2. A graphic design style emphasizing
cleanliness, readability and objectivity
developed in Switzerland in the 1950s.
Specifics of the style are a preference for
black and white photography, asymmetric
layouts, use of a grid system, sans-serif
typefaces and flush left, ragged right text.
The style is named for the many early
International Typographic Style works
featuring typography as a primary
design element.

4. Originally released by the
H. Berthold AG type foundry
in 1896 Akzidenz-Grotesk
was the first sans serif type-
face to be widely used and
influenced many later neo-
grotesque typefaces.
Max Miedinger at the Haas
Foundry sought to refine the
typeface making it more even
and unified utilized it as a
model for the typeface Neue
Haas Grotesk released in
1957, renamed Helvetica (latin
for
The Swedish Type) in 1960.
Two other releases from 1957,
Adrian Frutiger's Univers &
Bauer and Baum's Folio, take
inspiration from this typeface.

6. In 1954 the French type foundry
Deberny & Peignot wanted to add
a linear sans serif type in several
weights to the range of the
Lumitype fonts. The foundry’s art
director, Adrian Frutiger,
suggested refraining from
adapting an existing alphabet
wanting to instead make a new
font that would be suitable for the
typesetting of longer texts.
Quite a challenge for a sans-
serif font at that time.
Starting with his old sketches
from his student days at the
School for the Applied Arts in
Zurich, he created the Univers
type family.
In 1957, the family was released
by Deberny & Peignot, and
afterwards, it was produced by
Linotype.

9. Graphis, The International Journal of
Visual Communication, was first
published in 1944 by Walter Herdeg in
Zurich, Switzerland. Graphis Inc. is the
international publisher of books and
magazines on communication design,
advertising, photography, annual reports,
posters, logos, packaging, book design,
brochures, corporate identity, letterhead,
interactive design and other design
associated with graphic arts. Graphis
was (and still is) one of the most
important and influential European
graphic design publication.
Over 350 issues of Graphis magazine
have been published. Graphis also
publishes hardback annuals including:
Graphis Design Annual, Graphis
Advertising Annual, Graphis
Photography Annual, Graphis Annual
Reports Annual, and Graphis Poster
Annual.

10. In 1959 four Zürich-based
graphic designers launched the
first issue of Neue Grafik
magazine devoted to the Swiss
style of design and typography.
The team of editors consisted of
Richard Paul Lohse, Josef
Müller-Brockmann, Hans
Neuburg and Carlo Vivarelli.
Signing some of their jointly
written articles with the acronym
"lmnv", which formed from their
initials.
"Neue Grafik" epitomizes Swiss
typography of the 1950s. It was
the new age manifesto for the
design world. The publication of
the magazine proved an
international success making the
Swiss Style the International
Typographic Style.

12. The displayed poster for the
Zurich Town Hall is perhaps
Müller-Brockmann's most
recognized, and most emulated,
piece of work.

13. A Swiss graphic designer and teacher
Josef Müller-Brockmann studied
architecture, design and history of art at
both the University and
Kunstgewerbeschule in Zurich.
Author of "The Graphic Artist and his
Design Problems", "Grid Systems in
Graphic Design" , the publications "History
of the Poster" and
"A History of Visual Communication".
Recognized for his simple designs and
clean use of typography, notably Helvetica,
shapes and colors which inspires many
graphic designers today.
“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

15. In the poster displayed,
US Baut by Max Bill shows
propaganda for both sides
of the Cold War. It is
designed in order with
organization and
mathmatical grids.
It is both Static and active
and shows contrasting
contemporary
relationships.

16. Max Bill, a Swiss architect, artist, painter,
typeface designer, and graphic designer
started his career with an apprenticeship
as a silversmith during 1924-1927, then
took up studies at the Bauhaus in Dessau.
After 1937 he was a prime mover behind
the Allianz group of Swiss artists.
He became a professor at the school of arts
in Zurich in 1944. In 1953, Bill along with
Inge Aicher-Scholl and Otl Aicher founded
the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Ulm,
Germany,
a design school in the tradition of the
Bauhaus that was notable for its inclusion of
semiotics as a field of study. The school
closed in 1968.

18. Emil Ruders’ cover
design for the book he
wrote explaining his
theories titled
Typographie:
A Manual for Design.

19. Playing a key part in the development of the
Swiss Style, Emil Ruder began his design
education at the age of fifteen taking a
compositor’s apprenticeship. By his late
twenties he began attending the Zurich School
of Arts
and Crafts where the principles of Bauhaus
and Tschichold’s New Typography were taught.
In 1947 he helped found the Basel School.
Helping spread and propagate the Swiss Style,
Ruder published a basic grammar of
typography titled "Emil Ruder: Typography”
which became
a basic text for graphic design and typography
programs in Europe and North America.
In 1962 he helped to found the International
Center for the Typographic Arts in New York.

22. Armin Hofmann, a Swiss graphic designer,
followed Emil Ruder as head of the
graphic design department at the Basel
School of Art. He was instrumental in
developing the graphic design style known
as the Swiss Style. In 1965 he wrote the
"Graphic Design Manual", a popular
textbook in the field.
Well known for his posters, which
emphasized economical use of color
and fonts, a reaction to what Hofmann
regarded as the "trivialization of color".
An influential educator, he retired in 1987.
Hofmann thought that one of the most efficient
forms of communications was the poster and he
spent much of his career designing posters, in
particularly for the Basel Stadt Theater. Just as
Emil Ruder and Joseph Müller-Brockmann did,
Hofmann wrote a book outlining his philosophies
and practices. His Graphic Design Manual was,
and still is, a reference book for all graphic
designers.