INTRODUCTION TO

SWISS GRAPHIC DESIGN

HISTORY OF
POSTERS
In 1800 Lithography, a printmaking

process was invented paving the way

for poster making.

Lithography is a method of printing

on limestone where an image is

embedded into the stone and inked
for easy reproduction

French artists began using the

process and were influenced by

Japanese wood cuts.

Toulouse Lautrec, Pierre Bonnard and

Felix Vallotton were the first to create

in this style with this process.

SWISS
POSTERS
Emil Cardinaux was one of the

first Swiss painters to turn his art

into posters.

Posters like, Matterhorn (1908)

was design to promote Swiss

skiing resorts.

Augusto Giacometti, Otto

Morach, Carl Moos, Burkard

Mangold, Walter Koch and Otto
Baumberger laid the
foundations for an innovative
and vibrant art form.

S A C H P L A K AT
POSTER
During and after the Second World War,

the leading style for swiss product

posters was the sachplakat or object
poster, based on minimalism.

Subjects were depicted as starkly and

objectively as possible and combined

with clear-cut typography.

Basel based graphic designers like

Niklaus Stoecklin, Peter Birkhauser,

Herbert Leupin and Donald Brun, whose
work are typified by a rich, vivid pallet of
colors and a perfect printing technique.
These were made possible by
lithographic standards the were the envy
of other designers all over the world.

PHOTOGRAPHIC
POSTER

The development of the

photographic poster around 1940

and the playful whimsicality of the
typographic poster in the 1960s
are clear indication of the inroads
made by the Swiss that influenced
the history of graphic design.
The typographic austerity typical

of styles in the 1960s and 1970s

bore the stamps of designers like
Josef Mller-Brockmann, Armin
Hofman and Ernst Keller and soon
established itself as the leading
graphic design stye of the
postmodernist era.

SWISS GRID SYSTEM

After the second world war the Swiss Grid Style, also known as the International Typographic Style was developed

by Swiss designers, such as Armin Hofmann, Josef Mller Brockmann, Max Bill, Richard P Lohse, Hans Neuberg,
and Carlo Vivarelli who began to experiment with typography and photo-montage. Characterized by a cold,
emotionally sterile grid style; they used structured layout, and unjustified type, that became very influential in the
mid twentieth century and influenced a vast audience.

In short, the visual characteristics of the International Typographic Style include:

Asymmetrically organizing the design elements on a mathematically-constructed grid to create Visual unity in a
composition.
Presenting visual and textual information in a clear and factual manner, using objective photography and
illustration, and ensuring that it filters any propaganda and the exaggerated claims of commercial advertising
Using sans-serif typography set flush left, ragged right -- The movement believed sans-serif typography
expressed the spirit of a progressive age and that mathematical grids were the most legible and harmonious
means for structuring information.

The initiators of the Swiss Grid Style were of the belief that the visual appearance of the work is not as important as
the integrity of its philosophical tenets whereby;
Design is a socially worthwhile and serious vocation.
In design there is no room for eccentricity and/or idiosyncrasy. Design should be grounded on universal artistic
principles, and using a scientific approach should provide a well-defined solution to a problem.
The designer is a visual communicator and not an artist. The designer acts as an objective and reliable
transmitter of important information between members of society.
The ideal of design is to achieve clarity and order.

SWISS GRID SYSTEM

GRAPHIC DESIGN
AND THE MODERN
POSTER
The dogmatic formality of the

International Style began to lose

momentum in the 80s and was
replaced by the excitingly original work
of poster designers like Wolfgang
Weingart and the Zurich design team
of Rosmarie Tissi and Sigfried
Odermatt.

On the cultural scene designers Paul

Brwiler, Niklaus Troxler, Wener Jeker,

Bruno Monguzzi, K. Domenik
Geissbler and Ralph Schraivogel
made Switzerland, with its traditional
reputation of precision, a more playful ,
colorful and livelier place to be.

O T H E R N O TA B L E D E S I G N E R S
Other notable Swiss designers that were

creating works post WWII are: Max Bill ,

Richard P Lohnse , Emil Ruder, Karl Gerstner,
Hans Neuberg , Carlo Vivarelli , Pierre Mendel

H E LV E T I C A
Helvetica is a widely used sans-serif typeface developed in 1957 by Swiss
typeface designer Max Miedinger with input from Edouard Hoffmann. It is a
neo-grotesque or realist design, one influenced by the famous 19th century
typeface Akzidenz-Grotesk and other German and Swiss designs. One of the
most popular typefaces of the 20th century, its use became a hallmark of the
International Typographic Style that emerged from the work of Swiss designers
in the 1950s and 60s. Over the years a wide range of variants have been
released in different weights, widths and sizes, as well as matching designs for
a range of non-Latin alphabets. Notable features of Helvetica include the
termination of all strokes on exactly horizontal or vertical lines and unusually
tight letter spacing, which give it a dense, compact appearance.

Developed by the Haas'sche Schriftgiesserei (Haas Type Foundry) of

Mnchenstein, Switzerland, its release was planned to match a trend: a
resurgence of interest in turn-of-the-century grotesque typefaces among
European graphic designers that also saw the release of Univers by Adrian
Frutiger the same year. Hoffmann was the president of the Haas Type Foundry,
while Miedinger was a freelance
[1] graphic designer who had formerly worked as
a Haas salesman and designer.

Miedinger and Hoffmann set out to create a neutral typeface that had great
clarity, no[1]intrinsic meaning in its form, and could be used on a wide variety of
signage. Originally named Neue Haas Grotesk, it was rapidly licensed by
Linotype and renamed after the Latin adjective for Switzerland.

ASSIGNMENT
Inspired by Swiss Graphic Design, you will be making a
design on snowboards or skis. You must choose a Swiss
designer and create the product using their technique or
style. You will also need to make a poster that redesigns
their work with your own twist. In the end you will have a
snowboard or ski design and a poster to go along with it
that showcase your new knowledge of Swiss Graphic
Design.

LIST OF DESIGNERS
Emil Cardinaux

Josef Mller-Brockmann

Ralph Schraivogel

Augusto Giacometti

Armin Hofman

Max Bill

Otto Morach

Ernst Keller

Carl Moos

Wolfgang Weingart

Burkard Mangold

Rosmarie Tissi and Sigfried

Walter Koch

Odermatt.

Richard P Lohnse
Emil Ruder
Karl Gerstner

Paul Brwiler

Hans Neuberg

Niklaus Stoecklin

Niklaus Troxler

Carlo Vivarelli

Peter Birkhauser

Wener Jeker

Pierre Mendel

Herbert Leupin

Bruno Monguzzi,

Donald Brun

K. Domenik Geissbler

Otto Baumberger

For More information click

here.