The International Typographic Style movement or Swiss Style first became known in the 1920/30 in Russia, The Netherlands and Germany but later in the 1950’s was further developed in Switzerland. To me, the best known Swiss Style is Helvetica, which means ‘Swiss’ in Latin which was designed in 1957. Helvetica really embodies the geometric look of the swiss style which also uses a mathematical grid for harmonious structure and sans-serif types (such as Helvetica).
The Swiss Style was all about the early pioneers attitude to their work and the movement rather than the overall look of the world, avoiding personal expression to make way for more universal approaches to the designs. For me, Ballmer’s work has style taken from the work at the Advanced Design School located in Basel which heavily used the principles that were originally established for the Bauhaus as well as the training and expertise he learned from the ‘father of Swiss Design’, Ernest Keller when he worked as an apprentice. His posters created in 1928, applied these basic principles of ordered grids in his own way to create his outstanding work.
Tschichold was considered the father of modern typography due to his influences on typography and the principles it is built around. First to come about was his Elementary typography which sought to use negative space in a positive way, broad rules, symmetry and sans-serif fonts. The Penguin book covers is some of Jan Tschichold’s finest work in my opinion, working there between 1947 and 1949.
The use of the Gill Sans typeface was just one of the things he included in his design system for the books he called ‘The Penguin Composition Rules’ which also looked at the text arrangement and styles of the books. I really like how all the books follow the same layout, type and graphics. This is something that makes the classic books well known by and although today most books published by penguin have their own unique covers, the same penguin logo is still used to this day, only being altered slightly.
Born in 1914, Ruder was known as a typography instructor in the Basel School Of Design who worked closely with Hofmann where he taught his students that the biggest points in typography is readability and legibility as when they are poor type cannot be communicated and it loses its purpose. Within his own work he used grid structures to create pieces that looked like one rather than multiple elements, combining elements such as photography, typography and illustration together. These standards he created alongside his rules for typography such as order, experimentation and the swiss style can be found in his book, ‘Typographie’ which was created to teach the generations to come.
Born in Zurich, Switzerland on March 20, 1914 Emil ruder was a keen designer from an early age. At the age of 15 he took a compositor’s apprenticeship before immersing himself into the principles of Bauhaus and Jan Tschichold’s New Typography so instantly I can see where he got his early inspiration from, from looking at some of his work. Three main principles that mattered to Ruder from an early age were precision, proportions and legibility, simplicity and clarity in design was something he cared very much about and is what drove him to co-develop a program structured on principles of objectivity in design that changed everything forever. Due to be able to mix the 21 types, Ruder used the Univers typeface known for his contrasts and textures in both commissioned and experimental pieces.
Due to the clever use of overprinting the title, I really like this modern french tapestry poster created by Ruder in 1964 which demonstrates how typography can be used as an image but in an abstract way.
Hofmann is a swiss designer died in 2020 at the age of 100, leaving behind a legacy to design. Known by most for his posters such as his 1959 Giselle Poster, his work was shown worldwide in art galleries. Working alongside Ruder, he created an educational model of design principles for a Swiss alternative as a teacher in Basel School of Arts and Crafts where he worked for a decade. This new design allowed the original swiss style to be a little more relaxed by using vertical text along a horizontal rule etc. He enjoyed experimenting with text placements as well as applying aesthetic to work which he both taught and implemented in his own work. An example of his work which I like is his 1962 chair poster, which used various shapes and planes to create the illusion of chairs. His art was so simplistic but so interesting at the same time.
