exhibition design. The studio works closely with architects, cultural institutions and product designers, developing projects at the intersection of design, architecture and modern and contemporary art.
Teaching & Research Demian is currently a lecturer at the Institute Digital Communication Environments (IDCE) at HGK FHNW Basel. He has been a lecturer, teacher and researcher at HEAD–Geneva for nearly ten years. He has also taught and lectured at numerous institutions, including ECAL Lausanne, SUPSI Lugano, ERACOM Lausanne, EAA La Chaux-de-Fonds, ESAD Valence, University of Bolzano, and at events such as TEDx Geneva, CreativeMornings Milan and Basel, DesignLibrary Milan, PosterHeroes Turin and EASD Valencia.
Independent Projects & Publishing From 2013 to 2019, Demian founded and directed the contemporary furniture brand DADADUM, overseeing art direction, product development, marketing and distribution. The brand received several design awards, including the Swiss Design Prize and European Design Awards, and was supported by the Canton of Vaud. DADADUM furniture is part of the permanent collections of Museum für Gestaltung Zürich and mudac Lausanne. Between 2017 and 2023, Demian ran an experimental laboratory in Geneva called Center for Future Publishing, dedicated to research in pedagogy, algorithmic graphic design and creative printmaking. The laboratory organized workshops, conferences and installations, collaborating with institutions and exhibiting across Europe, including Porto Design Biennial, Weltformat Festival Lucerne and Triennale de l’art imprimé contemporain in Le Locle. Demian initiated the collaborative book project Famous Ordinary Things, inviting over 100 influential figures from the Swiss cultural scene to photograph a design object they love. The book is currently out of print. From 2019 to 2021, he led a research project on creative coding at HEAD–Geneva, resulting in the 600-page publication Graphic Design in the Post-Digital Age, published by Onomatopee (NL). The book sold out within four months; a second edition is currently in production with Set Margins’. In 2022, Demian published Who the Hell Is Müller-Brockmann? with the historical Swiss publisher Niggli. The book explores the mutual influence between Swiss Style and British graphic design and has also been translated into Korean. Demian has been supported by the Berner Design Stiftung and Ville de Bienne for the developement of a book on his printing technique WROP. In 2024, he co-organised the AGI Open Congress in Basel and curated the exhibition Perspective on AI, dedicated to generative artificial intelligence.