Arthur Prahin blends computer science with graphic design

Coding by day, creative sketching by night. For Arthur Prahin, the fields of computer science and graphic design aren’t as far apart as one might think. The computer science student has long been interested in visual composition and, more broadly, how ideas can be conveyed through images.

When he learned about the communicative approach to graphic design class led by Denis Roueche, a teacher at the University of Art and Design Lausanne (ECAL) and a lecturer in EPFL’s SHS program, he saw it as an opportunity to explore his creative side – something he doesn’t often get to do in his regular coursework.

“I’ve always been intrigued by graphic design,” says Prahin. Roueche’s class let him turn his curiosity into a tangible project where he could observe, research, experiment, get feedback and, most of all, build a visual representation step by step.

Seeing things differently

What Prahin finds particularly appealing about graphic design is that it prompts him to look at problems in new ways. Whereas computer science generally relies on logical reasoning, structure and function, graphic design entails asking other questions: How should information be organized? How can we guide a user’s eyes across a page? And how can we convey an idea without stating it explicitly?

In Roueche’s class, students were asked to design EPFL-related visuals that reflect the human-centric and cross-disciplinary aspects of the SHS program. Prahin chose to start with an image that everyone is familiar with – a subway map.

For him, the analogy was obvious. Subway maps show myriad destinations, routes and connections in a single image. They allow users to trace out any number of paths – sometimes overlapping, sometimes intersecting. Prahin applied the same concept to the academic setting.

Turning a campus into a network

His diagram uses the types of graphic elements commonly found in urban transport maps, including the popular style developed by Italian designer Massimo Vignelli. But Prahin didn’t simply draw on that aesthetic. “Anyone with a sharp eye will notice that my diagram is shaped like EPFL’s Lausanne campus,” he says.

To develop his diagram, Prahin examined the different study tracks that EPFL students can take. Each track is represented as a line, and the points where they intersect correspond to collaborations among various disciplines or bridges between different fields.

“I wanted to illustrate all the different paths that students can follow and, in a way, pay homage to the cross-disciplinary nature of the SHS program,” he says.

Out of the 25 class projects, Prahin’s was selected to illustrate the SHS program brochure. This distinction gives the young computer scientist a tangible achievement from what started out as a way to explore his interest in graphic design.

Learning to explain an idea

Prahin’s main takeaway from the experience was the process. He discovered a way of working that’s based mainly on dialogue and experimentation. “Each group was free to take their project in the direction they wanted,” he says. However, the students were also guided by regular input from both Roueche and Tamara Niklaus, also an ECAL teacher and a lecturer in EPFL’s SHS program.

In weekly class discussions, students were encouraged to compare the choices they’d made and reconsider certain decisions – which sometimes led them to take their designs in a new direction. “This opportunity to get feedback and confront my ideas with those of other people taught me how to take a step back, consider other possibilities and come up with solutions that I probably wouldn’t have found on my own.”

These benefits of teamwork are perhaps Prahin’s biggest lesson learned – on top of the new tools he acquired by studying graphic design and his newfound capacity to analyze image composition. He also saw how important it is to accept that your first idea may not be the best, and that getting outside opinions can be a good way to take your thinking further.