Hello Felix! Please can you tell us a bit about yourself and what you do.
Hi! I’m Felix and I’m a designer. Over the past ten years I have worked across a wide variety of fields of communication design. Graphic, typography, illustration, interior design and code—I always follow my interests. Right now I'm playing around with liquid colours, I’m working on a book with answers, and an app with good ideas. You founded Studio Feixen in 2009. What have been some of your favourite projects to work on over the past eleven years? Oh, it's not that easy to say. Firstly I have to say that I really love my job, and the specific project does not matter that much to me. The project can be huge or very small, I like them all the same. I like the work itself. For me it is always fascinating that I actually earn money doing my favourite activity every day—looking at shapes and colours. But if I had to pick one project in particular, I would say it was the poster series that I designed for the «Südpol», a multicultural center in Lucerne. Over four years I designed a total of one hundred posters for them, all of which were completely different. It took a lot of design research. That was incredibly exhausting and at the same time really interesting and educational. During this time I created the foundation on which my company stands today.

Where do you find your inspiration?
For me, inspiration is nothing special, it is part of my daily work. I think you can train it like professional athletes train their bodies. It's about looking very, very, very carefully and recognising potential where others are looking the other way. For me, this field is getting bigger every day. I mean, you could also think that one day you run out of ideas, but rather the opposite is the case. Nowadays when I hear about a design assignment, I already know umpteen solutions. It has a lot to do with experience. I think the longer you work, the more ideas you have and the difficulty is not in finding the idea but rather in choosing and focusing on the right ideas. I have already resigned myself to the fact that in my life I can never implement all the ideas that are in my head. It’s a shame, but on the other hand it somehow makes what you are able to do more valuable.

You created Badoo’s new typeface, Noi. Please can you explain the creative process behind it?Sure. The Noi Grotesk is a neo-grotesk family, inspired by the Swiss traditions of typography with a more contemporary and friendly touch. It has almost invisible inktraps that give the font a certain softness. The Noi Grotesk is a playful font. In addition to the normal letters, it also has alternative letters that give the font a different character. For Badoo, we have expanded the Creamy variant letter set and the Cyrillic letter set, and created the «Noi Grotesk Badoo». The letters are softer and have deep, curved inktraps. This gives the otherwise silent font a sympathetic and fresh look.

How would you describe Noi in three words?Friendly, Swiss, Contemporary.

What was the main challenge you faced in adapting Noi for Badoo?Well, in the end, we had to check every single letter and find out whether we could somehow add a little creaminess without losing the basic character of the font. That is quite a difficult job. You have to imagine that there are umpteen possibilities with each letter. Which one do you choose now? Why? What do the letters look like together? Do they harmonise? You sit there for weeks and look at letters until you can no longer see any imbalances. I tell you, it takes a little Zen.

Did you ever envision it being used on a dating app?Ha, ha, ha! No, not really. But that's the nice thing about designing fonts. At first, you do all of this just for yourself. You create a font that you always wanted to have. And then you realise that an incredible number of people use your font and you see the outcome. That’s really, really nice to experience.

What are the most important things to keep in mind when designing a typeface?Take a lot of time with you.

You’re a teacher at Fachklasse Grafik Luzern and give many lectures, talks and workshops. Why is this important to you?Somehow it turned out that way. I became a teacher very early on. I've been teaching for ten years now, and I couldn't imagine any other way. For me it's kind of like a balance. Designing and teaching design are two completely different jobs. While designing is a relatively calm, almost meditative work, teaching is much more direct, faster and has a completely different focus. When it comes to design, I am strongly focused on myself, while in class the students have the struggle and I have the beautiful job of helping them achieve their goals.

What’s your best piece of advice for aspiring designers?Creativity comes more with patience than with great effort. So take your time. Follow your interests. Keep working, even if it sometimes seems hopeless. Listen to both. Listen to you and to others. But make your own decisions.

We heard a rumour that you also run a pizza shop. How did this come to be, and do you have any other hidden talents outside of design that we should know about?Ha, ha, ha! Yes that is true! A few years ago we opened a small pizzeria in Lucerne together with a restaurateur and a well-known pizzaiolo. If you ever happen to be around, you absolutely have to try it. I would like to say that in my free time I am a professional pizza dough thrower. But in reality we simply designed the graphic appearance and the interior design of the pizzeria—but we are also co-owners. And of course we have eaten many, many pizzas since then. So you could say we are incredibly experienced in the field of pizza tasting.

Badoo has offices all over the world. If we were to open one in Switzerland (where Studio Feixen is based), what recommendations would you give us for things to do and see there?In my opinion, Switzerland is most beautiful in summer. Almost every major city is either on a lake or a river. Wherever you are, go swimming, enjoy a drink and watch the sunset over the Alps at the same time. I know that sounds super cheesy. And it is super cheesy. But I enjoy it. I myself love to hike and to be outside by bike or on foot. Switzerland is wonderful to discover by bike. The bike paths are perfectly signposted—you never get lost and you always pass the most beautiful places. So, in summer I recommend the mountains, or the lake, or if you like it a little warmer, you can go to Ticino—that is the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland that is located in the south. There is the Maggia valley, where you can lie around on polished stones heated by the sun and cool off in the ice-cold water of the river.

Finally Felix, if you were to have a profile on Badoo, what would you put as your bio?I’m taken. ✌️