This week we looked at the International Typographic Style, why it was so popular in the 1950s and some of the key figures who were part of this movement.
Starting with the Swiss style, the style began in Switzerland in the 1950s, and its binary focus was simplicity, legibility and objectivity. It paved the way for sans serif typography, grids, asymmetrical layout. The key designers of the swiss style movement were Emil Ryder, Armin Hofmann and Josef-Muller Brockmann.
Emil Ruder has been referred to as a ‘Swiss style visionary’. He was born in Zurich in 1914, and at just 15 years old he took a competitor’s apprenticeship at Zurich’s school of arts and crafts. He then became an instructor at the Basel school of design where he met Armin Hofmann, and they began collaborating together.
I think Emil Ruders work has found a wonderful balance between maximalism and minimalism. He used negative space, combined with overlapping letters to create a sense of depth to every piece. The white space keeps his word from becoming chaotic, whilst also being very intriguing and non conformist. Ruder was a pioneer when it non conformity within the arts, discarding all of the conventional rules or traditional typography. He was a big fan of asymmetry and this shows in his work.
Armin Hofmann began teaching at the Basel school of design in 1947. He quickly gained popularity amongst his students, as he invited them to be more playful with their incorporation of grid systems in design. A large amount of his students went into be leaders in the design field, such as Wolfgang Weinngart.
Armins aesthetic emphasised harmony among point line and plane in two dimensional compositions. Despite enjoying using grid systems; He didn’t rigidly adhere to them. I find his work really inspiring as despite being from 60ish years ago, it could pass as being created last week. He was certainly ahead of his time and had clear visions of where the design industry was heading.
