Tuesday, April 11, 2023

During the 1950's a design movement emerged from Switzerland and Germany that has been called Swiss Design or more appropriately, The International Typographic Style




Mixed unframed flat photographic and typographic elements with strips of color to convey a certain feeling of dynamism and speed. He used recognizable elements in his design, without having them tell a story. His work concentrated on photographic experiments and clear type combined with the use of bold shapes and primary colors.



We already explored Stankowski in a post before, but he’s a school onto himself. His photographic and typographical work developed into a prototype for a contemporary advertising style, later called “constructive graphics.” 




1- The formal organization of the surface by means of the grid, 2- knowledge of the rules that govern legibility (lines length, word and letter spacing and so on) and 3- the meaningful use of color. It all makes for a rational economic order.


Armin Hofmann:

image + positive negative (Neue Typographie) + typeface as movement


and,


The style is driven by communication. Hoffmann used photo-typesetting, photo-montage and experimental composition plus his heavily favored sans-serif typography.



Siegfried Odermatt:


and,


Rudolph DeHarak:


To understand de Harak's influence on graphic design during the Sixties it is necessary to know that the McGraw-Hill paperbacks were emblematic of that period. They were based on the most contemporary design systems, and were unique compared to other covers and jackets in the marketplace.


At this time the International Style and American Eclecticism were the two primary design methodologies at play in the United States. The former represented Bauhaus rationalism, the latter Sixties exuberance. De Harak negotiated both, simplicity and accessibility.