Swiss Graphic Design by Tom Bishop

Swiss Graphic Design:

The Rise of The International Style Tom Bishop // 2013 Lincoln School of Architecture & Design // BA (Hons) Graphic Design // John Stocker

Tom Bishop BA (Hons) 2013 Lincoln School of Art, Design & Architecture Graphic Design BA (Hons) John Stocker Word Count: 8,273

For Lucy

Abstract: Swiss graphic design has played a huge part in shaping the visual language of the modern world; this paper explores how ‘The International Style’ has developed over the course of the 20th century. By looking at the early history of Switzerland: how the country developed from a nation of poor farmers in the 17th century, the effect of the Swiss industrial revolution and how the neutrality of the Swiss has helped to shape Switzerland into one of the wealthiest nations on earth. In order to understand the foundations of ‘The International Style’ It is important to discuss how aspects of Swiss graphic design can be traced back to early 20th century Germany. By exploring how the practitioners and principles of the Bauhaus were imported to Switzerland due to the events leading up to the Second World War. These principles became the basis of what we now associate with Swiss design. This paper will discus how the development of the typeface Helvetica gave form to the modernist principles regarding type as well as changing the face of advertising during the 1960’s as ‘The International Style’ was exported. The classification of graphic design and the legacy of ‘The International Style’ will be discussed, questioning if it is right to call Swiss design ‘Timeless’.

Contents: I. Introduction 1.1: Purpose 1.2: Definition of Terms 1.3: Objectives 1.4: Scope II. The Birth of the International Style 2.1: Foundations 2.2: Industry 2.3: Modernism III. Consequences of the Past 3.1: Rooted in Expressionism 3.2: A New Direction 3.3: The Artistic Diaspora IV. Helvetica – The Swiss Typeface 4.1: Origins 4.2: Refinements 4.3: Competition 4.4: Legacy V. Switzerland as a Brand 5.1: The Brands of Switzerland 5.2: Preserving ‘Swissness’ VI. The growth of the International Style 6.1: Adoption 6.2: Classification 6.3: Case Study 1 The New York Subway 6.4: Case Study 2 Coca Cola Adverts 6.5: Case Study 3 Grid System VII. Timeless design 7.1: Reflective of the Era 7.2: ‘The Perfume of the city’ 7.3: Core principles VIII. Conclusion 5

“‘Swiss’ is still a style. In the crudest terms, the style was, and is, Helvetica, Univers and grid systems.” – (Hollis, 2006)

Chapter I: Introduction 1.1: Purpose During the 20th century, Switzerland became one of the most influential countries in the world of design, so much so that ‘The Swiss Style’ or ‘The International Style’ has become world renowned for its visual language. During the 20th century, influences that originated outside of Switzerland came together to shape and inspire this new style of design that was far removed from the overembellished, crowded aesthetic of the 19th century. There was a common consensus between all modernist practitioners that there was a need to simplify design, what initially started internationally came together in Switzerland to form the basis of what we now call ‘The International Style’. To understand where Swiss graphic design fits into history and what its legacy will be, this paper will look at the history of Switzerland, the political stance of the Swiss, Modernism and how influences from abroad changed the face of 20th century design, with theories, typefaces and grids designed by Swiss pioneers, still practiced and used today. 6

1.2: Definition of Terms

1.3: Objectives

Taken from The Oxford advanced dictionary of current English (1974)

This dissertation is to take an objective look at the formation and legacy of Swiss Design. How ‘The International Style’ developed over the course of the 19th and 20th century, taking over the world and creating fundamental design principles, questioning if they are still relevant today.

Constructivism: /kənˈstrʌktɪvɪz(ə)m/ [noun] a style or movement in which assorted mechanical objects are combined into abstract mobile structural forms. The movement originated in Russia in the 1920s and has influenced many aspects of modern architecture and design. Functionalism: /ˈfʌŋ(k)ʃ(ə)n(ə)lɪz(ə)m/ [noun] the theory that the design of an object should be determined by its function rather than by aesthetic considerations, and that anything practically designed will be inherently beautiful. Expressionism: /ɪkˈsprɛʃ(ə)nɪz(ə)m, ɛk-/ [noun] a style of painting, music, or drama in which the artist or writer seeks to express emotional experience rather than impressions of the external world.

To inform this dissertation I have looked at several key points in design history that have influenced the International style, with foundations in functionalism and modernism at the Bauhaus, the effects of The Second World War (WWII) and the neutrality of Switzerland. How the growth of the Swiss economy made Swiss products and brands become globally recognised as reliable and luxurious. By looking at the roots of ‘The International Style’ I aim to determine how relevant it is today and if it can be called ‘Timeless Design’. 1.4: Scope In order to realise the extent of ‘The International Style’ I knew that I would need to look back at the history and political developments that were unfolding at the beginning of the 20th century. I have also included case studies that show how Swiss principles have been used from signage to advertising in the latter half of the 20th century and into the first half of the 21st to support the notion of ‘Timeless Design’. 7

Chapter II: The birth of ‘The International Style’ 2.1: Foundations Switzerland’s location is a key part of understanding how the country developed into what we see it as today. Landlocked, with few natural recourses and a relatively small population, there was often little work during the 16th century, which meant that young Swiss men would leave their family in search of work beyond the Swiss boarders. Despite this, by the 20th century Switzerland had developed into one of the largest economies in the world.

clearly and efficiently. The same is true when we look at other aspects of Swiss design; architecture for example is clean and concise with almost no embellishments. Swiss design could be said to follow a functionalist approach, which is a reminder of the influences the early teachings of Bauhaus had on young Swiss designers.

The watch-making industry is one of Switzerland’s most famous examples of design. It has been well established since the 16th century with Swiss watchmakers world-renowned for using quality materials, creating luxury timepieces with exquisite craftsmanship. Over 20,000 craftsmen worked as watch smiths, many of which used their skills to create other mechanical products such as clockwork toys and complex machines.

The Swiss economy depended on the import and export of trade. Today, as one of the highest importers of goods in the world, Switzerland’s trade roots are firmly embedded in the cotton industry. The Swiss industrial revolution that took place in the 1800’s created a massive economic boom that first began with the Swiss cotton industry, which at the time was Switzerland’s most profitable export. The new improvements were some of the first of their kind in Europe. “Industrialisation of the textile industry and the know-how of clockmakers combined to help develop the machine-tool industry.” (Swiss World, n.d) The first spinning machines began to appear across the country in at the start of the 19th century and by 1801, the first spinning mill had been opened in St Galen echoing the virtual end of manual spinning by 1814.

Already with a reputation in creating luxury products, in 1815, after the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte, The Treaty of Paris took place at The Congress of Vienna; where the other members officially recognised Switzerland’s neutrality. Switzerland has maintained its neutrality since then, and is the second oldest neutral country in the world. The neutrality of the Swiss is a huge part of what makes up the identity of the nation, leading to the solidarity of Switzerland, with no allies or enemies but with a willingness to defend itself. The neutrality of the Swiss is reflected in their design principles. It is very clear when looking at an example of Swiss design that it fulfils a function, 8

2.2: Industry

During the time of the Swiss industrial revolution, Switzerland elected a federal state (1847-1914) that set about safeguarding the future of Switzerland, creating the Swiss rail network, opening its first line in 1847 the rail network helped stitch the country together which became the foundations of modern Switzerland. Fuelled by the industrial revolution, the

Swiss rail network allowed the import and export of goods to become even more sophisticated, allowing goods to travel from city to city before being exported; bringing wealth to the country. Over the course of the 19th century, Switzerland continued along its path of industrialisation, becoming a source of design and mechanical innovation, producing and refining exceptionally well-crafted goods, from precise watches to finely made tools and equipment. Trading on its reputation for producing these good quality products and services, the same is true for its design style. Throughout the 20th century, Switzerland paved the way for advertisers, artists and architects across the rest of the world.

Many Swiss modernists moved to the Bauhaus to study design, as a school that originally started out with an expressionist philosophy, the school later became known for functionalism, which appealed to the modernist movement. Designers such as Max Bill and Theo Ballmer who worked and studied at the Bauhaus during beginning of the 20th Century became influenced by functionalist principles and continued to practice these new ideas upon their return to Switzerland. These early modernists became the pioneers of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The International Styleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; that led to Switzerland becoming one of the key innovating nations of design several decades later.

2.3: Modernism Across Europe, towards the end of the 19th century, there was a common consensus amongst young artists and designers that the art nouveau movement was not design philosophy to uphold. Born out of rebellion against a crowded aesthetic and floral decoration that had dominated the design of the 19th century, the vehicle for this social and economic change became known as modernism. Many young designers embraced the idea of modernism and others aspired to it, by using design to create change led to many new ideas, theories and practices. Improving the world through design was what modernists desired and Switzerland provided a means to that end.

Chapter III: Consequences of the past 3.1: Rooted in Expressionism

3.2: A New Direction

Staatliches Bauhaus, directed by Walter Gropius from 1919 was intended to be a school of art, one that would provide a fresh start for the world of art and design after The First World War (WWI). Gropius oversaw that the Bauhaus curriculum reflected the principles of expressionism, together with his faculty the school believed that design was a spiritual process, one that combined all aspects of design, a theory that was unified by the first edition of the Programm des Staatlichen Bauhauses im Weimar, which read;

It wasn’t until four years after the opening of the school that the core design principles of the Bauhaus changed, The 1923 Exhibition was requested by the Thuringian State Government to exhibit the work of the Bauhaus and to show what the state had been funding for the past four years. Intended to be a humiliation of the Bauhaus, the Government expected the work of the students and faculty to cause uproar within the country and that a public outcry would pressure the government funding to cease, shutting down the Bauhaus, forcing its faculty to disband.

‘Let us create a new guild of craftsmen without the class distinctions that raise an arrogant barrier between craftsman and artist! Together let us desire, conceive and create a new building of the future, which will embrace architecture and sculpture and painting into one unity and which will one day rise towards heaven from the hands of a million workers like the crystal symbol of a new faith.’

The school initially thrived under expressionism, producing many talented artists who fully embraced the spiritual process. This however, was short lived as soon after the school had opened, many members of the faculty began to criticise Expressionism. The expressive nature of the teaching methods began to give way to those of the Constructivist movement with artists and designers such as Kandinsky who began offering lectures that would open up the Bauhaus’ students and faculty to new theories. By 1923, the school had become influenced by Functionalism with many of the expressionistic design principles left behind in favour of this new philosophy. 10

To combat the threat of humiliation at The 1923 Exhibition posed to the Bauhaus, Moholy-Nagy, a Hungarian painter and photographer arrived at the school to take up a position teaching on the foundation level courses the Bauhaus offered. Moholy-Nagy began working to change the philosophy of the Bauhaus away from the expressionist roots that had engulfed its teachings towards the original aims of the school, to teach both design and industrial integration. The new direction Moholy-Nagy took the Bauhaus ushered in a new era of teaching, Moholy-Nagy effectively rebranded the school. Creating a new logo unifying the school with a sans-serif typeface that would be used throughout, the school and took on an important roll in The 1923 Exhibition, showing off the Bauhaus’ new Functionalist direction.

Cover of the Bauhaus Exhibition Catalogue, (1923)

The 1923 exhibition proved to be a success, with the Thuringian State Government offering work to several Bauhaus students as a result. The Functionalist nature of the exhibition had been long awaited by members of the faculty and were practiced at the Bauhaus until the Nazi party pressured the school into closing in 1933 at which point students and faculty were disbanded. 3.3: The Artistic Diaspora In 1933 when the Nazi party put pressure on the staff to have the Bauhaus shut down, the philosophy of the school endured, as many teachers and students who had been shaped by the teachings of the Bauhaus took what they had learned with them. Many artists and designers moved out of Germany, across Europe and onto other parts of the world. This was called the ‘Artistic Diaspora’, many of the artists and designers who fled Germany settled in Switzerland, who continued the work they had begun at the Bauhaus and began to lay foundations of what would eventually become ‘The International Style’. After the Diaspora, many of those who had fled to Switzerland felt that they didn’t want to disrupt the community for fear of being sent back to Germany, instead many designers began to form their own modernist communities where they could practice and refine their ideas together. It is without a doubt that the teaching that took place at the Bauhaus was a direct influence on Swiss graphic design, with artist and designers continuing the Bauhaus methodology, much of 12

what we antiquate with Swiss design is firmly rooted in the modernist ideas that were taught at the Bauhaus. In his book Swiss Graphic Design, Richard Hollis also agrees with this belief, suggesting, “The Bauhaus ideas survived in Switzerland was largely due to Sigfried Giedion; he maintained links with several figures from the Bauhaus (including Gropius); he identified with their aims, and he commissioned and collaborated with Bauhaus designers.” – (Hollis, 2006) Sigfried Giedion was a Swiss architect historian who was well known for collaborative work with Bauhaus designers in the 20th century, it was largely due to Giedion that Bauhaus principles endured in Switzerland after the closure of the Bauhaus in 1933. Influenced heavily by functionalist principles, Giedion trained as an engineer but later turned his attention to the visual arts, in a radio interview in 2012, Michael Darrooch discusses Giedeon’s philosophy. “Giedion wanted us to think about all the objects that have now become part of our everyday lives that we’re taking for granted. He wanted us to rethink art history not so much from the perspective of the great artists or the great builders, the great architects but rather from the humble everyday objects that we have around us.” – (Darroch M, 2012)

Giedion was a key figure in ensuring that many of the Bauhaus principles survived in Switzerland, by keeping true to the design philosophy that made the Bauhaus so successful, Swiss design philosophy became much stronger as practitioners who were once colleagues continued to build on the modernist and functionalist philosophy that informed their design decisions. Swiss designer, Max Bill had been educated at the Bauhaus but moved back to Switzerland shortly before the school closed. Bill brought back what he had learned from his time in Germany to his own practice in Switzerland and became one of the contributors to the International style, much like many others who had fled to Switzerland from Germany In Switzerland ‘The International Style’ continued to grow and develop with Swiss designers beginning to export their creations to the rest of the world, entering Switzerland into the global design community. It wasn’t long before Swiss design became viewed as extremely desirable with advertising agencies across the world. Swiss educated designers such as Josef MüllerBrockmann, educated at the Kunstgewerbeschule School of art in Zurich; began to produce iconic pieces of functional graphic design. This second generation of Swiss educated designers began to infuse Bauhaus philosophy with their own distinctive ‘Swiss’ style. It was this generation that developed the fundamentals of The Grid System and later, Helvetica.

Zurich Tonhalle, poster, (1955)

Chapter IV: Helvetica – The Swiss Typeface: “The font is like Oxygen. You have little choice but to breathe it in.” – (Garfield, 2010) 4.1: Origins

4.2: Refinements

Akzidenz Grotesk, a German sans-serif typeface, released in 1896 it became the first sans-serif typeface to be widely distributed. Akzidenz Grotesk was available in several different weights, a feature that helped to spread it’s popularity allowing type designers to use it in a variety of different ways, creating hierarchy in their work, a tradition that was carried through to Helvetica Neue which is now available in over 50 different weights.

Helvetica was designed to embody all aspects of Swiss graphic design at the time, with clear characteristics that distinguished it against competing products. Helvetica was later developed by parent company Linotype before it was then sold internationally, the typeface gave the Swiss style the body and form that Modernist designers had been looking for. The Swiss style was given form by Helvetica. Today, Helvetica is a default typeface on both Windows and Macintosh, making it freely available to everyone who owns a computer. It has become ubiquitous and has been used for just about everything from public transport to vodka bottles; there isn’t a city on earth you can go without seeing Helvetica. The popularity of Helvetica is because of the fact that it is open to interpretation; many different brands and companies have used it to imply something different.

In 1957, the Haas type foundry in Switzerland, designers Max Meidinger and Eduard Hoffmann created a typeface called Neue Hass Grotesk, an improved version of Akzidenz Grotesk, drawn on a rotational axis the new typeface was inspired by better legibility and had its own very clear style. A major characteristic of Neue Hass Grotesk was the way the letterforms held the white space between the letters and inside the counters creating balance between the negative and the positive space. Neue Hass Grotesk was later developed in Germany for final refinements and distribution. Its name was changed to reflect the heritage of its birth, originally to be called Helvetic the Latin for Switzerland but was later renamed as Helvetica, becoming ‘The Swiss Typeface’.

In 1983, Helvetica underwent further refinements. D. Stempel AG, a Linotype sub-company began to rework the original drawings of Helvetica, creating Neue Helvetica (later renamed Helvetica Neue), a refined version that added many more weights to the typeface as well as character improvements designed to improve the legibility and the overall aesthetic of the typeface. Helvetica Neue proved to be a success and was well receive in the design community, today famously used on all Apple iOS devices with retina displays, replacing the 15

4.4: Legacy original version of Helvetica that had been used on the standard displays of other iOS devices. Helvetica Neue offers a numbering system for categorization much like other sans-serif typefaces such as Univers and Frutiger, with over 50 different weights available, Helvetica Neue is the most comprehensive version of Helvetica offering almost endless possibilities for designers. 4.3: Competition At the same time as Helvetica was being developed, there was another grotesk typeface being refined in France. Univers and Helvetica both share similar lineage, and are descended from Akzidenz Grotesk, Helvetica and universe are very similar in form to one another with only minor differences that are noticed on inspection of specific characters such as the uppercase Q, G, K and on numbers 1, 2 and 7 with the comma being a good example of the differences. During an interview in the film Helvetica, Lars Müller discusses that many people see Helvetica as a typeface for capitalism due to the fact that is has been used be so many different corporations and brands in order to promote and advertise products and services Müller rejects this theory by saying that he sees Helvetica as the typeface of Socialism. “It [Helvetica] is available all over and it is inviting dilatants and amateurs and everybody to do typography and to create their own type design.” – (Müller 2007) 16

During the early 20th century, Beatrice Warde wrote an essay on how typography should be viewed; referring to it as The Crystal Goblet, a metaphor in the argument for functional typography, the goblet is a highly refined container that holds language with absolute clarity. It is possible to say that Helvetica fits this description, as I have found through this study; Helvetica manages to communicate everything and nothing at the same time. It is a typeface that could be used for practically any purpose, to say almost anything. As of 2007, Helvetica is over 50 years old and it still looks as fresh and as clean as the day Max Miedinger drew it. Not only is it a typeface for a digital age, but it is also a typeface that was designed to be highly legible, a job that it does very well.

Chapter V: Switzerland as a brand: 5.1: The brands of Switzerland Switzerland’s small landmass compared to the size of the economy is not equally weighted, as one of the wealthiest countries in the world in accordance to its land mass and population; Switzerland is home to a great number of global brands. These brands all embody a ‘Swiss’ quality, manufacturing finely made products designed for a luxury market. Victorinox, the Makers of the Swiss Army Knife are an example of a Swiss brand that has embraced the Swiss vernacular, using their heritage is a key part of their brand strategy, making ‘Made in Switzerland’ an important part of their brand values. These brand values set Victorinox apart from competitors because of the association their brand has with good quality products, even though the price of the end product may be significantly higher. In a 2009 poll, 8000 foreign consumers from around the world rated Swiss products and companies. The survey was intended to assess how Swiss brands were perceived around the world and the end results were positive. Swiss products were praised for was the quality of the product even though the same poll said that Swiss products were at the higher end of the pricing spectrum.

When talking about the areas Switzerland scored lower on, Allen goes on to quote marketing consultant Karsten Sausen; “Many firms are not actively communicating their Swiss origin. If they did, it would have a positive impact on the image of Swiss products. Companies are our ambassadors and they should be aware of the power they have of transporting the Swiss image.” – (Sausen, cited by Allen, 2012)

As a direction that Swiss brands should be looking at to improve their brand values, not to continue rely on their existing reputation. Allen hypothesised that consumers were only buying Swiss products because they associated Swiss products with quality, with no thought about the innovative aspects of the products.

In an article about the 2009 consumer poll, Matthew Allen talks about the findings; “Switzerland received top marks for watches, banks and hotels, but was ranked behind Germany and Japan for engineering and manufacturing. The Swiss scored badly for price competitiveness, innovation and in the field of information technology.”

– (Allen, 2012) 17

Victorinox, Swiss Army Knife (2013)

5.2: Preserving ‘Swissness’ In recent years, Switzerland has become aware of how much the ‘Swiss Identity’ is worth and is beginning to put laws in place to help protect the country’s brand identity. Referred to as ‘Swissness’, it is the idea that the country has some sort of ‘je ne sais quoi’ or an unknown element that gives a luxurious quality to Swiss products. In an article written by Barry Silverstein in 2009 it is discussed what sort of impact these laws could have on existing Swiss brands. “The inherent value of ‘Swiss made’ brands is so high that the country’s government is currently considering new laws to protect it: “The government wants to replace vague laws with concrete rules to crack down on abuses of ‘made in Switzerland’ and Swiss cross labels” (“Protecting ‘Swiss made’ brand divides opinion,” swissinfo.ch, April 6, 2008). The movement is known in Switzerland as “the legislation project Swissness.”” – (Silverstein 2009) The idea of protecting a country’s brand identity goes against the very roots of Swiss design and principles. The design philosophy known as ‘Swissness’ has been shaped by many different thinkers and institutions, many of which were practiced elsewhere before Switzerland, it is difficult to count all of the individual efforts that have been influenced by or have been directly imported from other parts of the world. [See chapter 3.3] Swiss graphic design is no different, with many aspects of ‘The International Style’ coming from

other countries and different movements. It is easy to say that Switzerland is right to protect it’s heritage and philosophy by limiting how the Swiss brand (the white cross on a red background and the Royal Swiss coat of arms) should be applied but Switzerland is missing the point, as many existing and well established Swiss brands would be directly effected by the new laws. For example, the visual identity of Victorinox (the makers of the Swiss army knife) have used the Swiss flag and the Royal Swiss coat of arms as part of its brand identity for over 100 years. These new laws would limit that usage and in turn damage their brand, the removal of these elements would detract from the iconic ‘Swiss’ brand, lessoning the overall ‘Swissness’; damaging the way Swiss brands are defined against global competitors. It is important to consider the implications of introducing new laws intended to safeguard the legacy of ‘Swissness’, would Switzerland be causing irreversible damage to the existing Swiss brands that add to the notion of Swiss principles? As an alternative solution to creating laws that are intended to preserve the notion of ‘Swissness’ would be to strengthen Swiss brand identity, this could be done by working with existing Swiss brands to continue to work towards Swiss design principles that reflect the high quality, reliability and luxury aspects of the Swiss brand identity are maintained, allowing Switzerland to make sure the brand is being used to its full potential, instead of limiting the use of key visual elements of the Swiss brand is counter productive in Swiss globalisation and awareness across a broad range of consumers. 19

Chapter VI: Growth of The International Style: “They [American designers] looked at Swiss work like they would look at paintings, without understanding the content but admiring its formal beauty.” 6.1: Adoption For the outside world looking in at the powerhouse that Switzerland had become during the 1950’s, foreign advertising agencies (mostly American) began to incorporate Swiss design principles into their work. By using these new principles, it was possible to create something that the international market had never seen before. Looking at the way that Coca-Cola had used advertisement in the past and then the stark change that took place in such a short space of time it is unmistakable what sort of influence that ‘The International Style’ had on advertising across the world. Helvetica is an extremely versatile font and has been used for just about everything imaginable. This made it an ideal choice for type designers and ad agencies everywhere, at last there was a typeface that would allow you to maintain a clean modern style that would appeal to everyone; Helvetica is a neutral typeface that communicates clearly. Helvetica had the effect of bringing uniformity to all that it touched, making typography functional and as clear as possible. Quickly adopted, Helvetica became commonplace in the western world and could be seen everywhere there were 20

– (Felix Berman,1968. Cited by Hollis, 2006) words to be read. It is so hard in fact to avoid Helvetica today, that Cyrus Highsmith, a type designer from New York, took it upon himself to avoid Helvetica for a day, including keeping clear of public transport, restaurants and newspapers containing Helvetica. Highsmith believed this to be almost impossible to avoid, so much so “After he undertook his non-Helvetica day, Highsmith posed himself a philosophical question. ‘Do you need type to live?’ the answer is of course no, Not in the way one needs food and water. But do you need Helvetica to conduct urban activity?” (Garfield, 2010). This demonstrates the importance of the typeface and how heavily used Helvetica is in todays society. Much like any other product, Helvetica trades on its Swiss brand, after all Helvetica is a product that was designed to make money. Swiss design has always had a very good name for its self, be this the iconic Swiss army knife or the fine watches made in Switzerland, Helvetica is like any of these products, finely made, functional and sold at a price.

6.2: Classification Swiss graphic design suffered an identity crisis during the 1950’s and into the 60’s with designers and artists arguing over what was art. Designers believed that their work was just as much art as the classical painting of the artists of the time. In 1961 Karl Gertsinger proposed an argument, “Does art have place only in painting, or can there be art in the layout of a newspaper, in an advertisement, or a poster?” (Gertsinger, 1961 cited in Hollis, 2006), Gertsinger then crafted a demonstration of the statement, “Billboards are the art gallery of the street” a campaign that took artwork out of the gallery and onto the street. Covering Zurich with over five hundred posters being created with the artwork of one of five artists for a fortnight, followed by the next artist the following fortnight until all of the artwork had been displayed. This demonstration brought the argument attention from Constructivist artists who viewed Swiss graphic design as Cold and emotionless.

that everyone at once grasps their meaning.” (Bill, 1964. Cited by Hollis, 2006) Essentially, Bill was in favour of variety within graphic design, believing that it would be pointless in making graphic design fit into one style or category, there should be a happy medium between “The modernist aestheticism and the usual visual noise.” (Bill 1964. Cited by Hollis 2006) In 1964, Switzerland presented to the world the Swiss Expo 64, a huge exhibition that showcased the very best of Swiss design and architecture. Designers such as Neuburg and MüllerBrockmann contributed work to the exhibition with other Swiss constructivists showing work along side. The exhibition highlighted the functionalist principles that would form the foundation of ‘The International Style’.

Constructivists believed in the idea of changing the rules and adapting, continuing to attack the Swiss graphic language that used a grid system and very clear rules in order to control the visual style. Towards the end of 1964, there was little support for the constructivist’s argument, with designers such as Max Bill talking about “Art and Graphic Design – Graphic Design and Art.” (Address at ICOGRADA Conference, Zurich, 1964 Typescript cited in Hollis, 2006) After the address, Bill stated that he was “Interested in a communication medium that represents both simple and complicated processes in such a way 21

Billboards are the art gallery of the street. (Hollis, 2006)

Swiss Expo 64 (Hollis, 2006)

Case Study 1: The New York Subway The New York subway is an excellent example of how Helvetica has influenced the world of design, it is the official typeface of the New York City Subway, but it has not always been. In 1960 when Unimark International created the new signage system. It was agreed that a Grotesk typeface was needed to increase readability in the subway, but which typeface was not decided upon and Helvetica wasn’t originally chosen, instead lacuna was used. In 1970 and many typefaces later and there appeared to be some confusion between the official typeface of the New York City Subway, both Helvetica and Standard were used incoherently and it wasn’t until there was a huge overhaul on the subway network when the subway received an extensive upgrade to all of the lines. Coinciding with this change, there was a new signage manual written to make the subway much easier to navigate and to follow.

This paved the way for the much-improved signage that would make traveling much easier for passengers. Problems arose when the signage came to print, at the time Helvetica wasn’t available to most sign makers, instead of using Helvetica transparencies to create silk screens, many printers used badly hand cut stencils, cut out by unskilled workers in an effort to save money by the signage company. The results were often inaccurate representations of the typeface that made it onto the final signs.

This “Big Switch” created a new signage grid that would take the place of all of the existing signs and in the new “NYCTA Graphics Standards Manual, it stated:

It marked the first attempt by the MTA to establish a set of consistent graphic standards for all of its constituent agencies. Although it did not go into detail, it claimed to incorporate most of the 1970 Graphics Standards Manual. – (Shaw, 2008)

“[There] must be no overlapping of old and new signs. All signs erected previous to this program should be removed.” – (NYCTA Graphic Standards Manual, Unimark Design Consultants)

It wasn’t until the overhaul that took place in 1989 that Helvetica officially became the typeface of the New York City Subway, this change ushered in by MTA Marketing & Corporate Communications Division, issued the new signage guide that clearly made Helvetica the official signage typeface. In a style guide created by Michael Hertz Associates,

Combining together many of the style guides that had been published over the years and creating a uniformed aesthetic to the subway.

Unimark International, New York City Transit Authority Graphics Standards Manual. (1970)

Case Study 2: Coca-Cola Advertising In and interview during the documentary Helvetica (2007), graphic designer Michael Bierut talks about how revolutionary Helvetica was during the 1960’s; So, this is what I’m talking about, this is, this is life magazine 1953, one ad after another in here, it just kind of shows every single, visual bad habit that was like endemic of those days. You’ve got, zany hand lettering everywhere, swash typography that kind of signifies elegance, exclamation point, exclamation point, exclamation points, exclamation points, cursive wedding invitation typography, down here reading, “almost everyone appreciates the best.” this was everywhere in the 50’s, this is how everything looked in the 50’s. We cut to this when Helvetica was in full swing, same product, no people, no smiling fakery, just a beautiful photograph of a big glass of ice-cold Coke. The slogan underneath, Its the real thing period, Coke period. In Helvetica, period, any questions? Of course not, drink Coke, period, simple. – (Beirut 2007) Beirut makes a great point about the usage of Helvetica and how the typeface exploded across America, and indeed the rest of the world. Helvetica has become one of the most used typefaces in the world, it is the ultimate Swiss export, leaving behind its roots in the modernist principles it had been used for just about everything and by everyone from, modernists, to post-modernists. To this day Helvetica is used widely and liberally, with the introduction of the Apple Macintosh in the 1980’s; it is now available to everyone. 26

Bierut gives an example of how adverts of the time have changed; by showing two Coca-Cola print adverts, the first from the 1950’s and the second from 1970. In the 1970’s ad, gone are the illustrations and friendly copy line, instead there is a colour photograph of the product with a short concise copy line, “it’s the real thing. Drink Coke” set in Helvetica.

Vintage Coke Ad (2010)

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the real thing (2013)

By using Swiss principles of design, the adverts of the 60s and 70s began to change and present themselves better to the public; Bierut gives another example of how the modernist movement changed the face of corporate identity;

Amalgamated Widget (2009)

I imagine that there was a time when it just felt so good to take something that was old and dusty and homemade and crappy looking and replace it with Helvetica. It just must have felt like you were scraping the crud off of like filthy old things and kind of restoring them to shining beauty and in fact, umm, you know, corporate identity in the 60’s that’s what it sort of consisted of. you know, clients would come in and they would have like piles of goofy old brochures from the 50’s, and they’d have like shapes on them, goofy bad photographs, they’d have some letterhead that would say amalgamated widget on the top in some goofy, maybe a script typeface, above amalgamated widget they would have an engraving showing their head quarters and, you know, Paducah Iowa with smokestacks belching smoke you know, and then you go to a corporate identity consultants circa 1965, 1966 and they would take that and lay it here and say: ‘Here is your current stationary and all that it implies and this is what we are proposing.’ and next to that, next to all the belching smoke stacks and the nuptial scripts and the ivory paper, they would have a crisp bright white piece of paper and instead of amalgamated widget founded 1857, it would just say Widgco in Helvetica medium. Can you imagine how bracing and thrilling that was? That must have felt like you had crawled through a desert with your mouth just caked with filthy dust and then someone to offer you a clear, refreshing, distilled, ice cold glass of water, to clear away all the horrible burden of history, it must have just been fantastic and you know it must have been fantastic because it was done over and over again. – (Bierut, 2007) 29

Case Study 3: 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.” – Josef Müller-Brockmann, (1978) During the 1960’s the grid system gained spread wide appeal amongst designers around the world. Grid systems were created through modernist principles as a way of ordering information on the page, whether this is type, image or both. It is a system that is still used today to create white space and lines within a document. Original Grid Systems were designed to allow information to be applied to any format, from the layout of a magazine to a poster; today they include screen-based mediums. Unlike Helvetica, The Grid System was not a product that was created with the intention of being sold, it is merely a series of theories and ideas that allow anyone to use a basic guide and create a solid layout that could form the base of many different designs. Pioneers of The Grid System include some of the great names of Swiss graphic design, Josef Müller-Brockmann, Max Huber and Dutch designer, Wim Crouwel. Müller-Brockmann’s use of the grid to order type and image was admired by peers and contemporise at the time, much of his work is often shown as examples of Swiss graphic design in art schools across the world. Over the course of his career, Müller-Brockmann published several books about The Grid System providing an insight to the Grid; today it is used as a tool to educate design students on the correct way to use a grid. 30

Wim Crouwel, a Dutch graphic designer who has made a career out of his use of the grid. He founded the Total Design studio in 1963. The work that Total Design produced was all designed with modernist principles of design, heavily gridded, the work stood out and looked iconic with an industrial look and feel to them. Crouwel often experimented with the grid, creating order and rational shapes creating iconic typefaces such as Gridnik and The New Alphabet, which enjoyed a moment in 90’s popular culture, when Joy Division famously chose New Alphabet as the typeface for their album Substance. When talking about why he uses grids, Crouwel the grid as “A tool to create order, and order is typography” (Crouwel, 2007) Crouwel talks about his experience with the grid, comparing his work with contemporary design, and rejecting modern styles of work that combines multiple typefaces with no real structure in favour of an atmosphere. Crouwel described his work as clear, readable and straightforward. Although not a Swiss national, Crouwel is a self confessed modernist and a practitioner of many Swiss principles, he is proof that ‘The International Style’ can be exported and used by other designers outside of Switzerland.

The New Alphabet (1967)

Chapter VII: Timeless design: “At every moment of the past all variants of the past were ‘new’. But it was not ‘THE’ new. We should not forget that we stand at the end of a culture, at the end of everything old.” – (Mondrian,1928 7.1: Reflective of the Era Over the last 60 years, Swiss design has played a huge part in shaping the world we live in, as graphic design has evolved from print to screen, the fundamental Swiss principles of design have stayed the same. The creation of Helvetica is reflective of the period it was created in. Like most examples of Swiss design, Helvetica was made not because there was a market for it but because at the time it was created there was a need for it. Typography is reflective of the time that it was created, movable type, typewriters and now digital. Helvetica is Swiss, modernist and an ideal for the future. Is it right to call Helvetica it timeless? Over the past 50 years, designers have attempted to create ‘The Helvetica Killer’ but with little success. There have been improvements on the original version, with Helvetica Neue, the refined version of Helvetica developed by D. Stempel AG becoming popular amongst designers because of its practical applications and improved weighting system. Stephen Banham, an Australian graphic designer is opposed to the idea of using Helvetica. 32

Banham claims that the modernist movement has become obsessed with Helvetica; in an interview with Eye Magazine he said, “Helvetica has become the generic default, a safe formula under the guise of Modernism. It’s all smoke and mirrors.” (Banham 2002) Banham argues that the concept of Swiss design has become overused with Helvetica becoming the option that lazy designers turn to, so much so that designers are just happy to settle with a safe design that pushes no boundaries, Helvetica is a big part of the problem, designers are just reverting back to Helvetica because it is they are too lazy to spent time choosing the right typeface for the job. Designers Jonathan Hoofer and Tobias FrereJones, interviewed in Helvetica (2007) talk about the typeface and the way it is observed by the wider public, Designers and readers invest so much of their surroundings in typeface, American Apparel uses Helvetica, it looks cheeky, and American airlines uses it, it looks sober. It’s not just a matter of the weight they choose or the spacing or the colour. It’s something about the typeface that invites an open interpretation. – (Hoofer and Frere-Jones, 2006)

It is because of its open interpretation, Helvetica has been used by countless different brands and corporations have used the typeface to be the face of their organization, clothes shops, airlines, industrial corporations, all with a different target market, and all with vastly different characteristics and all use Helvetica. During the 1970â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s design turned to postmodernism, with all grids and modernist ideas cast aside, with typography becoming corrupted. Born out of a rebellion against modernism, breaking grids and creating disorder on the page Post-modernism rejected order in favour of chaos, design that required the reader to invest time decoding the information. Graphic designer, David Carson was an iconic figure in the Post-modern movement. His work on Ray Gun magazine projected him into the spotlight, creating expressive pieces of typography that reflected the tone of voice the articles wanted to portray. After post modernism burnt out, the designers of the 90â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s had no where to go, leaving the grunge period behind and taking new theories with them, back to the idealism of the Swiss. 33

7.2: ‘The Perfume of the City’ The Helvetica Logos demonstrate how many different companies use Helvetica as part of their brand identity, what isn’t included are how many other companies use Helvetica for their website, stationary, forms, brochures and business cards. Helvetica has had an unimaginable amount of penetration into the modern world since it was first created. It is undeniable that Helvetica is one of Switzerland’s greatest creations, it effects an unbelievable amount of people on a daily basis, it is a typeface that can be used for many things because it is open to interpretation, it can be used by so many different brands and companies and imply something different each time. Lars Müller describe Helvetica as “The perfume of the city” (Müller 2007) talking about what the world would be like without Helvetica, that we would miss it if it weren’t surrounding us every day. Much like Helvetica, the Grid system is present in almost every aspect of our daily lives, we see grids in our morning paper, on our tax returns and on our computers. The Swiss have had a huge part of how the world has been shaped over the last 80 years, with the Grid System governing where information is to be positioned on the page or on screen with that information then being set in Helvetica.

The Swiss influence our lives in ways we couldn’t possibly imagine, but has that pure Swiss idealism of clean precise design been watered down so much from the masters who gave it to us, to almost anyone with a computer? In Helvetica, Wim Crouwel talks about how the computer sped up the design process, with layouts that used to take days to create now done in a fraction of that. Crouwel goes on to talk about how the computer doesn’t automatically make you a designer; you still need to have a good eye for the composition, as the grid isn’t infallible.

Helvetica Logos (2012)

7.3: Core principles The question must be asked of how the Swiss view design, it has become abundantly clear over the course of this paper that the events and functionalist principles that the Bauhaus was home to during the 1920’s were carried through as core principles of ‘The International Style’. When viewing a piece of Swiss graphic design, one thing that is consistent throughout are the apparent influences that have been placed on that piece of design, design that follows the methodology of ‘The International Style’ tends to be functional design with a purpose. It is interesting to observe the impact Swiss design has had on other areas of design; an example of Swiss principles being used in the 21st century is the post 2000 era packaging Apple uses for its entire product line. The packaging itself is always functional, it shows a full sized image of the product on the box or will use transparent material to show the product itself. The packaging features the product name, with a description of the product on the back, typeset in sans-serif typeface, Myriad. The product packaging is so striking that it stands out on the shop floor and strengthens the entire brand. There is a reason why the majority of Apple customers don’t throw away the box their iPhone or iPod came in and that is mostly because of the aesthetics of the packaging design.

Apple took a functional and minimalist approach when designing their product packaging, this approach is reflected throughout the products them selves. The products are functional and stripped back, with the designers asking what is needed and how they can improve the product throughout entire design process.

iMac 21 Packaging (2010)

Chapter VIII: Conclusion

To call Swiss design timeless is far too objective as a way to look at all of the different elements that make up ‘The International Style’, we must look at how successful the individual elements that make up the individual style are separately and assess how successful they are together. By attempting to understand the foundations of ‘The International Style’ this paper looked at how the events leading towards the Second World War affected those studying and teaching at the Bauhaus, an institution that played a vital role in educating the forefathers of Swiss graphic design. The role the Bauhaus played in the early years of ‘The international Style’ should not be underestimated, many aspects of Swiss graphic design and elements that constitute the notion of ‘Swissness’ originated pre WWII by designers working in Germany. What I can be sure of is that throughout this paper I have looked at the roots, understanding the rise and domination of ‘The International Style’ the functionalist principles that were imported from Germany have been improved, reimagined and digitalized. Even though PostModernism may have stalled the flow of Swiss principles, the style as a whole has done nothing but accelerate and shows no signs of slowing down. The question posed during this dissertation, “Is ‘The International Style’ an example of ‘Timeless Design’?” has been answered with a resounding yes. The international style has 38

shown how the adoption of modernism boosted the style to the very principle of design, when post-modernism and the Grunge period arrived and eventually burnt out, design reverted back to Swiss principles, by taking a retrospective review of ‘The International Style’ taking a new set of theories to the old Swiss principles. As demonstrated throughout this study, ‘The International Style’ has influenced many graphic designers over its short history. It is a style that has been adopted, adapted and ultimately integrated into the visual language of modern civilization. Swiss principles have been used as a tool for modernism, with Helvetica and The Grid System synonymous with the style. Swiss principles that had been developed and practiced over the course of the 20th century are still used by designers in a contemporary setting. One thing that should be taken from this paper is to celebrate the brilliance of ‘The International Style’ it has become such a huge part of the modern world, due to its ubiquitous nature it is very difficult to capture the style or to even define what makes the philosophy so successful. The functionalist nature of Swiss design is one that is not likely to diminish in the near future with designers who work towards a simple aesthetic embracing ‘The International Style’ in their contemporary work.

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