Trivialization of Color
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“The poster is outstanding as a medium in which the force inherent in simple things can truly make an impact.�
Armin Hofmann 2
Poster German Artists 1962
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armin hofmann: life as a graphic design teacher
Early Life
“For after all, a poster does more than simply supply information in the goods it advertises; it also reveals a society’s state of mind.”
Armin Hofmann A. Poster Cathedral Windows 1952 B. Poster Basel Ballet “Giselle” 1959 C. Poster Municiple Theatre basel with weekly program 1959 D. Poster Basel Museum of Implied Arts 1955
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rmin Hofmann was born in Winterthur in 1920. He grew up during the great era of Swiss graphic design. Hofmann was inspired by many artists of that time; Alfred Willimann, Ernest Keller and Hans Finsler. He started his career as a teacher at the Basel School of Arts and Crafts when he was 26 and taught there for 40 years. Hofmann followed Emil Ruder as head of the graphic design department at the Basel School of Design. His teaching methods were
unorthodox and broad based, setting new standards that became widely known in design education. Hofmann’s work is enormously varied from books, exhibitions, stage sets, logotypes, symbols, typography, posters, sign systems, and environmental graphics. He is well known for his posters, which emphasized a small use of color and fonts, in reaction to what Hofmann regarded as the “trivialization of color.”
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armin hofmann: black and white
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Black and White
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he objective of Hofmann's work, with the usage of mainly black and white in his posters, is to prevent the trivialization of color as it exists in advertisement. Hofmann believes that someone is more likely to gain a better sense of color by looking at the subtle harmonies of black and white images than by looking at over the top colorful images. The imagery used in advertising today does not seem to create the counter images needed to grab the attention of the viewer. Hofmann believes that adding in all this flashy, colorful imagery is unnecessary and doesn’t seem to have a real purpose in advertising. Hofmann, not adding a background so some of these images, draws your attention to the image and won’t distract the viewer with small details around the figure. Hofmann believes an object, represented photographically in black and white, demands symbolic interpretation; any abstract traits, however, disappear completely when color is added. Hofmann believes that color in photography has driven people away from actually reading what is on the poster and only viewing what is there. In many of Hofmann’s posters where he uses photography, it is always in black and white and simplified as much as possible. There is usually not a background and it is a simple object or figure.
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A. Poster Theatre Vonstruction in Antiquity and Moderity 1955
A. Poster Kunsthalle Basel 1961
Poster Poliakoff/Jacobsen 1963
B. Poster Performances 1963
B. Poster Municiple Theatre basel with weekly program 1967
C. Poster Ear and Eye 1955
C. Poster Circle 48 1949
A. Poster Brahm’s Requiem 1986
D. Poster Posters from the collection of the basel museum 1961
D. Poster Herman Miller Collection 1962
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B. Poster Swiss Industries Fair Basel 1954
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Photography, Symbols, and Type A
rmin Hofmann uses black and white in his photography to turn his photographs into symbols instead of objects. He turns his images into symbols to simplify the photographs and give the photographs more meaning, other than what the object itself is. He uses symbolism with images and also letterforms. He uses decorative typefaces that could be seen as symbols. Armin Hofmann’s interest in using black and white in his posters comes from his preoccupation with the forms, and the study, of signs and symbols. The use of grey values and the subtle nature of the light and dark figures leaves a more colorful and lasting impression than the over the top bright and color enticement supplied by the entertainment industry. Hofmann believes that in order to experience objects not only superficially, but also symbolically, the objects must be dematerialized. Hofmann, through the removal of color, feel that he is dematerializing the objects used in his posters making them more neutral, a symbol, and less of a physical object. Dematerializing the objects changes the meaning and context of the objects. Armin Hofmann believes that letter forms gets their optimal impact and readability from contrasting effects of light and dark. Transparency of letter shape is most important to Hofmann because of the basic forces of creative work that are the basis of the letter form, especially in the relationships between the shapes of letters and images. He believes that it leads to the reorganization of the objects it describes in that 10
moment when the object and its description meet. In Hofmann’s work, he uses a range of simple typefaces with decorative typefaces depending on what he is trying to represent in each poster.
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A. Poster
A. Poster
C. Poster
Municiple Theatre
Aesthetic Education
Municiple Theatre basel
basel with weekly
1960
with weekly program
B. Poster
1959
Vollendung Burgrspital
D. Poster
1963
Willi Baumeister/
program 1961
Ernest Wilhem Nay 1960
armin hofmann: photography, symbols, and type
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“I’m always doing that of which i can not do, in order that i may learn how to do it.”
Poster Baumeister/Nay 1959
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Armin Hofmann 13
Crotty written by Katie Designed and ces designed g Avenir type fa in us d se po om C er in 1988 by Adrian Frutig r onto Kyocera printe Printed using a # Hammermill 80 Portland, 18 Katie Crotty, 20 Š ht ig yr op C ollege of Art Maine, Maine C
Poster Herman Miller Collection 1962
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