About Me

Designing is like exploring

«Kaspar Allenbach doesn’t explain; he tells stories—verbosely and vividly.»
If someone hadn’t already said that about me, I’d say it myself.

In that sense, creating is like exploring to me: Sometimes I strap on a headlamp and a pickaxe and dig in the dark until a nugget of gold glints into view. Or I put on my hiking boots and climb until the fog clears. In the end, the finished drawing is always just the tip of the iceberg.

A Graphic Designer and Stroller by Trade

Ideally, I’d love to be nothing but a loafer. If only it weren’t for endless meetings, frantic all-night debugging sessions, and grueling graphic design deadlines. Sometimes the only thing that helps is a walk to clear my head. But anyone who strolls through the city the way I do will, sooner or later, find their head filled with images that pile up inside.

And then there are two solutions: wait patiently until one of the images fades into the back of your mind—or take the bull by the horns. As a graphic designer, I know: the inner image has to get out, into the outer whatchamacallit, where others can see it too.

From a stroll through the old town to visual congestion, and perhaps soon into your living room as a poster on the wall.

Poster Design in the Ukiyo-e Style

I’m a true-blue Bernese with mountain-dweller genes: my father is from Adelboden, I grew up in Lorraine, spent 13 years in the Matte district, and have thousands of meters of elevation gain in my calves.

You’ll find me either in my poster basement in Bern’s Old Town or out hiking and climbing. Because if I don’t get away from civilization regularly, I go crazy. In Switzerland, the only places left without a soul are in the mountains: as soon as a peak doesn’t have a cable car, you’re finally on your own. In my local surroundings and mountain landscapes, I simply find my greatest peace—and my greatest inspiration.

In the spirit of ukiyo-e, the traditional Japanese art of woodblock printing, I capture the beauty of everyday life on paper through my poster designs—such as a hike in the Bernese Oberland or the Aare swim, arguably the most typical leisure activities of a Bernese summer.

Visuelle Kommunikation, Poster-Design und Aare Guru – was wosch meh?

Wenn ich nicht Poster gestalte, auf der Pläfe käfele (zu Deutsch: auf der Münsterplattform an einem Kaffee nippe) oder dem Ruf der Berge folge, brüte ich in meinem Atelier über Grafik-Aufträgen für meine Kundschaft oder bastle an der Aare Guru-App. Diese habe ich 2011 während meines Studiums der Visuellen Kommunikation entwickelt – heute wird sie an heissen Sommertagen von bis zu 125'000 Personen genutzt.

Braucht dein Tourismusbüro ein Reiseplakat, dein Verlag ein Buchcover oder deine Bude ein neues Branding? Dann melde dich ungeniert. Auftragsarbeiten findest du in meinem Portfolio.

Visual communication, poster design, and Aare Guru—what more could you want?

When I’m not designing posters, hanging out on the Münster platform (sipping coffee), or answering the call of the mountains, I’m in my studio working on graphic design projects for my clients or tinkering with the Aare Guru app. I developed this app in 2011 while studying visual communication—today, it’s used by up to 125,000 people on hot summer days.

Does your tourism office need a travel poster, your publishing house a book cover, or your business a new brand identity? Then feel free to reach out. You can find my portfolio of commissioned work here.

In the media

• Cityguide The Guardian
• Interview SRF
• Interview HKB Alumni
• Interview BZ
• Interview Mattegucker
• Interview für Best of Swiss App vom Bund
• Interview Financial Times
• Interview 20 min
• Talk Bern Plakativ, Designfestival Bern
• Loeb Magazin

• Interview Financial Times
• Interview 20 min
• Talk Bern Plakativ, Designfestival Bern
• Loeb Magazin

Exhibitions

• Designfestival Bern
• Grafik Zürich
• 100 Beste Plakate
• Best of Swiss Apps
• Buchbilder Stauffacher Bern