Jean-Benoit Levy is the founder of Studio AND, a small visual design firm whose work ranges from brand identity systems to print collateral to digital media, for clients in the cultural, social, humanitarian, banking, and public services domains. He is renowned for the many striking street posters he has designed to advertise various entrepreneurs and promote festivals throughout Switzerland.
Other notable commissions include postage stamps for the Swiss and US Postal Services, and a coin for Swissmint. Published internationally in design books and periodicals, and included in public and private collections around the globe, Jean-Benoit’s work has explored the expressive power of typographic and pictorial signs for over 30 years.
For example, in Handbook, published in 2006, Levy investigates how depictions of hands are used across myriad cultures as a universal means of symbolic, instructional, or aesthetic communication. This collection of hand-signal graphics from around the world led to the creation of his sign-language typeface, entitled “H-AND-S.”
Jean-Benoit has also regularly brought his expertise and enthusiasm to the classroom, teaching workshops and classes at educational institutions including the Basel School of Design, the Rhode Island School of Design, and the California College of the Arts. He currently teaches at San Jose State University’s Department of Design. Jean-Benoit was born near Lake Geneva in Switzerland, and grew up in an artistic household in which both of his parents were professional photographers. He is a graduate of the Basel School of Design, and is a member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale and the American Institute of Graphic Arts. Levy lives with his family in San Francisco.