Serious performance, delivered with a wink

As seen on

  • ZLI ICT
  • Stadt Zürich Sozialdepartement
  • Windy Leaf
  • Stadt Luzern
  • Stadt Zürich Stadtpolizei
  • VBZ Züri-Linie
  • Stadt Zürich Schulamt

Case Studies

  • Service
  • Service design
  • Plain language
  • Campaign

Case 01 / 11

Frühe Förderung

Up to 40 letters a year to parents, replaced by one series families can actually use.

Outcome

2,800

Leporellos sent in the first month (February 2025). The poster campaign followed in March; the series is now the reference for how the city writes to parents.

Client
City of Zurich, Social Services Department
Role
Design and implementation, leporello series and campaign
Date
2024 – 2025
A fan of illustrated leporellos from the series "Gemeinsam für Ihr Kind"
  1. 1 · Problem

    Forty letters, no system

    Parents in Zurich were getting up to 40 letters and flyers a year from different departments, often saying the same thing. Families with little time or little German had no way to tell what mattered.

    Leporello draft: one folded sheet per stage of the child's life
  2. 2 · Move

    One series, written plainly

    Starting from the agency Klexx's layout proposal, I set the series in the city's corporate design: a strong front, the department's offers in plain language, and an illustrated hidden-object picture the whole family can use. Each leporello is mailed at the matching stage of the child's life, with QR tracking to see what gets used.

    Hidden-object illustration on the back of a leporello
  3. 3 · Result

    Sent, read, rolled out

    2,800 leporellos went out in the first month and the first analysis was positive. A poster campaign, social media and a single web hub carry the same look.

    Campaign poster at a Zurich tram stop
Website and mobile view of the new parent hub
One web hub gathers every offer for parents in one place.
  • Experience
  • Object design
  • Accessibility
  • Healthcare

Case 02 / 11

PulsPunkt

A waiting chair that takes your vital signs, so the measurement happens before the white-coat nerves set in.

Outcome

Tested 1:1 in cardboard. The divider sweet spot is 130 cm plus 35 cm of frosted acrylic; open points such as acoustics, staff alerts and medical-device rules are documented for the next round.

Client
HSLU Spatial Design, speculative (Cardio Center Lucerne context)
Role
Concept, prototyping and object design, with Thijmen Liesenborghs
Date
Spring 2026
Render of the PulsPunkt station: an upholstered seat in a curved shell with a wooden armrest and a tablet
  1. 1 · Problem

    The white-coat effect

    Blood pressure measured in the consulting room often reads high simply because the patient is nervous. And standard waiting chairs shut out anyone in a wheelchair.

    An older woman waiting, hands folded on her bag
  2. 2 · Move

    Measure while you wait

    We designed a semi-private station that takes vitals in the waiting area, guided by tablet and light. Cardboard tests at full scale set the privacy divider at 130 cm with 35 cm of frosted acrylic on top.

    Full-scale cardboard test of the divider with frosted acrylic
  3. 3 · Result

    A seat that steps aside

    The seat and armrest fold away so a wheelchair can roll straight in, with braille and high contrast for orientation. What we could not solve yet, from clothing weight to medical-device regulation, is written down rather than hidden.

    Render of the station with a wheelchair user
  • Service
  • Healing architecture
  • Interior
  • Service design

Case 03 / 11

Vena Nova

A cardiology practice planned as a service system, not as a row of rooms.

Outcome

Presented to the client as a complete interior and service concept. The team's takeaway: start from the values of patients, doctors and medical assistants, not from a moodboard.

Client
Cardio Center Lucerne (Prof. Dr. Florim Cuculi)
Role
Interior and service concept, team of four
Date
Spring 2026
Rendered reception area with warm wood, a backlit heart motif and planting
  1. 1 · Problem

    A practice built around rooms

    A classic practice is laid out room by room, and patients feel it: waiting, being sent on, waiting again. The brief was to rethink care as a sequence people move through.

    Floor plan of the practice with the new circulation loop
  2. 2 · Move

    Switch perspectives

    We walked the practice as patient, doctor and medical assistant before choosing anything visual. That led to healing-architecture choices: warm natural materials, a curved wooden corridor, and backlit organic acoustic panels in 120, 100 and 80 cm.

    Curved wooden corridor with indirect light
  3. 3 · Result

    Room for the staff too

    Besides the patient journey, the concept gives the team a green staff zone and the head of the practice a flexible office. The client saw the full concept at the final presentation.

    Staff workspace with green acoustic panels and plants
  • Experience
  • Speculative architecture
  • Mobility
  • 3D

Case 04 / 11

Ueberland­unten­park

An EV charging station under the Überlandpark, where the wait becomes time in a park.

Outcome

15

Fast chargers are enough for the site: 70–80 % of electric cars charge at home or at work, so the station does not need to mirror eight petrol pumps.

Client
HSLU Spatial Design, speculative
Role
Solo project: research, concept, 3D
Date
Autumn 2026
Render of the station at dusk: a low, glowing roof set into water and reeds
  1. 1 · Problem

    Petrol stations, unchanged

    A petrol stop takes five minutes, so stations were built for leaving. Charging takes 15 to 30, and at the A1 at Aubrugg in Schwamendingen, 110,000 vehicles pass every day with nowhere worth waiting.

    3D site model of the A1 cutting under the Überlandpark
  2. 2 · Move

    Count first, then design

    Eight pumps serve 96 cars an hour, a charger two, which would mean 48 chargers. Because most drivers charge elsewhere, about 15 are enough. After the critique I restarted the design and connected the station to the park above instead of to a shop.

    Sketch of the motorway cutting with the park landscape
  3. 3 · Result

    A cave garage

    Following Ma Yansong's Shanshui City, the station is a second tunnel: a landscape space under the park with daylight from above. Modelled in Rhino 8, rendered in Twinmotion.

    Render of the interior: cars charging under a round skylight
  • Brand
  • Campaign
  • Print
  • Cross-media

Case 05 / 11

Wein-Tram

The first cross-media campaign for a VBZ offer: a tram that serves wine.

Outcome

Updated every year since, with strong recognition. The design went on to shape the branding of the other Genusslinie trams.

Client
VBZ Zurich Transport (Genusslinie)
Role
Project lead and design
Date
2022
Campaign motif: grapevine leaves and grapes against a glowing sunset sky
  1. 1 · Problem

    Recognisable, but more luxurious

    The Genusslinie trams already had a recognisable look. The new wine tram needed the same family resemblance with more of a sense of occasion, on a tight schedule.

  2. 2 · Move

    One motif, every format

    The first draft of the base motif became the favourite at once. I refined it and built two variants for standard, wide and narrow formats, then made the campaign's first ticket, newspaper ads, feedback form and a welcome poster inside the tram.

    Flyer and ticket formats of the campaign
  3. 3 · Result

    A campaign that stayed

    Colour proofing without test prints saved time without losing quality. The campaign is refreshed every year and set the tone for the Genusslinie brand.

    Wein-Tram poster in a bus shelter
  • Experience
  • Exhibition
  • Typography
  • Spatial design

Case 06 / 11

More Than Looks

An info stand for spatial design that lets visitors feel the subject instead of reading about it.

Outcome

Concept presented in January 2026: a stand built from reusable materials, with a user journey from first glance to conversation.

Client
HSLU Design Film Art, info days 2026
Role
Concept and spatial design, with Lara Rüttimann and Svenja Mahler
Date
Winter 2025
Model of the pink star-shaped info stand asking "Are you a space lover?"
  1. 1 · Problem

    A table with flyers

    At past info days, spatial design was presented at a plain table with brochures. The one subject about experiencing space was explained in print.

    The previous info day: visitors at a table with brochures
  2. 2 · Move

    Less explanation, more experience

    We mapped the visitor's journey from the corridor to a conversation, then gave every step something to do: a bold shape that pulls you in, cards with questions about your favourite place, floor graphics that lead the way.

    User journey sketch of the stand
  3. 3 · Result

    Built to be reused

    The stand is designed from reusable materials and modules so it can return each year. The typography carries the voice: "Are you a space lover?"

    3D model of the stand with seating and shelving
  • Experience
  • Speculative design
  • Exhibition
  • Prototype

Case 07 / 11

Hush, Little Baby

A speculative pram that raises the child for you, and decides what a "normal" child is.

Outcome

A 1:1 polystyrene prototype (about 70 × 40 × 35 cm, for babies up to six months), digital posters and a film for the exhibition.

Client
HSLU Design Film Art, design sprint
Role
Concept and prototype, with Deyana Galabova and Javier Gianini Santis
Date
May 2026
Campaign poster: a couple walking with the AI pram, headline "She never has to wait."
  1. 1 · Problem

    Help that standardises

    What if governments subsidised AI parenting devices for overworked families, trained on approved data about which emotions are acceptable? The children affected have no say at all.

    Early renders of the pram concept
  2. 2 · Move

    Productive discomfort

    We aimed for an artefact people find both attractive and unsettling: clean, product-ad aesthetics with one disturbing twist. Pure dystopia gets dismissed, pure convenience gets accepted.

    Sabrina carving the polystyrene ellipsoid to full size
  3. 3 · Result

    A pram you can stand next to

    We cut the ellipsoid by stencil, hot wire and bread knife, so the full pram could be shown at 1:1 in the final installation. The feedback pushed further: who can afford it, and how will these children parent?

    Visualisation of the pram display: "67 minutes left to live!"
  • Experience
  • Light design
  • Interaction
  • TouchDesigner

Case 08 / 11

Rift

A light corridor that lets the film fade out slowly on the way out of the cinema.

Outcome

Shown as a 1:1 light demo: four programmed scenes, from a swirl that keeps people moving to a "gate to heaven" after a horror film.

Client
HSLU Spatial Design, Media 1
Role
Light concept and prototype, with Lara Rüttimann and Zsofia Orosz
Date
December 2025
Key visual: concentric red arches glowing down a dark corridor
  1. 1 · Problem

    The bubble bursts too fast

    When the credits roll, the house lights come on and the film's world is gone at once. We wanted the transition back to the foyer to be felt, to guide people intuitively, and to give one last cinema moment.

    Elevation of the corridor with the arch sequence
  2. 2 · Move

    First draft: too heavy

    Our first draft took the cinema's red velour and warm up-and-down lights into the corridor. Velour swallowed the light, the contrast glared, and it felt dusty rather than dynamic.

    First draft: red velour corridor with warm wall lights
  3. 3 · Result

    Light that moves with you

    We switched to addressable RGB LED strips behind an opal diffuser, driven from TouchDesigner. Each scene answers a different film, and the corridor guides people out.

    Animation still: red arches opening toward the exit
  • Experience
  • Interactive
  • Night photography
  • Campaign

Case 09 / 11

Nachts unterwegs

An interactive game that tells night riders their bus has moved, before they stand at the wrong stop.

Outcome

Ran as a coded interactive ad on the Cityplan screen at Bellevue and online via vbzonline and social media.

Client
VBZ Zurich Transport
Role
Concept, photography and code
Date
2021
Long exposure of a Zurich street at night, light trails from buses and cars
  1. 1 · Problem

    The night bus moves

    With the timetable change, Zurich's night buses stopped leaving from Bellevue and started from the main station instead. A notice is easy to miss at two in the morning.

    Night traffic at Bellevue, light trails across the square
  2. 2 · Move

    Let people play it through

    I wrote a branching story in which you make your way home at night, and staged its scenes with night photography. Each choice leads you to the new departure point.

    Long exposure of a crossing at night
  3. 3 · Result

    Where the riders are

    The game ran on the Cityplan screen at Bellevue itself, coded for the ad format, and on vbzonline and social media.

    Light trails sweeping round a corner at night
  • Service
  • Analysis
  • Public space
  • Accessibility

Case 10 / 11

Winterthur HB, Stop C

A bus stop rethought for safety, overview and a cooler microclimate.

Outcome

Concept and model: zebra crossings with tactile lines, covered seating with room for a kiosk, waste separation, green roofs and illuminated stop signs above the timetable.

Client
HSLU Spatial Design (site: Winterthur main station)
Role
Analysis and concept, solo
Date
2025
Cardboard model of the redesigned bus stop with roofs and signage
  1. 1 · Problem

    Buses from every side

    Tactile guide lines lead on long detours, buses, taxis and pedestrians share the same space, and the huge roof makes the stop gloomy without keeping off the rain. There is no waste separation and stop letters are hard to read after dark.

    Analysis diagram: traffic flows crossing at the stop
  2. 2 · Move

    Order the flows

    Zebra crossings at the points people actually cross, with tactile lines and kerb drops, plus an underpass as an alternative. Covered seating clusters leave space for a kiosk, ZVV contact point or WC.

    Plan of the reorganised stop with crossings and green roofs
  3. 3 · Result

    Readable day and night

    Each stop gets an illuminated letter on top with timetable and bus info below, all in one place. Green roofs improve the microclimate and bins separate waste, aluminium and PET.

    Illustration of the new stop with signage and crossings
  • Experience
  • Public space
  • Planting
  • In progress

Case 11 / 11

Apothekergärtli

A redesign of the Apothekergärtli square in Lucerne, with colourful planting, seating and light. Work in progress.

Client
City of Lucerne
Date
2026, in progress
Hand-drawn aerial plan of the Apothekergärtli: paved square with fountain, planted beds, trees, benches and lamps

Making something look good has never been enough for me.

I’m Sabrina Ritz (*2003), based in Zurich, trained Mediamatikerin / Media Technologist, now a BA Spatial Design student at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. I’m a strategist who happens to be able to build anything — with taste.

Before Spatial Design, I spent two years as a Lead Designer on cross-departmental projects for Stadt Zürich. From family-services campaigns to experience-driven projects like the VBZ Wein-Tram, I was reaching thousands of people monthly, each with a measurable lift in the numbers. I worked directly with the Zurich City Council within months of finishing my apprenticeship, leading across departments with competing priorities to get high-stakes work actually shipped. What that actually taught me: a carefully crafted visual message can only carry a system so far. The real leverage sits further upstream. I got tired of patching from the outside — so I went to fix it from the inside.

I can’t look at one thing without seeing what it’s tangled up in. Before I commit to a direction, I’ve usually already traced what it sets off three moves later. The macro matters to me as much as the micro — the system, the incentives, the context. That’s why I stay with a project end to end: concept, workshop, pitch, execution. Whatever the problem actually needs, because the format should follow the idea, not the other way around. I’m a strategist who happens to be able to build anything — and with taste. I want to know why it needs to look that way at all.

I’m interested in the full spectrum of how space treats people, from the overlooked to the everyday. On one end: spaces built for people society would rather not look at, like Zurich’s Kontakt- und Anlaufstellen or the Dutch dementia villages, where the environment is redesigned around the person instead of the stigma. On the other: the small details that quietly make an airport or transit system feel human rather than just functional — crowd flow, safety, extravagant details that elevate an ordinary interaction. Space is rarely neutral; it shapes how people experience both crisis and everyday life. That range is deliberate. Solving something real matters to me, but meaningful and fancy don’t have to be opposites.

Design, for me, is a catalyst; the thing that gets a better system moving. Underneath all of it is a fair amount of love — I don’t know how to do this work halfway.

Background

  1. 2026 — now Brand Developer Freelance
  2. 2025 — now BA Industry & Product Design, Spatial Design Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts Full-time
  3. 2025 — 2026 Experience Designer Freelance
  4. 2023 — 2025 Lead Designer — Mediamatikerin Sozialdepartement, City of Zurich Art direction, UX/UI, video production, print and digital campaigns, employer branding
  5. 2019 — 2023 Vocational Baccalaureate in Economics (BM 1) BZZ Bildungszentrum Zürichsee
  6. 2019 — 2023 Apprenticeship — Mediamatikerin EFZ City of Zurich
    • 2022–2023Stadtpolizei Zürich — internal and event communication, data visualisation, motion graphics
    • 2021–2022Verkehrsbetriebe Zürich — social media, campaign management, photography, game design
    • 2020–2021Schulamt Zürich — branding, visual identity, usability testing, illustration, pitch design
    • 2019–2020Zürcher Lehrbetriebsverband ICT — foundation year

Things to expect when working with me

  • I stay end to end

    Concept, workshop, pitch, execution. The format follows the idea, not the other way around.

  • Macro and micro at once

    Before I commit to a direction I have usually traced what it sets off three moves later.

  • Intentional & measurable

    City campaigns reaching thousands monthly, each with a measurable lift in the analytics.

  • Accessibility is the baseline

    Barrier-free brand identities and user-centred research are the standard I start from, not an extra.

Let's build your next big idea

Send me a message, I’ll reply within 12 hours

Thank you!