Laurent Benner

While studying at Central Saint Martins, Laurent Benner interned at Cornel Windlin’s studio in Zürich in 1997. He released LL PEZ (later renamed LL Tablettenschrift, after intervention by PEZ candies) with Lineto in 1999, for which he produced a sought-after limited edition set of Letraset-style rub-down sheets. In the same year, he joined REALA, Samuel Nyholm and Jonas Williamsson’s art & poetry collective. After graduating with an MA from the Royal College of Art, in 2000, Laurent worked in various collaborative forms, often with former classmate Jonathan Hares. The two of them designed the catalogues for the ‘Most Beautiful Swiss Books’ competition of the years 2004–06.

Maintaining a graphic design practice in London for over two decades, Laurent has worked for a diverse clients such as White Cube, Tate Modern, Tate Classic, the British Council, and COS. He is a frequent collaborator of artist Christian Marclay and designed the catalogue for Marclay’s seminal film The Clock (2010). Numerous teaching assignments brought Laurent to design colleges in China, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, and Switzerland, among others. He received three Swiss Design Awards and won the INFORM prize of Galerie für zeitgenössische Kunst Leipzig in 2007. From 2012 to 2019 he served on the Swiss Federal Commission of Design.