Get to know Vinzent Schatzmann
His little blue octopus convinced the UZH students in the design competition and is now the new face of the AI Buddy. On 6 November 2025, Antoine Logean and Oriane Pierrès welcomed Vinzent Schatzmann to the UZH Digital Lab and thanked him for his design. This was also an opportunity to learn more about Vinzent and the idea behind his design.
Who is Vinzent Schatzmann?
Vinzent comes from Fulenbach near Olten and is in his 7th semester studying Film Studies with a minor in Popular Cultures at the bachelor's degree level. As a creative person, he enjoys drawing and animating in his free time. He shares his art on his Instagram account Vsualarts, where some animations have reached over 1 million views. Vinzent refines his skills by reproducing videos that he likes. He also occasionally creates videos for music bands. His creations are particularly beautiful and relaxing to watch. Many evoke feelings such as hope, nostalgia, comfort or contemplation. Some are accompanied by poems. For his future, Vinzent hopes to be able to work in the animation industry.
Where did the idea for his design come from?
In our conversation, Vinzent told us how he came up with his idea and what inspired him. It was important to him that the design appeared friendly and approachable. Inspired by anime and Korean art styles, he drew a blue octopus with kind eyes behind glasses and an academic cap, and gave it various expressions and emotions. His favourite design is the one where the octopus is eating ramen, and he hopes that students can identify with it. The octopus was chosen because it is a particularly intelligent animal. The 8 tentacles also represent the 7 different UZH faculties and the connection to other universities such as ETH Zurich. Another inspiration for him was Duolingo, where the design is particularly friendly and beautifully coloured, although the AI Buddy team and Vinzent agree that the AI Buddy shouldn't bring Duolingo-ish terror. 😉
Final words: Thank you very much, Vinzent!
We were delighted to meet Vinzent. We are impressed by Vinzent's art and ideas and feel honoured that he took part in our competition. He also gave us a 3D figure and a printed version of the octopus, which now brighten up our office. From the bottom of our hearts: thank you very much, Vinzent, and we look forward to seeing your continued development!