I love the power of words,
music and art.
And I love people.
Philipp Zünd, Coverstories
Bild: Oliver Ospelt
Genuine relationships matter to me. Meaningful messages and stories are not created at a drawing board. They emerge through shared experience. They grow where you truly listen, where thoughts are given space, and where there is a willingness to engage with one another.
To bring content to life in a way that feels valuable and authentic, it takes the ability to engage, reflect and resonate. This applies just as much to personal conversations as it does to working with teams and organisations.
For me, design is like jazz - intuitive, spontaneous and in constant dialog with inspiring people.
Working with musicians and artists in particular keeps opening up new perspectives. Record covers or posters are just possible expressions of that.
What truly interests me is seeing through their eyes. How they perceive the world, how they feel, think, doubt and decide. In these encounters, stories emerge that cannot be invented.
My role is to take in these perspectives and translate them in a way that makes them not only understandable, but truly felt.
In co-creative sessions with a wide variety of people, we create statements that make graphic results particularly powerful and credible - and captivate the viewer. Instead of relying solely on digital technologies, I work primarily with analog printing techniques and tools. With this intentional approach, I achieve authentic depth and a tangible, sensory quality.
Presentation at ArtCenter (Europe), where I began my design studies
I studied visual communication at ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California, where I discovered my passion for traditional letterpress printing at Archetype Press .
After that, I co-founded and partnered in a design agency, a film production studio and a game design studio in Zurich and Liechtenstein, and later held leading roles in marketing and creative direction at established companies.
In 2024, I founded Coverstories GmbH to fully dedicate myself again to my creative work.
Life Design Lab, University of St. Gallen
Another defining chapter is my training as a Life Designer at Life Design Lab, University of St. Gallen.
Under the guidance of Sebastian Kernbach and together with inspiring peers, I learned to think about design in a broader way. Not just as a discipline, but as an attitude towards life itself.
Life Design combines design thinking, positive psychology and behavioural economics into an approach that moves people into action. It always starts with personal experience. With an honest look inward.
In many ways, this idea has been with me for much longer. In my bachelor’s thesis at ArtCenter in 1998, I developed something like my own life philosophy, “G.u.T. – Geist und Tat” (Spirit and Doing), which still guides me today. Looking back, I would call it an early version of “from thinking to action” — just with a bit more creative fuel.
For me, the Life Design training is more than an addition. It completes a circle. It connects my creative work with a deeper sense of meaning, responsibility and impact.
Together, we work on helping people shape their own path more consciously. This leads not only to clearer decisions in everyday life, but also opens up new possibilities for teams, organisations and ultimately for how we engage with the world around us.
Photo: Julian Konrad
My passion for funk, soul and jazz is something I live out in various bands, including as a pianist with “Stuff Like That” and Big Band Liechtenstein, which has been shaping the local jazz scene for almost 50 years and regularly performs with international artists.
And last but not least: my wife Fabienne and my now grown-up sons Joel, Yannick and Luc mean everything to me.