LUCA MAIANI
VISUAL COMMUNICATION STUDENT
Hi there,

I am currently studying Visual Communication at Hochschule der Künste Bern. Studying at HKB has allowed me to explore different mediums, methods, and formats while developing my own approach to graphic design. My work is shaped by an interest in visual cultures and critical theory. Technology plays an important role in my practice, both as a creative tool and as something I critically examine: its power, the systems it creates, and the ways it shapes our everyday lives. I enjoy experimenting with software and pushing it beyond its intended uses. ↓  
I often work by disrupting and recontextualising material, systems, or visual languages, and seeing what happens when they are placed somewhere new. The academic context has led me to start with a question or rough starting point and let an idea unfold from there. Research has become an important part of my process, often opening up new questions and possibilities along the way.

LUCA MAIANI
VISUAL COMMUNICATION STUDENT
Hi,

I am currently studying Visual Communication at Hochschule der Künste Bern. Before starting my Bachelor’s degree, I completed an apprenticeship as a Mediamatiker EFZ at ETH Zürich, focusing on AV production and IT, alongside marketing, business, and corporate design.

Studying at HKB has helped me explore different mediums, methods, and formats while developing my own approach to graphic design. My work is shaped by an interest in visual cultures, identity, technology, and the social structures they produce.
The academic context is allowing me to start with a question or rough starting point and let an idea unfold from there. Research has become an important part of this process, often opening up new questions and possibilities within the projects.
LUCA MAIANI
INTERNSHIP APPLICATION
Dear ROLE Studio team,

I am currently studying Visual Communication at Hochschule der Künste Bern. I am reaching out because I would love to join ROLE for an internship between February and August 2027, ideally at up to 80%. I am flexible regarding both the duration and workload.

Studying at HKB has allowed me to explore different mediums, methods, and formats while developing my own approach to graphic design. My work is shaped by an interest in visual cultures and critical theory. Technology plays an important role in my practice, both as a creative tool and as something I critically examine: its power, the systems it creates, and the ways it shapes our everyday lives. I enjoy experimenting with software and pushing it beyond its intended uses. ↓
Before starting my Bachelor’s degree, I completed a four-year apprenticeship as a Mediamatiker EFZ at ETH Zurich, where I worked across eight different departments, focusing on AV production and IT alongside marketing, business, and corporate design. The technological knowledge I gained there continues to be a useful foundation for realising my ideas at HKB. At the same time, the apprenticeship made me realise that I wanted to approach design in a more exploratory way, with room to follow my own interests and questions. Visual Communication has given me the space to do that.  
I often work by disrupting and recontextualising material, systems, or visual languages, and seeing what happens when they are placed somewhere new. The academic context has led me to start with a question or rough starting point and let an idea unfold from there. Research has become an important part of my process, often opening up new questions and possibilities along the way.  

Now, I am looking forward to taking the experience I have developed into an applied, collaborative design practice. I’d enjoy developing ideas with others, working within a brief, and seeing how projects evolve through the needs and limitations of a real-world context. ROLE feels like a particularly exciting place to do so.  

What particularly draws me to ROLE is the way your work moves between art, culture, and commerce while remaining conceptually driven. I recognise many of my own interests in the questions you ask around social phenomena and how design can translate familiar languages, systems, and cultural forms into something new.
For example, the idea of a publication existing somewhere between a cookbook, manual, and coffee-table book really resonated with me. My book Spines & Skewers pairs the topic of bookmaking with culinary craft, so I found it particularly exciting to see how you create something that goes beyond a conventional recipe book. I find the level of detail and the many layers of Kägi kocht very impressive, from tactile elements such as the cloth binding and handwritten texts to the way the images and content open up entirely new worlds within the cookbook context. I would especially like to experience how this kind of thinking develops within a studio, from research and conceptualisation to collaboration and the final visual outcome.  

I would be very happy to learn more about how you work at ROLE and what it is like to be part of the studio.  

Best,
Luca
LUCA MAIANI
INTERNSHIP APPLICATION
Dear Studio Flux team,    

I am currently studying Visual Communication at Hochschule der Künste Bern. I am reaching out because I would love to join Studio Flux for an internship between February and August 2027, ideally at up to 80%. I am flexible regarding both the duration and workload.

Studying at HKB has allowed me to explore different mediums, methods, and formats while developing my own approach to graphic design. My work is shaped by an interest in visual cultures and critical theory. Technology plays an important role in my practice, both as a creative tool and as something I critically examine: its power, the systems it creates, and the ways it shapes our everyday lives. I enjoy experimenting with software and pushing it beyond its intended uses. ↓
Before starting my Bachelor’s degree, I completed a four-year apprenticeship as a Mediamatiker EFZ at ETH Zürich, where I worked across eight different departments, focusing on AV production and IT alongside marketing, business, and corporate design.
The technological knowledge I gained there continues to be a useful foundation for realising my ideas at HKB. At the same time, the apprenticeship made me realise that I wanted to approach design in a more exploratory way, with room to follow my own interests and questions. Visual Communication has given me the space to do that.
I often work by disrupting and recontextualising material, existing systems, or visual languages, and seeing what happens when they are placed somewhere new. The academic context has led me to start with a question or rough starting point and let an idea unfold from there. Research has become an important part of these projects, often opening up new questions and possibilities along the way.

Now, I am looking forward to taking the experience I have developed into an applied, collaborative design practice. I want to work with others, develop ideas within a brief, and see how projects evolve through the needs and limitations of a real-world context. Studio Flux feels like a particularly exciting place to do so.  

What draws me to Studio Flux is your process-driven and research-based approach to visual design and how ideas are shaped through collaboration with clients. The range of your work, from editorial and identity to communication campaigns, motion and spatial design, is especially exciting to me.
I would love to contribute my own experience with design, audiovisual production, and experimental approaches to the studio’s work. I recognise many of my own interests in the questions you explore around technology and cultural forms, and how these can be approached from new perspectives. Experiencing how this approach develops within a studio, from research and conceptualisation to collaboration and the final visual outcome, is especially valuable to me.  

I would be thrilled to learn more about how you work and what it is like to be part of the studio.

Best,
Luca
LUCA MAIANI
INTERNSHIP APPLICATION
Dear Studio Upset team,    

I am currently studying Visual Communication at Hochschule der Künste Bern. I am reaching out because I would love to join Studio Upset for an internship between February and August 2027, ideally at up to 80%. I am flexible regarding both the duration and workload.

Studying at HKB has allowed me to explore different mediums, methods, and formats while developing my own approach to graphic design. My work is shaped by an interest in visual cultures and critical theory. Technology plays an important role in my practice, both as a creative tool and as something I critically examine: its power, the systems it creates, and the ways it shapes our everyday lives. I enjoy experimenting with software and pushing it beyond its intended uses. ↓
Before starting my Bachelor’s degree, I completed a four-year apprenticeship as a Mediamatiker EFZ at ETH Zürich, where I worked across eight different departments, focusing on AV production and IT alongside marketing, business, and corporate design.
The technological knowledge I gained there continues to be a useful foundation for realising my ideas at HKB. At the same time, the apprenticeship made me realise that I wanted to approach design in a more exploratory way, with room to follow my own interests and questions. Visual Communication has given me the space to do that.
I often work by disrupting and recontextualising material, existing systems, or visual languages, and seeing what happens when they are placed somewhere new. The academic context has led me to start with a question or rough starting point and let an idea unfold from there. Research has become an important part of these projects, often opening up new questions and possibilities along the way.

Now, I am looking forward to taking the experience I have developed into an applied, collaborative design practice. I want to work with others, develop ideas within a brief, and see how projects evolve through the needs and limitations of a real-world context. Studio Upset feels like a particularly exciting place to do so.  

The range of your work, from editorial and identity to communication campaigns, motion design, and art direction, is very exciting to me. What draws me to Upset is the way you connect culture, content, and design by looking at what is particular to each project — whether that is the client, the process, or the purpose behind it. I feel that this is something that can easily get lost when design becomes primarily concerned with commercial appeal, but seems especially important in the cultural contexts you work within.
Your visual concept for the Greenland exhibition particularly resonates with me in this regard. It responds to the tension between Greenland’s landscape, its changing identity, and human intervention. I like how this subject itself seems to shape the concept, and I find myself curious about how you approached the challenge of translating such complex relationships into a visual language. Being able to take part in this kind of process — where research, context, and design continuously inform one another — is exactly what I would hope to experience during an internship at Upset.  

I would be thrilled to learn more about how you work and what it is like to be part of the studio.

Best,
Luca
LUCA MAIANI
INTERNSHIP APPLICATION
Dear Martin and Melina,

I am currently studying Visual Communication at Hochschule der Künste Bern. I am reaching out because I would love to join A Language for an internship between February and August 2027, ideally at up to 80%. I am flexible regarding both the duration and workload.

The range of your work, from editorial design and visual identity to posters and digital user interfaces, is very exciting to me. What draws me to A Language is the way you connect culture, content, and design by considering what is particular to each project, whether that is the client, the process, or its purpose. I feel like this can easily get lost when design becomes primarily concerned with commercial appeal, but seems especially important in the cultural contexts you work within. ↓ I like how the “idiosyncrasies” of each project seem to shape its form and find myself curious about how you approach the challenge of translating such complex relationships into a visual language. Being able to take part in this kind of process, where research, context, and design continuously inform one another, is exactly what I would hope to experience during an internship at A Language.

Studying at HKB has allowed me to explore different mediums, methods, and formats while developing my own approach to graphic design. My work is shaped by an interest in visual cultures and critical theory. Technology plays an important role in my practice, both as a creative tool and as something I critically examine: its power, the systems it creates, and the ways it shapes our everyday lives. I enjoy experimenting with software and pushing it beyond its intended uses.

Before starting my Bachelor’s degree, I completed a four-year apprenticeship as a Mediamatiker EFZ at ETH Zurich, where I worked across eight different departments, focusing on AV production and IT alongside marketing, business, and corporate design. The technological knowledge I gained there continues to be a useful foundation for realising my ideas at HKB. At the same time, the apprenticeship made me realise that I wanted to approach design in a more exploratory way, with room to follow my own interests and questions. Visual Communication has given me the space to do that.  
I often work by disrupting and recontextualising material, systems, or visual languages, and seeing what happens when they are placed somewhere new. The academic context has led me to start with a question or rough starting point and let an idea unfold from there. Research has become an important part of my process, often opening up new questions and possibilities along the way.  

Now, I am looking forward to taking the experience I have developed into an applied, collaborative design practice. I’d enjoy developing ideas with others, working within a brief, and seeing how projects evolve through the needs and limitations of a real-world context. A Language feels like a particularly exciting place to do so.  

I would be very happy to learn more about how you work and what it is like to be part of the studio.  

Best,
Luca
LUCA MAIANI
BEWERBUNG WERKSTUDENT
Liebes YAPPA Coffee Team,

ich studiere momentan Visuelle Kommunikation an der Hochschule der Künste Bern und würde mich absolut freuen, Teil eures Teams als Werkstudent für Grafik Design & Social Media zu werden.

Ich habe bis Juli selbst ein Jahr als Barista bei ViCAFE gearbeitet und davor auch andere Erfahrungen in der Gastronomie gesammelt. Kaffee kenne ich dadurch also nicht nur als Produkt, sondern auch aus dem täglichen Betrieb eines Cafés und aus der Perspektive des Verkaufs. Gleichzeitig weiss ich, dass mich vor allem die andere Seite interessiert: Wie tritt ein Café auf? Wie entwickelt sich eine Marke? Wie entsteht ein Auftreten, das einem Unternehmen zusätzlich Charakter gibt? ↓
Das visuelle Auftreten eines Cafés kann losgelöst vom Ort selbst nicht funktionieren. Wie dort bedient wird, welche Räumlichkeiten einen umgeben, welche Leute dort ein- und ausgehen und welche Atmosphäre daraus entsteht, sollte sich auch in der Kommunikation wiederfinden. Gerade weil YAPPA noch so jung ist, gibt es hier natürlich viele Möglichkeiten, sich genauer zu definieren und weiterzuentwickeln.
Mir fällt auf, dass ihr bereits eine Kundschaft habt, die sich von vielen der neuen, teilweise ziemlich überteuerten Zürcher Cafés unterscheidet. Euer Angebot wirkt zugänglich und unkompliziert. Die Eröffnung hat übrigens auch bei ViCAFE für einiges an Gesprächsstoff gesorgt. ;) Gleichzeitig sehe ich in eurem zusätzlichen Angebot, etwa dem Gebäck oder auch dem Running Club, dass sich rund um YAPPA bereits eine eigene Community und Stammkundschaft entwickeln. Gerade die Lage neben der Zentralbibliothek, wo täglich sehr viele Studierende unterwegs sind, bietet dafür ideale Voraussetzungen.

Visuell empfinde ich eure Kommunikation als sauber und gleichzeitig nicht distanziert, was ich super finde. Ich könnte mir vorstellen, diese Zugänglichkeit beizubehalten und gleichzeitig noch stärker auf euer Publikum zuzugehen. Etwas weniger zurückhaltend, mehr Lockerheit oder Verspieltheit und durch eine eigene visuelle Sprache mehr Charakter schaffen. Nicht unbedingt mit dem Ziel, das nächste sterile Café zu werden, sondern vielleicht eher als der verlässliche beste Kollege, bei dem man gerne vorbeischaut und genau weiss, wer er ist.
Ich glaube, dass YAPPA langfristig sogar davon profitieren könnte, sich bewusst von einer typischen Café-Ästhetik zu lösen. Nicht alles muss clean, reduziert und perfekt inszeniert sein, weil es ein Café ist. Interessanter fände ich, die Eigenheiten von YAPPA zu finden und ihnen visuell Raum zu geben. Eine eigene Farbe, wiederkehrende Elemente, eine bestimmte Art zu fotografieren, zu schreiben oder Videos zu machen – Dinge, die zunächst vielleicht nur kleine Details sind, aber mit der Zeit einen klaren Wiedererkennungswert schaffen. So könnte sich nach und nach eine Identität entwickeln, die nicht einfach austauschbar ist, sondern klar nach YAPPA aussieht.

Durch mein Studium an der HKB beschäftige ich mich mit unterschiedlichen Formen von Gestaltung und der Frage, wie sich eine Idee oder ein Thema in Formaten, Medien und Kontexten ausdrücken lässt. Die HKB erlaubt es mir, experimentell zu arbeiten und Dinge aus eigenem Interesse zu hinterfragen, bevor ich genau weiss, wo sie hinführen.
Gleichzeitig bringe ich durch meine Ausbildung als Mediamatiker EFZ an der ETH Zürich eine sehr breite praktische Grundlage mit. Durch diese bisherigen Erfahrungen kenne ich mich in der Adobe Suite gut aus, habe mit verschiedensten Kameras und Aufnahmegeräten, Video- und Bildbearbeitungsprogrammen sowie Web- und Social-Media-Tools gearbeitet. Ich war bereits an grösseren Filmproduktionen beteiligt und habe auch selbstständig Videoprojekte in professionellen Videostudios umgesetzt.
Auf die einzelnen Produkte, die dabei an der ETH entstanden sind, bin ich heute nicht unbedingt besonders stolz – auf das, was ich dabei gelernt habe, dafür umso mehr. Vor allem habe ich verstanden, wie Projekte geplant, organisiert und umgesetzt werden, wie man in einem Team zusammenarbeitet und wie aus einer Idee am Ende tatsächlich etwas Fertiges wird. Diese Erfahrung ist bis heute ein wichtiger Grundstein dafür, wie ich meine Ideen an der HKB umsetzen kann.

Ich bringe viel Selbstständigkeit mit und bin es gewohnt, mich in neue Tools und Aufgaben hineinzudenken und Dinge selbst anzupacken. Gleichzeitig habe ich gemerkt, dass mir die Zusammenarbeit mit anderen besonders viel Spass macht – vor allem, wenn gemeinsam etwas aufgebaut wird und viel Ehrgeiz dahintersteckt. YAPPA wirkt für mich als ein besonders spannender Ort, um genau das zu tun.
Diese Mischung aus Eigenständigkeit und Teamarbeit finde ich an dieser Ausschreibung äusserst ansprechend. Ich bringe Gestaltungswissen und Ideen mit, kenne aber auch den Alltag eines Cafés und weiss, dass nicht alles eine riesige Kampagne sein muss oder kann. Manchmal braucht es einfach einen guten Flyer, einen Post, ein neues Format oder eine Idee, die einen weiterbringt.

Es würde mich freuen, euch kennenzulernen und mehr darüber zu erfahren, was YAPPA für euch ausmacht, wo ihr mit dem Unternehmen hinwollt und natürlich, was ihr für die nächste Zeit bereits kommunikationstechnisch angedacht habt.
Was mich an diesem Job besonders reizt, ist die direkte Zusammenarbeit mit einem so jungen, motivierten Team und die Möglichkeit, gemeinsam herauszufinden, was YAPPA visuell und inhaltlich ausmacht und eine eigene Sprache zu entwickeln. Gerade diesen frühen Punkt einer Marke, an dem noch vieles definiert, ausprobiert und geprägt werden kann, stelle ich mir besonders lehrreich und spannend vor.

Genau deshalb würde ich mich freuen, Teil eures Teams zu werden und diese Verantwortung zu übernehmen.

GaLiGrü
Luca
PROJECTS POSTERS & PHOTOGRAPHS
ALL REMAINS
MOD_POSTDIGITAL_GRAPHIC_DESIGN

Film Excerpts
Generative AI
Liminal Spaces

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SPINES & SKEWERS
MOD_CREEPS_DUMMIES_AND_DOG_EARS

Bookmaking Manual
Culinary Terminology
Embossing
Read more…
COMPLIANCECORE
PERSONAL_PROJECT

3D Animation
AI Monitoring Systems
Corporate Culture

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WASSUP
MOD_LETTERS

Printed Publication
Email Threads

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OMNIVERSE
MOD_CABINET_OF_CURIOSITIES

Augmented Reality
Reconstructive Surgery
Speculative Technology

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XYZ-WTF
MOD_IMAGE_AND_SOUND

Motion Graphic
Kinetic Typography
Sound Interaction

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BOOOK
MOD_LABS

Miniature Book
Semester Report
Risograph

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TRÄUME
MOD_EDITORIAL_DESIGN

Typesetting
Dreams


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