There´s a thing I really love about the Swiss culture and that´s the apero. An apero is a small meal consisting of canapé and drinks, usually Swiss wine, Swiss cheese and Swiss bread with Swiss meat and typically happens at special occasions such as a getting-to-know day of international students at the university, a private view (vernissage) at the opening of an exhibition or an industry talk about proof technology. It´s also a great way to grab not only free food but also free education.
The numerous aperos that I took advantage of in the four weeks that I've been here gave me the opportunity to taste various kinds of the famous Swiss cheese, that would otherwise cost me a fortune to buy. But that´s not everthing, I also got free tours around graphics exhibitions or listened to product designers lecturing in Swiss German about the collaboration of designer and producer—though that was a tricky one, but they had free mulled wine. Last night, I refreshed my memory about ISO 12647-2 (Graphic technology - Process control for the production of half-tone colour separations, proof and production prints) at a talk where big names of the print and proofing industry talked about the latest technology in colour proofing and showed their products. Although I didn't buy everything that they tried to sell me as the truth, it was still a very interesting event where I learnt how much has changed in the 6 years that I haven't been involved in the print industry anymore. And it made me giggle, when I stood at the apero and thought about the last WEDF talk (Richard Murray, packaging design) where they actually took the ticket off you when you wanted a glass of wine to make sure you don't have two drinks. Things are different in Zurich. Industry events and talks are usually free and well busy. There´s usually free food and wine which makes people stay longer and have good conversations. I find them inspiring and want to visit as many as I can. Not necessarily for the cheese but for the free insider knowledge from a variety of fields and disciplines within the creative industry.
Sometimes it´s difficult though. Tomorrow I have two panel discussions to choose from, "Education between artistic standard and market: dilemma or symbiosis?" where a bunch of educators discuss how the economy influences art and design education, or "Good Design = Good Business? Design as a Factor in Advertising" with Jean Etienne Aebi (President of the Art Directors Club Switzerland), Ruedi Baur (a big name in Swiss design) and Stefan Haas (Head of Marketing of the Swiss national railway company). Both of them sound interesting but the latter has the bigger names and it´s already been marked in my iCal—which proofs to be a really useful tool with all the awesome things to see and to do here. So, I'm looking forward to another great talk, and perhaps an apero. Who knows?
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