The Triumph of the International Style
Set the stage for International (Typographic) Style - development of corporate identities
Swiss Style
Jan Tschichold
- Arrested and fired from teaching position in Munich soon after the Nazis took over
- Published a book on Typographic Design in 1935
- the style conveyed an "anti-nazi" meaning by going against the black letter style they had used for their propaganda. Rationalism and logic through geometric abstraction
- preferred symmetrical, centered layouts
- started becoming interested in/pursing Chinese manuscripts in 1940s
- was criticized for betraying the principles of the New Typography
The Predominance of Akzidenz Grotesk
- typeface used by practicers of the Swiss Style
- first introduced int Germany in 1898 (foundery Berhold AG)
- was clear and functional without the political baggage associated with Russian Constructivism or the Bauhaus
- key to to the constructivist style not being associated with Communism anymore, but rather a universal style
New Typefaces
- key to to the constructivist style not being associated with Communism anymore, but rather a universal style
- Helvetica (initially called Neue Haas Grotesk)
- it is a variation of the Latin word for Switzerland
- Univers - Adrian Frutiger
- new, more rational system
- color-coded diagram by Remy Peignot
- Phototypesetting system - Diatype. type is reproduced from photonegatives rather than metal type like linotype and monotype machines
- had a detrimental impact on the appearance of mass media and cause the quaility to decline
The Swiss Style in Zurich
- it is a variation of the Latin word for Switzerland
- new, more rational system
- color-coded diagram by Remy Peignot
- had a detrimental impact on the appearance of mass media and cause the quaility to decline
- illustrator Josef Muller-Brockmann used Akzidenz Grotesk throughout his career
- "Accident Gauge"
- 1955 - Beethoven poster for Zurifch Tonhalle
- Swiss style "music model" - clear pure form and color + structure = visual pleasure to the viewer
- typophoto design for VOLG grape juice
- Hans Neuburg -Liebig Super Bouillon
- Utopian communist workers transformed into smiling consumers
- Richard Paul Lohse - Bauen and Wohen magazine (Construction and habitation)
Neue Grafik
- "Accident Gauge"
- 1955 - Beethoven poster for Zurifch Tonhalle
- Swiss style "music model" - clear pure form and color + structure = visual pleasure to the viewer
- typophoto design for VOLG grape juice
- Utopian communist workers transformed into smiling consumers
- Journal founded by Muller-Brockmann, Lohse, Nueburg, and Carlo Vivarelli (signed their collaborative essays as LMNV)
- summarized and established the Swiss Style
- never mix typefaces
- only use one or two weights
- provide functionalist hierarchy using scale to show importance
- modular grid composition
- asymmetry and use of positive and negative space (roots from De Stijl)
Design in Basel
- never mix typefaces
- only use one or two weights
- provide functionalist hierarchy using scale to show importance
- modular grid composition
- asymmetry and use of positive and negative space (roots from De Stijl)
- the designers in Basel were more likely to disregard the unofficial "rules" of the Swiss Style (Armin Hofmann and his students) - became an alternative Swiss Style 'scene'
- their works looked "whimsical" compared to works of Zurich artists
- Giselle ballet poster by Armin Hofmann
- Emil Ruder - joined faculty of Allegemeine Gewerbeschule in 1942
- Typographic Monthly (TM); trade journal for printing and paper union 1952
- used as a platform to espouse the gospel of Univers
- Typographie - enshrined and promoted the Swiss style to teach to new generations
- Karl Gerstner - was a student of both Hofmann and Ruder
- flexible approach to the compositional grid of Swiss Style
- Markus Kutter - produced Geigy Heute with Gerstner in 1958. In 1959 the two of them started up what would eventually become GGK, one of the most influential ad agencies of the 1960s
- saffa - swiss women's exhibition 1958
- Nelly Rudin created the poster for the exhibition
The Spread of the Swiss Style
the work created in the Swiss style was criticized for being rigid and repetitious, but it became and international phenomenon in Europe and the United States
The International Style and Corporate Identity at Ulm
- University of Design "HfG) founded in Ulm Germany in 1953 by Max Bill, Otl Aicher, and Inge Scholl
- measured axial grids
- crisp geometric forms
- sans serif type
- minimal use of text
- Semiotics- signs and symbols convey meaning
- Otl Aicher
- logo for Lufthansa in 1969
- pictograms for the Munich Olympics in 1972
- Anton Stanskowski (teacher at HfG) - designed new corporate identity for Duetsche Bank in 1974
- contributed to the design of the 1972 Olympics
- drew on the work of 1920s artist Otto Neurath - Isotype (international system of typographic picture education)
The Netherlands
- Wim Crouwel, Benno Wissing - Total Design NV in 1963
- International style in NL drew from the basic elements of De Stijl
England
Stanley Morison
- typographer and typographical historian
- First Principles of Typography
- a bible for British typographers
- published in 1936
- revival of a number of classic typefaces
- main typographic consultant to the Monotype Corporation
- chief book designer for Cambridge University Press
- consultant to The Times of London where he introduced the typeface Times New Roman in 1932 as part of the general redesign
Jan Tschichold at Penguin
- a bible for British typographers
- published in 1936
- Started working at Penguin Books in London in 1947
- the books were designed to be portable and functional companions for soldiers
- encouraged a used of a wide variety of typefaces but insisted upon the general principles of good design being followed
- Penguin Composition Rules - standardized principles for the layout and typography (rules) for his designers
- functionalism in typography
Hebert Spencer
- promoted geometric and abstract style in England - Swiss point of view well into the 1990s
- Design in Business Printing 1952 summarized his beliefs
- "Concrete Poetry" structural use of words as images 1st used in the 1910s by Marinetti and Apollinaire
Alan Fletcher
- Born in Kenya
- helps establish Fletcher/Forbes/Gill in 1962
- the firm mergers into and design partnership Pentagram in 1972
- made a new logo for Reuters news agency in 1968
- logo for Victoria and Albert Museum in 1990
