T H E I N TERN ATION A L
T Y P O G R A P H I C STYLE
Mary Carnes
THE INTERNATIONAL TYPOGRAPHIC STYLE
Intro Influences Designers Grid System Conclusion References
INTERNATIONAL TYPOGRAPHIC STYLE The International Typographic Style, which is also known as Swiss Style, is a graphic design movement which originated in Switzerland in the 1940’s and 50’s and had profound influence on modernist graphic design, architecture and art. The International Typographic Style is named according to the use of typography as a primary design element among the founders of the movement.
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The style of Swiss Typography, grew after the Second World War, in neutral Switzerland where designers were able to express themselves clearly. Graphic Design was becoming recognized as a professional career and publications about design were becoming well known. The style was formed as a result of the inclination to display information objectively and free from symbolism or implied meaning. The movement was influential in the use of the grid as well as sans serif typefaces such as Akzidenz Grotesk and Helvetica. Among the best-known practitioners in the movement were Josef MĂźller-Brockman, Paul Rand, Armin Hoffman, Max Bill and Ernst Keller. The International style forever shaped graphic design through advertising, book design and in the presence of minimalism throughout design. Designers throughout recent history have shown both resistance and admiration towards the style but the International Typographic style has never disappeared.
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T Y P E FAC E S
TYPEFACES Helvetica was created as a refinement of AkzidenzGrotesk. Meidinger and Hoffmann, in accordance with the ideology of the International Typographic Style, designed Helvetica in order to create a neutral, yet incredibly clear, readable typeface with no intrinsic meaning in its form. Simon Garfied regards Helvetica as “ubiquitous because it fulfills so many demands for modern type.� In order to make Helvetica more internationally marketable, in 1960, the name was changed from Neue Haas Grotesque to Helvetica, which is the Latin word for Switzerland.
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The International Typographic Style is known for the formation of several new sans serif type families designed in the 1950’s. Many typeface designers began to create typefaces called neo-grotesque, inspired by Akzidenz. Sans Serif Typefaces were choice among the International Typographic Style founders because they believed that sans serif typography expressed a more progressive and modernist spirit. International Typographic Style eliminates distractions and encourages viewers to read the information presented, thus the designers used typefaces that are read-able, simple and clean
Univers : 21 variations sur un theme unique. Paris: Deberny & Peignot, 1964
Univers was created in 1954 by Adrian Frutiger, one of the most influential typeface designers of the 20th century. This neo-grotesque font family was created in 1954 by the French type Foundry Deberny & Peignot. Univers was formed out of a desire to create a new font that would be suitable for the typesetting of long text, which was a challenge for sans serif fonts at that time.
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Akzidenz Grotesk, also called “Standard� was the origin of the sans serif craze. Originally released by the H. Berthold AG Type Foundry in 1897, it was considered radically different compared to the popular typefaces being used in the 19th century. Because of the popularity it gained during the International Typographic Style, Akzidenz Grotesk is now one of the most widely used typefaces. Helvetica (originally called Neue Haas Grotesk) was created in 1957 by Max Meidinger and Eduard Hoffmann at the Haas Foundry in Switzerland.
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INFL U E N C E S “If today’s arts love the machine, technology and organization, if they aspire to precision and reject anything vague and dreamy, this implies an instinctive repudiation of chaos and a longing to find the form appropriate to our times� Oskar Schlemmer
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Poster for the Bauhaus Exhibition Joost Schmidt 1923
Bauhaus Magazine, vol.2, no.4 Joost Schmidt 1928
The De Stijl Movement, Bauhaus and
The Bauhaus was a design school in Germany, founded by Walter Gropius. The
the New Typography Movement all had
school was founded as a way to revive the arts within manufacturing and technology,
profound impact on the foundation of
as well as re-establish the purpose of art in society and production. The Bauhaus
the International Typographic style. The
tried to unite creativity within manufacturing, attempting to design everyday life
International Typographic movement’s
through furniture, art, kitchenware etc. The Bauhaus movement is also known as the
pioneers combined elements from many
International style, as a result of the absence of ornamentation and the minimalism,
other design and art trends in order to
simplicity and harmony in the design across disciplines. The Movement’s influence
create the harmonious simplicity of
spread throughout the world and influenced the International Typography Style with
Swiss style.
its mass production and ideology of universal accessibility of design.
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Avant Garde typography was becoming more mainstream by the 1920’s and was being used as a design element as well as a vehicle for communication. Jan Tschichold was the founder of the New Typography movement, with his ultimate goal of clarity of message. Tschichold was a master of hierarchy within interesting and surprising layouts. The movement used the principles of asymmetric balance, hierarchy, intentional negative space and sans serif typography in design, which was a precursor to the sans serif craze in the International Typographic Style. The New Typography movement truly brought information design to forefront of the “artistic avant-garde in Central Europe”. The three-different art and design movements which influenced the International Typographic Style, De Stijl, the Bauhaus and the New Typography, are all characterized by the desire for universality in concept and understanding.
The De Stijl movement was founded in 1916 and sought to express a universal style and idyllic harmony and order. The movement was also a reaction to the excessive ornamentation of the art deco movement. The founders, Theo van Doesburg, Piet Mondrian and Gerrit Reitveld, advocated for pure abstraction devoid of any human influence and strived to create a universal visual language through “reduction to the essentials of form and color”. Theo Van Doesburg said of the foundational intentions, “We speak of concrete and not abstract painting because nothing is more concrete, more real than a line, a color, a surface”. Color usage was commonly reduced to primary colors along with black and white, and simple geometric forms were used with strong horizontal and vertical lines. The De Stijl movement could be seen as a precursor to the use of the standardizing grid used in the International Typographic Style.
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JOSEF MÜLLER BR OCKMANN
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Josef Müller-Brockmann opened up his own design studio in Zurich and spent two decades establishing his influence as one of the leader’s in the Swiss Style. Müller-Brockmann utilized the grid for designing and excluded any subjective feeling, meaning or illustration. His “Musica Viva” poster, designed in 1951 attracted attention for his use of Constructivism design language correlating to the organization of the music.
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“Der Film” Josef Müller-Brockmann 1960
Musica Viva, Concert Poster. Josef Muller-Brockmann 1958
Musica Viva, Concert Poster. Josef Muller-Brockmann 1958
In addition to Müller-Brockmann’s design style, he was one of the founders the Neue Grafik journal, which focused on Swiss Design and international accessibility. Müller-Brockmann also authored many influential graphic design books including The Graphic Artist and his Design Problems”, “Grid Systems in Graphic Design”, and the publications “History of the Poster” and “A History of Visual Communication”.
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achieve in my work
Poster for a music society Josef Muller-Brockmann 1955
“What I try to is to communicate information about an idea, event or product as clearly as possible�
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RICHARD PAUL L OHSE
Richard Paul Lohse was educated in graphic design in Zurich while also pursuing painting and exploring geometric abstraction. Lohse’s best-known work is the 1948 translation of Richard Wright’s 12 Million Black Voices. Lohse’s use of the grid is evident throughout this work, in the cover design and the interior formatting. While in Zurich, Lohse was the editor for the magazine Neue Grafik alongside Josef Muller- Brockman and Hans Neuburg.
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WIM CROUWEL
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Wim Crouwel born in 1928, began his career as an expressionist painter, but soon after he had the chance to design his first poster, he realized his love for organizing information in an aesthetic visual design. As a designer, Crouwel stuck very strongly to the principles of the Swiss-inspired International Typographic Style, and worked according to a rational design method. In 1963, Crouwel founded Total Design, an influential studio in the Netherlands. Crouwel is most well-known for his use of Helvetica and his mechanical neutral designs. Crouwel is a true modernist exemplified through his simple and organized aesthetic.
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ARMIN HOFMANN
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Hofmann’s best-known work is his poster for the ballet Giselle, by Basler Freilichtspiele in 1959. This poster is an excellent example of the harmony Hofmann is known for. He pairs an ephemeral photograph with hard-edged, geometric typography. The composition is all carefully balanced upon the dot on the letter ‘i’ in the title.
Giselle Poster Armin Hofmann 1959
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Armin Hofmann born in 1920, is a Swiss designer and was notably the head of the Graphic Design department at the Basel School of art. Hofmann is influential in the development of the Swiss International Style which held the belief in the unbiased and universal style of graphic design. The overall goal of Swiss design was purely to communicate and Hofmann exemplifies these values through his economical use of color and sans serif fonts, leading the way for minimalism in style.
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M A X BIL L
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Another influential Swiss designer is Max Bill (1908-1994). After Bill’s education at the Bauhaus, he became an influencer in Swiss art and in 1944, he became a professor in Zurich. In true Bauhaus fashion, not only was Bill a graphic designer, but he was also a painter and architect. Bill embraced the concept of concrete art and formulated a manifesto, calling for universally clear art controlled by mathematic constructions. Bill always utilized grids, equal contrast, linear division and complementary relationships to strive towards order
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M
ERST KELLER
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o Ernst Keller (1891-1968) is known as the “father of Swiss Design,� as he was one of the first to teach the grid system for which Swiss Style is most recognized. Keller refused to give into practicing design trends and believed that any design problem could be solved by looking at the content of what he was designing. He believed that he was supposed to shift the focus of design from the content, to the typefaces utilized. Keller is known for his standard of excellence in everything he did.
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Das Neue Heim Ernst Keller 1928
Nein Ernst Keller 1928
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EMIL RUDER Emil Ruder (1914-1970) was a key player in the development in the International style and is distinguished in the typography field for broadening the perspective of design education. Ruder included philosophy, theory and systematic practical methodology in his teaching. His desires for graphic design were lofty and he wanted to “promote the good and beautiful in word and image and to open the way to new arts”. His influence in typography included his strong preference for sans serif typefaces which he used exclusively and wrote about with conviction. In 1947, he helped to found the Basel school and he published a book of grammar and typography, “Emil Ruder: Typography.” His book influenced typography and graphic design programs around the world.
Typographie Cover Ernst Keller 1967
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P AU L RA N D Paul Rand (1914-1996), the most famous American graphic designer was a strong follower of the modernist movement and took the elements of design, organization, and hierarchy into his work that would become the International Typographic Style. However, in the 1950’s Rand developed a highly personalized, illustrative and playful style, which took a subjective spin on the characteristics of the International Typographic Style.
IBM Rebus Paul Rand 1981
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GRID The International Typographic Style, which originated in Switzerland and Germany, truly gained its title “International” by breaking boundaries and becoming recognizable around the globe. The International Typographic Style was particularly useful in bilingual or trilingual nations because of the universally accessible and clear nature of the design. A few of the major achievements of the movement include the use of the grid system. Müller- Brockmann said about the grid system, “The grid system is an aid, not a guarantee. It permits a number of possible uses and each designer can look for a solution appropriate to his personal style. But one must learn how to use the grid; it is an art that requires practice”. Along with the grid, came asymmetrical layouts, a preference for photography as opposed to illustration, flush left and ragged right text and of course the infamous sans serif typefaces. The International Typographic movement was the first era in design when design became essentialist and focused solely on the clarity of the message.
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REFERENCES “De Stijl Movement, Artists and Major Works.” The Art Story, www.theartstory.org/movement-de-stijl.htm. “Bauhaus Movement, Artists and Major Works.” The Art Story, www.theartstory.org/movement-bauhaus.htm. Flask, Dominic. “Swiss Design: Design is History.” Swiss Design: Design is History, www.designishistory.com/home/swiss/. Janser, Andres, and Barbara Junod. Corporate Diversity: Swiss Graphic Design and Advertising by Geigy: 1940-1970: L. Maller, 2009. Lommen, Mathieu. The Book of Books 500 Years of Graphic Innovation. Thames & Hudson, 2012. Müller-Brockmann, Josef. “Grid systems.” Alemanha, Editora Braun (1996). Meggs, Philip B. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Wiley, 2016. Purcell, Kerry William. Josef Muller-Brockmann. Phaidon Press, 2006. “Swiss Style: The Principles, the Typefaces & the Designers.” Print Magazine, 14 Feb. 2017, www.printmag.com/typography/swiss-style-principles-typefaces-designers/. “The International Typographic Style Timeline.”The International Typographic Style Timeline. smearedblackink.com/swiss_style_timeline/. “The New Typography | MoMA.” The Museum of Modern Art, www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/1013. “Tschichold’s New Typography and the Relationship to the Bauhaus.” Tschichold’s New Typography, www.designhistory.org/Avant_Garde_pages/DieNeueType.html.