the birth of a
UNIVERS AL LANGUAGE a look into the international typographic style
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the birth of a
UNIVERS AL LANGUAGE a look into the international typographic style
written & designed by elijah williamson
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PERSONAL EXRESSION The Principles of the International Typographic style The Grid San Serif Typeface & Univers
INFORM EDUCATION
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The International Typographic Style & Education Giselle
PREDICTABLE RESPONSIBLE The Neue Grafik Corporate Identity
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INTRODUCTION At the brink of the movement’s rather slow start, the world had already been through its first world war and was heading for its second. Graphic design as a whole was an exploding field and was being taken more seriously after the success of propaganda and advertising in the first decade of the twentieth century. The poster was now a revolutionary medium, not only thought of as a mere visual aesthetic; but as an effective means for information and persuasion. War posters, a now, genre of design that is reflected upon, opened the door to advertisement and marketing amongst businesses and government. The magazine was also a growing medium in which graphic design was highly influential. Businesses were now using advertising to inform the public of their existence
and the influence of design on society had already taken form. However, as a whole, the graphic design industry was about to make a tremendous turn that would forever affect it. Up until the New International style was fully developed, there were many different elements that contributed to graphic design around the world. Whether it be cultural, economic, or political differences, design up until this point was commonly filled with different expressions or decorations. The International Typographic Style did away with this. The International Typographic Style, also know as “The Swiss Style” was and still is one of the most influential graphic movements, not only because of what it stands for and where it comes from, but also because of it influence on the graphic industry as a whole. 1
PERSONAL EXRESSION
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left:
Büro Theo H. Ballmer 1928. Lithograph right:
Norm Ernst Mumenthaler and Theo H. Ballmer 1928. Lithograph
The Principles of The International Typographic Style The International Typographic Style was and is one of the most influential graphic movements because it was built more on the ideas of a specific structure and set of principles rather than opinion and personal expression. “Visually the International Typographic style is characterized by its underlying grid structures, asymmetrical layouts and san serif type.” Objective photography and geometric forms were commonly favored elements, yet there was an almost complete absence of decoration and/or illustration. Much, if not all, type of personal expression was rejected and
replaced with a “more universal and scientific approach.” “It took its cue from concepts of efficiency and rational organization and approached all formats, including posters and promotional materials, as forms of informational design.”
The Grid Now all of these principles did not come together all at once. Its seems as though one man’s idea(s) and research gave birth to another man’s idea(s) and research until a collective of like principles and standards were
formed. For example when looking at Theo Ballmer’s 1928 “Norm” poster for a traveling exhibition, the designer places a physically visual grid directly in the poster design. Now later in time, this may still have been acceptable, yet an implied grid would be more desired. In fact we can see Ballmer’s experimentation with the implied grid in his 1928 “Buro” poster, which is just as effective as the clearly shown grid in “Norm”. In both designs, however, the influence of his geometric san serif type is clear.
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San Serif Typeface & Univers San serif type would be the catalyst for almost all copy in the International Typographic style. Jump ahead thirty six years and the development of san serif typography reaches a revolutionary breaking point. In 1954 Swiss designer Adrian Frutiger composed a “visually programmed family of twentyone sans serif fonts named Univers.” Frutiger was asked to design the san serif type for the Lumitype; a short lived machine process that composed text by shining light through a negative
onto a light sensitive surface. This process was in fact a great part of Univers’ success because it eliminated the need to invest large amounts of money into the manufacturing of metal punches and matrices. Before the development of technology that made the type designer’s job easier, the development of type variances within a type family was low and would usually only include two standard weights (regular and bold), and their accompanying italics. However, with new technology Frutiger
was able to make a typeface of twenty-one variances with six different weights and widths. In times before that of Univers, many italics would commonly look unrelated to their roman counterparts “because the italic had been derived from a cursive form of handwriting rather than directly from roman letters, [thus] it had developed some distinct shapes of its own.”
Univers Adrian Frutiger 1957
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“...Univers eliminated the need to invest large amounts of money into the manufacturing of metal punches and matrices...”
Despite the traditional method of composing italics, Frutiger composed his italics from the actual roman letters along their central, horizontal axis, halfway up their x-height. This caused his italics to be a form of sloped roman, or ‘oblique’ roman as he called it. This required less designing and allowed for italics to be smoother and more even toned when set along side roman lettering. It would not be until the 1961 that the well known typeface Helvetica would be released; a new san serif with an even larger x-height than Univers. “Helvetica’s well-defined forms and excellent rhythm in addition to its positive and neg-
ative shapes made it the most specified typeface internationally during the 1960s and 1970s.” However, because Helvetica was composed by various designers in several different countries it acquired numerous weights and italics that caused it to lack the cohesiveness that Univers so greatly achieved. It would not be until the 1980s, when digital typesetting became more prevalent, that the development of a more cohesive versions of Helvetica, such as Linotype’s 1983 Neue Helvetica, would be created. Still it would be the development of typefaces like these that would propel the International Typographic Style. 5
“...typography looses its purpose when it loses its communicative meaning...”
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Armin Hofmann’s graphics and concrete works at Basel School of Design (Basel Allgemeine Gewerbeschule) images taken from Graphis 148
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DABILITY It is no surprise that the Swiss Design movement was so successful being that it was highly influenced by the Bauhaus and DeStil movement. In that same vein, the movement kept itself going by becoming especially involved in education, publications, and poster design. “One of the most powerful forces for dissemination of the approach came through its institutionalization in design schools.” More than any other individual, it is Ernst Keller who can be credited for the quality and discipline that is found in the International Typographic Style. He believed that design solutions should
be found within the content of the design itself as opposed to a specific style. For over four decades he would maintain a standard of excellence at the Zurich Kunstgewerbeschuke (School of Applied Arts). In fact, it was in Zurich and Basel, two cites about 50 miles apart from each other in northern Switzerland, that a great deal of these developments were made. Emil Ruder was fifteen years old when he began a four year compositor’s apprenticeship.
By his late twenties he was attending the Zurich School of Arts and Crafts and by 1947 he would be a typography
instructor at the Basel School of Design. “He taught that typography looses its purpose when it loses its communicative meaning: therefore, legibility and readability are dominant concerns.” In the classroom he taught the importance of the negative shapes and spaces. He and his students would constantly explore the possibilities of using and combining different textures, as well as scale and contrast possibilities. In 1967 Ruder would release his book Typography: A Manual of Design, which is still used today. 9
BREAK THE Another graduate of the Zurich School of Arts and Crafts, Armin Hofmann, would also teach at the Basel School of Design. With Ruder, the two of them would develop “an educational model linked to the elementary design principles of the Vorkurs established in 1908.” The curriculum would stand predominant in the design industry through the 1950s, being greatly used by the pharmaceutical industry in its development. This was but one of Hofmann’s many endeavors. After opening his own design studio with his wife in 1947, he continued to apply deep aesthetic values to his work- both inside and out of the classroom. His philosophy on design would evolve “based on the graphic-form language of point, line, and plane, replacing traditional pictorial ideas with a modernist aesthetic.” Hofmann published Graphic Design Manual in 1965. It was a book that presented his application of elemental design principles to graphic design. However, his hunt for a deeper sense of dynamic harmony would eventual make Basel “an alternative Swiss style ‘scene’.” He didn’t mind if he found himself bending, or even borderline breaking the rules. He was searching for something more than that which was spelled out in books. When looking at his poster for the Basel theater production Giselle, the design breaks almost every rule for each element used in
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images taken from Graphic Design Manual: Principles and Practice Armin Hofman 1920
ULES He didn’t mind if he found himself bending,
or even borderline breaking the rules.
He was searching for something more than that which was spelled out in books.
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Giselle When looking at his poster for the Basel theater production Giselle, the design breaks almost every rule for each element used in the design; yet it still makes sense. “It features text that runs downwards on a vertical axis violating the rule that text must always run horizontal. The expanded bold letters that spell out ‘Giselle’... curve in a way that mimics the dancer’s body, calling attention to itself in a way that is uncharacteristic of the [Swiss] Style. Also there is a very small space between the letters and the photograph, causing the text and image to come dangerously close to interfering with one another”. The contrast between the organic form of the dancer in the photograph and the inorganic letterform ‘Giselle’ was as much in unison as it was in disconnect. The design did not follow what text books and curriculums of that time defined as proper design method. Yet, over half a decade later the poster is still as whimsical and beautiful as it was when it was designed. It was this sense of harmony that Hofmann found so invigorating in design. It embodies the spirit of the International Typographic Style. poster for the ballet Giselle Armin Hofman 1959
PREDICTABLE RESPONSIBLE The Neue Grafik
Neue Grafik Edited by LMNV – Richard Lohse (1902–1988), Josef Müller-Brockmann (1919–1996), Hans Neuburg (1904–1983) and Carlo Vivarelli (1919–1986) – in English, French and German. 1957
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Educational programs were not the only force behind the growth and expansion of the International Typographic Style. Publications that embodied the style propelled its success as well. The New Graphik was perhaps “one of the most influential example[s] of the grid in action” and is a perfect example of this movement’s push around the world. The cover was entirely typographic, and like the inside pages, it was designed with a four column grid. The trilingual eight-teen issue magazine was published between 1958 and 1965. Oddly enough, though written in English, French, and German, the publication would only showcase the Swiss design work of the time period.
It was designed and written by four designers; Carlo Vivarelli and Joseph Müeller-Brockmann, Richard Paul Hohse, and Hans Neuberg. Their aim was to “create an international platform for the discussion of modern graphic and applied art.” In an attempt to really explain what the purpose of the magazine was really about, a statement was composed from all four editors. They explained that “They do not prize modernity for its own sake or applaud boldness and originality at all costs, but they value the attempt at a solution by constructivist methods, not an illusory solution based on emotional, representational effects.” It would seem that if
asked ‘What is the purpose of the New Graphik?’ and ‘What is the main principle of the International Typographic Style?’, the answers would be relatively identical; thus explaining how it is that one magazine had such a great impact on the movement. In addition, the articles that were written by established critics and practitioners within constructivist art and design gave the New Graphik its authority and influence. These names would include figures such as Max Bill, Hans, Fischli, Gerrit T. Rietveld, and Will Burtin. Even in light of its success, the New Graphik was the number one “go-to” for critics who felt, “the
[International Typographic] style, especially in Zurich, had become inflexible and dogmatic as its international reputation grew”16. Some felt that the movement had become redundant and even predictable being that is was void of any personal expression or originality. Defenders of the style thought of these comments to be overreaching. In fact, they did not even see the International Typographic style as a method of designing but more as a “responsible set of professional and even moral principles.” These principles are clearly displayed in the New Graphic.
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Corporate Identity Though it may be true that the International Typographic style may be more minimalistic in its application, its position in the design world was a catalyst for movements that came after it. In fact it was out of the International Typographic Style that notable graphic eras such as the New York School and the Corporate Identity were more or less created. Through books and publications like the New Graphik, the first wave of the International Typographic Style arrived in the United States in the early1960s. In the mid 1960s graphic history wrote the beginning phases of what we now call corporate design. Several professional design offices began to practice the principles of the International Typographic Style to solve the needs of corporate clients in Holland, England, Canada, and the United States. A number of corporations and institutions, including Container Corporation, Ciba-Geigy, Herman Miller, IBM, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, adopted this method and aesthetic”. Companies realized the importance of consistency in their stores and business offices. They were beginning to make a “way of life” that make work happier, easier and easier
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to identify. “Consistency was especially important for the graphic component of a corporate identity, not just because an image is made more memorable by repetition but also, less positively, because a business’s reputation can be damaged by a lack of consistency.” This principle applied just as much to design as it did to the chairs and file cabinets of their offices. A business that was presented with graphic inconsistency could come off as being badly organized and unfocussed. Corporate identity manual was created as a result of these conclusions. It described verbally and visually all of the rules and regulations by which logos and logotypes were to be displayed. The International Typographic Style was theideal style to best fulfill this need of consistency. What other system of design would give a defined structure and methodology to a set of artworks without allowing for any sense of personal expression other than what would be universally agreed upon as a final word? Iconic graphic designer Paul Rand commented, “‘...there is no counterpart to Swiss design in terms of something that you can describe, that you can follow, that you can systematically understand’.”
They were beginning to make a “way of life� that make work happier, easier and easier to identify.
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The International Typographic Style has proven itself to be one of the most debated upon styles of design. Its unforgiving manner makes it unparalleled in its class, even in the world of today’s design. Had the International Typographic movement only been relevant in the 1940s it would be one thing. Yet, the International Typographical movement was a clear influence not only in Germany and Switzerland, its original geographic location. Its influences stretch all the way into the present graphic world. From revolutionizing the San serif typeface to composing a purely objective composition, the International Typographic Style is a clear example of how one era of clearly set instructions and harmonious rules can make for a timeless collection of work.
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SOURCES Ballance, Georgette and Steven Heller, Graphic Design History. New York: Allworth Press, 2001. Cramsie, Patrick. The Story of Graphic Design. New York: Abrams, 2010. Drucker, Johanna and Emily McVarsh. Graphic Design History: A Critical Guide. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, Inc, 2013. Eskilson, Stephen, Graphic Design: A New History. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007. Meggs, Phillip and Alston Purvis. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2012. Purcell, Kerry William. Josef Muller-Brockmann. New York: Phaidon Press Inc., 2006.