Lesson task – Research on Late Modernism

Consider what we have discussed regarding Late Modernism in the USA and The Swiss International Style. Do additional research on the Swiss International Style – it may be a good idea to study some of the known designers of this style and period. As a guide, visit designishistory.com, which gives a brief outline of specific designers and styles – take note that here the Swiss International Style is listed under 1940, which is not incorrect as the style was developed in the late 40s, but flourished in the 50s. Also use additional reference sources of your own and do a write-up of the following:

• Research on the Swiss International Style
  After you have done research on the style, give a description of your own. How would you define the style? Do a write-up of about 350 words and discuss the characteristics of the style, the typefaces that were prominent and the philosophy behind it.

The International Typographic Style, also known as the Swiss Style, is a graphic design style that emerged in Russia, the Netherlands, and Germany in the 1920s and was further developed by designers in Switzerland during the 1950s. The style expresses cleanliness, readability and objectivity. The main purpose or the goal for this style was communication. By using text as the primary design element, and as a reference to photography or illustration, the message and communication become more clear.

The style is based on a mathematical grid system and an asymmetrical layout. These grids are considered to be the “most legible and harmonious means for structuring information.” Using a grid for design, makes creating a hierarchy for the content much easier.
The other thing that recognizes the Swiss style is the typography. The use of a Sans serif typeface is a big part of it, where the style focused on the content and not decorative extras like ornaments. By stripping away the embellishments, Swiss Style eliminates distractions for the viewer and allows the information-heavy design to be read and studied rather than merely seen and admired. The prinsiples in Swiss Style and characteristict when it comes to the typography is the flush left and right ragged alignment.

Probably the most influential typeface for this movement, “Akzidenz-Grotesk” was released by the Berthold Type Foundry in 1896 and was arguably the first of its kind.

In 1957 “Helvetica” was born and created. Little did they know at that time that this typeface would result in what is arguably the most ubiquitous sans serif typeface in the world. It has inspired movies and is also sean in the New York city metro/subway, and is higly used even today. The use of Helvetica might not define International Typographic Style, but its everywhere presence is a constant reminder of the impact those radical Swiss have in our everyday lives. It has had profound influence on graphic design as a part of the modernist movement, impacting many design-related fields including architecture and art.

• Influences on Swiss International Style
  Do a write-up of about 350 words on what you think the main influences were on the Swiss International Style. In other words, what motivated designers to create and follow this style? It may be useful to study specific designers, such as Josef Müller-Brockmann and Armin Hofmann, pay attention to what they themselves (or other designers amongst their peers) have said about the philosophy of the style.

The swiss style is absolutely influenced by the earlier movements like De Stijl , Bauhaus and Suprematism which was also styles that expressed a cleanliness and had a structure through lines and geometric shapes and focusing on the simplicity of the design, and the use of few colors. Constructivism was a philosofy where the hallmarks of thismovement included geometric reduction, photo-montage and simplified palettes.

All of these leaded up to The Swiss style.

Josef Müller-Brockmann was absolutely one of them who were influenced by these movements. He is perhaps the most well-known Swiss designer and his name is probably the most easily recognized when talking about the period. He was one of the editors of, along with other graphic designers, “The new graphic design” which was published in 1959 and made the style spread beyond the Switzerland’s borders.

Müller-Brockmann “sought an absolute and universal form of graphic expression through objective and impersonal presentation, communicating to the audience without the interference of the designer’s subjective feelings or propagandist techniques of persuasion.”

Many of Müller-Brockmann’s feature large photographs as objective symbols meant to convey his ideas in particularly clear and powerful ways.

Armin Hofmann also played an instrumental role in developing the graphic design style known as the Swiss Style. His dedication to visual resolution represented a larger vision of civilized society and behind the artistic beauty of his designs hid a conviction about social issues and cultural values.

His colleagues and students were integral in adding to work and theories that surrounded the Swiss International Style, which stressed a belief in an absolute and universal style of graphic design. The style of design they created had a goal of communication above all else, practiced new techniques of photo-typesetting, photo-montage and experimental composition and heavily favored sans-serif typography.

Hofmann shared a strong sense of structure and space valuing both his artistic sense and designer personality. Some of his creations such as acoustic walls, glass paintings, floor tiles and other sculptural pieces are the testament of his multi-talent. What Hofmann sought in his work and his students’ projects was something that is called Klang in German, a kind of musical resonance. It is described as the convergence of perceptual vitality and visual logic.

Hofmann’s work is marked as being primarily based on the fundamental elements of graphic form; point, shape and line. Despite its reliance on rudimentary elements it fluently conveyed simplicity, abstraction and complexity simultaneously.

• Analysis of the Swiss International Style
  Read up on the different schools within the Swiss International Style: The Zurich School of Arts and Krafts and The Basel School of Design and do a write-up of the similarities between them and the differences in their approaches. This write-up should be your own conclusions, based on examples of work and stated facts and should be approximately 350 words long.

Basel School:
Developed a design style based on grids, that emerged in the 19th century. Armin Hofman led the way in this style direction.
Zürich School:
The Zürich school focused more on the typographic style. They also changed the idea behind designing, earlier the design process focused on “beauty for the sake of beauty”, the idea now was to be more effecient, and that the solution should emerge from it’s content.

The similarities between The Zurich School of Arts and Kraft led by Joseph Müller-Brockmann and The Basel School of Design led by Armin Hoffmann is many. They were both concerned with the visual communication and readability for the message . They wanted the message to be in focus, to shine through, it was important that all the traces of the designer’s subjectivity should be suppressed. The both designed posters to convey messages and had a strong visual thought.

Joseph Müller-Brockmann in his designs and teaching, subjectivity is suppressed in favor of geometric grid that determines the arrangement of the type and images. He used the grid-system to make the message easier to read in his designs. The grid-system is and organizational system that enables you to achieve an orderly result with a minimum cost. That the task would be solved faster, better and more easily.

While Armin Hoffman in Basil would be exploring a similar but still different distinctive approach. He put greater weight in the use of typography and striking tonal contrasts in his designs and teaching.

Both of the schools used the grid-system, and focused on sans-serif typeface, and layouts that where asymmetrical. The school wanted the message to be in focus so that it could reach the masses.