Swiss Style

The International Typographic Style/ Swiss Style

The International Typographic Style, which is also known as the Swiss Style is a form of graphic design style which originated from Switzerland during the 1950’s. It’s characteristics emphasized neatness, very accurate readability and a sense of independence. One particular characteristic was that the style contained asymmetrical layouts, the usage of the grid system and a sans-serif typeface like the famous “Akzidenz Grotesk”.  This style is also known to have a particular preference for photographs to be used instead of illustration and drawings.

There were two major Swiss design institutions which are responsible for the birth of the Swiss Style. The inspiration of this style came from the earliest form of a graphic design technique which was built on grid-work that started sometime in the 19^th century. It was starting to be used to change how some of the courses viewed their foundations at the School of Design. After a while during 1918 Ernst Keller started his career as a professor at the Zurich School of Applied Arts which is also known as Kunstgewerbeschule. He started to develop a course related both to graphic design and also typography.

As a teacher, he did not teach and educate his students with a specific style but rather taught a philosophy that said “the solution to the design problem should emerge from its content.” Keller’s works used a combination of simple geometrical forms, bright colors and images that shocked the individual to enhance the meaning behind each and every one of his designs. Several important people that gave contributions to the style were Theo Ballmer and Max Bill.

During the 1950’s the style started to evolve and some of its elements started to be included in other types such as the “Univers”. The “Univers” paved way for a certain individual known as Max Miedinger and his collaborator Edouard Hoffman created the font known as “Neue Haas Grotesk” which is most commonly known as the “Helvetica”. In 1959 there was a publication called the “New Graphic Design” which was edited and run by a lot of influential graphic designers who played major roles when it came to the development of the Swiss Style. The format of this journal was designed to have a lot of the style’s characteristics such as to be effective to when it came to visually demonstrate the content that was present and it was being published internationally which further lead to the flow of the movement.

After the events of World War 2 there was a sudden boom to when it came to international trading and good relationships between a lot of countries were starting to get better and stronger. The Swiss Style facilitated the process because there was a certain clarity in it that made the style an effective way of communicating.

The style quickly spread throughout America and one of the first graphic designers that integrated the style with his own works was Rudolph de Harak. He shown the influence of this style on a lot of his works such as the book jacket designs for McGraw-Hill which was basically a jacket with a book title on it and his author.

Flask, D. (2015). Swiss Design : Design Is History. [online] Designishistory.com. Available at: http://www.designishistory.com/home/swiss/ [Accessed 28 Jan. 2015].

Terror, D. (2009). Lessons From Swiss Style Graphic Design - Smashing Magazine. [online] Smashing Magazine. Available at: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/07/17/lessons-from-swiss-style-graphic-design/ [Accessed 28 Jan. 2015].