Starting Power is a call for concepts by the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia which aims to encourage and accompany the first steps in young designers’ professional career. The format meets the needs of young Swiss creatives and is launched for a third time, in an adapted version.

Up to six Swiss designers from all the professional design branches will have the opportunity to work closely with national and international coaches online to realise their very first project since completing their university degree.

National and international coaches will support the selected designers individually in the following 4 fields of expertise:

• • Material- and content-based coaching with professionals in different fields to help you with the project development
  • Coaching with a professional in business strategy, finance, pricing, and definition of mission statements
  • Coaching with a professional in Marketing and PR
  • Coaching with a professional to prepare you for future business meetings and pitch training
• The selected designers will receive a financial support of CHF 5’000.- to complete the project phase identified during the coaching sessions.
• The selected concepts will be developed within the next 9 months (start of the programme by mid-December 2022 and end of programme by end of September 2023 latest).
• The online coaching sessions are conducted in English and are scheduled individually with the experts.

Eligibility criteria:

• Designers in all fields of design must have graduated within the last year (graduation in 2021 or 2022).
• Designers must be new in the business, without any projects on the market yet.
• Designers must hold the rights of their projects.
• Designers must be able and willing to allocate sufficient time to work on their projects in the coming months. It is important that the selected studios are also willing to attend the appointments in case of employment.
• Designers must be fluent in English.
• To be eligible, designers must be either Swiss citizens or long-term residents in Switzerland.
• Pro Helvetia is looking for new and innovative ideas in all areas of design, responding to current challenges and addressing the needs of society, environment, economy and industry.

To take part in the Starting Power Programme, please send your PDF application to design@prohelvetia.ch before 10 November 2022, to include:

• Designers’ name and contact information
• Short biography and portfolio (incl. your education, nationality and/or residence status – max 500 signs incl. spaces)
• Concept description including pictures or sketches (max. 3 pages)

We are looking forward to receiving your application. Applicants will receive notification by end-November.