Hi, nice to meet you in hyperspace. My name is Max and I'm a designer, programmer, researcher and educator. I work for a variety of clients and institutions from the fields of design, architecture, science, media, technology and art. I've always been interested in political and social issues, and over the years, the engagement with the impact of digitization on society has become a focal point of my work.
I am a lecturer for Data Cultures+Technology in the Data Design+Art program at Lucerne School of Design, Film and Art. As a PhD Student in Digital Humanities at the University of Bern I am investigating the question of how generative design can be used for data visualizations in the humanities. In 2023 I was a visiting PhD Student at the Institute for Comparative Media Studies at the School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (SHASS) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) USA, where I was part of the Active Archives Initiative.
As a researcher at the Institute of Design Research of the HKB Bern I'm part of the Sinergia research project Participatory Knowledge Practices in Analog and Digital Image Archives funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) from 2021–2025. As a member of the Digitale Gesellschaft, I'm is committed to digital sustainability and privacy and in the context of the basel.codes collective, I'm involved in the Swiss creative coding community and organize events, talks and workshops.
March 2023
«Community and Interoperability at the Core of Sustaining Image Archives». DHNB2023 Sustainability: Environment - Community - Data, Bergen, Norway, with Julien Raemy
October 2022
«Prozesse Generativer Visualisierung», Historische Daten-Visualisierung in Wissenschaft, Kultur und Medien, Zentralbibliothek, Zürich
October 2022
«Tracking & Profiling», Netzpolitischer Abend der Digitalen Gesellschaft, Debattierhaus Karl der Grosse, Zürich
June 2022
«Generative Design: A Methodology to Visualize Dynamic Cultural Archives», DHCH, Instituto Svizzero, Rome, Italy
May 2022
«Participatory Interfaces for Photo Archives», Photo Archives VIII, University of Basel, with Ulrike Felsing & Adrian Demleitner
January 2021
«Critical Map Visualizations», Shifts in Mapping Online Symposium, Academy of Art and Design FHNW, HeK (House of Electronic Arts), Basel, with Ulrike Felsing
April 2019
«How to Visualize Computational Propaganda» Lecture at Interaction Design, Zürich University of the Arts
February 2019
«Processing Poster Generators», Processing Community Day 2019, HeK (House of Electronic Arts), Basel
2023
Felsing, U., Fornaro, P., Frischknecht, M., & Raemy, J. A. (2023, March 8). Community and Interoperability at the Core of Sustaining Image Archives. DHNB2023 | Sustainability: Environment - Community - Data, Oslo – Stavanger – Bergen, Norway (in press)
2022
Frischknecht, M. (2022, October 20). Generating Perspectives: Applying Generative Design to critically explore the Atlas of Swiss Folklore, DARIAH-CH Study Day, Università della Svizzera italiana, Mendrisio, Switzerland
2022
Frischknecht, M. (2022, October 13). Tracker: Die Bausteine unseres digitalen Panoptikums. Digitale Gesellschaft.
2022
Frischknecht, M. (2022, January 13). Nodegoat: Eine web-basierte Forschungsumgebung für die Geisteswissenschaften. Einblicke in die Digital Humanities.
2021
Felsing, U., & Frischknecht, M. (2021). Critical Map Visualizations. In C. Schranz (Ed.), Shifts in Mapping (pp. 95–124). Transcript.
2021
Frischknecht, M. (2021, August 9). Zur Barrierefreiheit der kantonalen Impfplattformen. Learning from Corona.
2019
Frischknecht, M. (2019). Predicting Voters: The Significant Role of Personal Data for Political Communication in Switzerland’s Social Networks.
Since September 2023
Lecturer for «Data Cultures», Data Design & Art, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Art HSLU
March 2023
«Critical Visualization Workflow», input on data visualizations of cultural heritage, in the «Extending the Museum» class, Comparative Media Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA
September 2022 – January 2023
«Call for Participation: Partizipative Wissensgenerierung in digitalen Archiven», Seminar with practice, Seminar for Cultural Studies and European Ethnology, University of Basel, with Birgit Huber and Fabienne Lüthi
November 2022
«Nature of Data», input on critical data analysis and visualisation, in the «Digital Humanities» class, Comparative Media Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA
April 2022
«Digitale Nachhaltigkeit», workshop on digital sustainability, Hochschule der Künste, Bern
November 2021
«Digitale Nachhaltigkeit», workshop on digital sustainability, Interaction Design Lab 2021, Schule für Gestaltung Bern und Biel
Since 2021
Mentoring BA & MA Students at the Bern University of the Arts HKB
November 2020
«Terminal & Twitter», one-day workshop on creating Twitter-Bots, Processing Community Day 2020, Basel, with basel.codes
February 2020
«Fundamentals in Digital Design Practice», two-week workshop on web design and development (Sketch/Figma, HTML, CSS, Javascript, PHP) at Institute for Visual Communication, FHNW Academy of Art and Design, Basel
April 2019
«Creative Coding in Processing», one-week introductory workshop at Institute Hyperwerk FHNW Academy of Art and Design, Basel, with Mark Iandovka
March 2019
«Copy It Right! On sharing, caring, data and network politics», three-day workshop on visualizing personal Facebook data at Masterstudio Design, FHNW Academy of Art and Design, Basel, with Yann Patrick Martins
March 2019
«0/1 – Black/White – On/Off – Dead/Alive», one-day workshop on creative coding (Processing) with evolutionary algorithms, Department of Architecture, ETH Zürich
February 2019
«P5js for Beginners», one-day introductory workshop on creative coding (Javascript) at FHNW Academy of Art and Design, Basel, with Mark Iandovka
April 2023
«Train Connect Assemble Extract», Screening, MIT in 3:00, MIT School of Humanities, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA
March 2021
«An Artistic Research Into The Use of Personal Data for Political Communication», The Wall group exhibition, Deep City Latsis Symposium, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne EPFL, Lausanne
December 2019 – January 2020
I and the Machine: Experimentieren mit Digitalität, media art group exhibition, Regionale20, at E-Werk, Freiburg
June 2019
Swiss Graphic Design Exhibition Graphic design group exhibition, Teh-Chun Art Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
2021
100 Digital Shapers in Switzerland 2021, Category «Coders», by Bilanz and Handelszeitung
2021
Josef Müller-Brockmann Förderpreis für junge Gestalterinnen und Gestalter 2021 (Nomination)
Since 2021
«Participatory Knowledge Practices in Analog and Digital Image Archives», Sinergia Project, Swiss National Science Foundation SNF, researcher with focus on data visualization, interface design and user research
Since 2021
Institute of Design Research, Bern University of the Arts, researcher in the thematic focus knowledge Visualisation
Since 2021
Self-employed, Basel, graphic & interaction designer, web developer, creative coder
2016 – 2021
Début Début GmbH, Basel, Founder, managing director of the digital department, graphic & interaction designer, web developer
2014 – 2015
Institute of Experimental Design and Media Cultures IXDM, FHNW Academy of Art and Design, Basel, Assistant
2013 – 2019
Self-employed, St. Gallen/Basel, graphic & interaction designer, web developer, creative coder
2009 – 2013
we:pixel GmbH, St. Gallen, Founder, managing director of the graphic department, graphic & interaction designer
Since 2023
Visiting PhD Student in Comparative Media Studies / Digital Humanities, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA
Since 2021
Doctoral Student in Digital Humanities, Walter Benjamin Kolleg, University of Bern, with a dissertation on big data, data visualization, generative design and digital cultural heritage
2018 – 2020
Master Design, Bern University of the Arts BFH, major design research with a thesis on the use of personal data for political communication in Switzerland
2013 – 2016
Bachelor Visual Communication, Academy of Art and Design FHNW, Basel, major interaction design with a thesis on the impact of digitisation on journalism
2006 – 2009
School for Design, GBS, St. Gallen, Fachklasse Graphic Design, with a final project on visualizing global conflicts between 1945–2000