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The Swiss Style
1950's
Artists and graphic designers fled to European cities such as Zurich and Basel because of WW2. They chose Switzerland as it was a neutral country, which had also been influenced by De Stijl, constructivism and Bauhaus movements.
The Swiss Style (or International Typographic style) was hugely popular in the 1950's and 1960's, following inspiration from Bauhaus designers.
After the chaos of the war, this style was clean, void of any political or ethnic tension. Designers didn't want to create any unnecessary details that could cause cultural conflict. Design was to be simpler and based on grids. 'Form follows function'.
Its main concept was for designers to be able to communicate ideas universally using a recognised style. In Switzerland, at The Basel School of Design and The Zurich School of Arts, young designers were taught the strong characteristics of the Swiss style.
The main characteristics of Swiss style -
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Use of grids
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Asymmetric layout
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Sans serif font
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Use of photography (not illustration)
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Geometric forms
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Bold, restrained colours
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Text flush left / ragged right-side text
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Intentional use of white space
Max Bill (1908 - 1994), a Swiss graphic designer known for his sophisticated advertising designs. His use of austere geometric forms echoed his Bauhaus training. Well known for his beautiful Munich Olympics campaign.
Max Bill, Anneaux des jeux Olympiques de Munich, 1970
Image source - https://www.pinterest.de/pin/545639311105667203/ [accessed 3 February 2023]
Armin Hofmann (1920 - 2020) was a teacher and author. He wrote the renowned book, Graphic Design Manual.
One of his most famous works is the ballet poster, 'Giselle'. It appears to be very simple at first glance, but there is a lot of work in this piece. He uses basic Swiss design principles, in a very sophisticated way. The composition is balanced and effortless.
Armin Hofmann, Giselle, Lithograph, 1959
Image source - https://www.pinterest.de/pin/5891975637642130791/[accessed 3 February 2023]
Josef Muller-Brockman (1914 - 1996) wrote the book, 'Grid systems in Graphic Design' and is a hugely influential figure of this time. His most important piece was the 'Beethoven' poster. It demonstrates perfectly, the clever use of grids and golden ratio.
Josef Muller-Brockman, Beethoven, 1955
Image source - https://www.pinterest.de/pin/1126533294264074087/[accessed 3 February 2023
Wolfgang Weingart (1914 - 2021) was an internationally known graphic designer and typographer. His work was categorized as Swiss typography and he was credited as "the father" of New Wave or Swiss Punk typography.
Wolfgang Weingart, UCLA Poster, 2000
Image source - https://www.gemwelbsherbblog.wordpress.com/2012/01/00/564/#JP-carousel-565
[accessed 3 February 2023]
Mike Joyce founded Stereotype Design, NY, in 1996. He has designed album packaging for numerous established artists, from Iggy Pop to Aretha Franklin.
In 2012 Mike launched Swissted, a personal art project combining his love of Swiss graphic design and punk rock by redesigning vintage concert flyers into hundreds of striking International Typographic Style posters.
“I really started to fall in love with that Swiss modernist style of Armin Hoffman and Josef Muller Brockmann,” he continues. “What I really took from it was how expressive it was. I know that the foundation is grid-like and really very structured, but I’m looking at an Armin Hoffman poster here in my studio right now and to me it’s such expressive typography.”
In this poster, Joyce demonstrates the Swiss style by way of an asymmetric grid and the strong focus on typography. The colour palette is simple, using only a strong blue as an accent with black and white. Despite this, the poster is impactful with its clever layout, using the letter 'a' on the diagonal.
Mike Joyce, Pearl Jam Poster, 1993
Image source - https://www.swissted.com/products/pearl-jam-at-greek-theatre-1993
[accessed 10 February 2023]
