Studio Marcus Kraft frames Zürich Card benefits in a flexible system

The challenge facing Studio Marcus Kraft wasn’t subtle. The Zürich Card had expanded its offering – free admission to almost all of Zurich’s museums, public transport access, discounts on experiences – but the visual identity hadn’t caught up. How do you communicate a product that’s become richer, more experiential, without fracturing the carefully built connection to Zurich Tourism’s existing brand world? Marcus Kraft, Creative Director & Owner of the Zurich-based studio, had already developed Zurich Tourism’s identity back in 2017, complete with its flexible logo system built around the expandable wordmark for ‘Zürich, Switzerland.’ The new brief demanded continuity with that foundation while finding room for something more emotionally resonant. “Our goal was to communicate the Zürich Card in a way that was not only informative but also inspiring – while showcasing the city’s diversity in a concise visual language,” Kraft explains. The studio’s solution centres on a deceptively simple idea: a stylised card shape that becomes the atomic unit of the entire visual language. This geometric frame can function as a single hero element, drawing attention to one compelling image and headline, or tile into energetic mosaics that showcase multiple benefits simultaneously. On a tram side, it fragments into a grid of moments – museum interiors, transport connections, cultural experiences. On a mobile screen, it tightens into a focused frame around a single evocative photograph. “We distilled the card into a highly recognisable stylised frame that can act as a single frame for a hero image, an accent to pull out key info or benefits, or a modular unit that tiles into a grid to create energy and variety,” Kraft notes. This modularity emerged from prototyping the shape at multiple aspect ratios, testing how it would hold up across wildly different contexts. The approach was deliberately constraints-led: one flexible geometry keeps compositions consistent while still providing scope for variation. That discipline matters when a design system needs to work across posters, digital screens, web banners, tram livery, and the Zurich City Guide app without losing coherence.