The Great Beaver Quest - Switzerland

The design of this beaver representing Switzerland leans heavily on geographic narratives by taking inspiration from two stories of Swiss cartography. The first story is that of the Dufour map, the first large scale topographical map of Switzerland created in the 1800s. The Dufour map a feat of engineering, created by immense physical efforts to manually triangulate unexplored regions of the Alps. The Dufour map is a source of pride in Switzerland, and speaks to the exactitude and precision for which the nation is known.

 

The second narrative for the design takes inspiration from is the history of Swiss cartographers hiding images in national maps. First appearing in the 1980s and as recent as 2016, Swiss cartographers have been publishing maps with hidden spiders, fish, mountain climbers, and more. The Federal Office of Topography, swisstopo, notes that despite the strict requirements for precision and rigorousness of national cartography, sometimes the maps conceal treasures born of their creators’ imagination.

 

The painted beaver is a nod to cartography with clean lines and shapes reminiscent of aerial views. The design takes on an abstract and contemporary twist to mapping through brighter colours and bold shapes, hopefully bringing joy and playfulness into people’s daily lives. As an homage to the hidden images, Swiss iconography is hidden throughout the design. Watches, chocolate, cowbells, edelweiss, skis, mountains, and more are integrated as map-like imagery, look closely to see how many you can find!