Swiss Graphic Design

Originally published: London: Laurence King Pub., 2006.

This title takes a fresh look at Swiss typography and photo-graphics, posters, corporate image design, book design, journalism, and typefaces over the past hundred years. With illuminating essays by prominent experts in the field and captivating illustrations, this book presents the diversity of contemporary visual design while also tracing the fine lines of tradition that connect the work of different periods.

A new edition showing the work of one of the most famous Swiss designers: a comprehensive overview of his oeuvre.

La présente publication invite le lecteur à un survol du graphisme suisse contemporain.

Still boasting one of the highest densities of high-quality designers, Switzerland is a uniquely coherent region. Dedicated to precision and effortlessly combining a modest, light touch with architectural themes and a healthy obsession for detail, Swiss designers have shaped their own visual language which, in its reduced formality, is particularly well suited to internet applications. A comprehensive overview of diverse talent, Swiss Graphic Design elegantly documents the outstanding standards and craftsmanship in all aspects of graphic design (vector graphics, typography, illustration and layout techniques) and illustrates the advantages of a unique, consistent and regional approach. In the preface Andre Vladimir Heiz provides a succinct classification of Swiss Design between tradition and revolution.

In the ever-evolving world of contemporary graphic design those who came before are often forgotten in the search of the next big thing. It is surprising then that many new, fashionable designs intentionally conjure work that was created by designers of an earlier era - designers who worked not with a computer but with pen and paper - designers like Josef Müller-Brockmann.#13;#13;One of the twentieth century's most important graphic designers, the Swiss-born Müller-Brockmann is the father of functional, objective design and an influential figure for generations of designers around the world. While many of his contemporaries moved to the United States and elsewhere in Europe, Müller-Brockmann based himself in Zurich and established his reputation there. He adapted his approach to a changing world, moving from an early illustrative style to a modern constructivist approach, making full use of geometrical form and the grid system to provide an underlying structure to graphic work.#13;#13;Müller-Brockmann is perhaps most known for his large array of music posters, produced from the early 1950s to the early 1970s, which graphically represent the musical character of each specific performance. In addition to these iconic designs, Müller-Brockmann completed a number of books on graphic design and its history, including the influential *The Graphic Designer and his Design Problems*.#13;#13;This volume is the most definitive monograph to be published on Josef Müller-Brockmann. It traces Müller-Brockmann's life from his childhood through his early training, rarely seen designs for the theater, famous posters for the Zurich art scene, corporate design work for clients like IBM, and, finally, his efforts to educate young designers. With assistance from the Museum für Gestaltung, Zurich and the Josef Müller-Brockmann Archive, this book is extensively illustrated with completed works, period photography, rare sketches, concept drawings, and personal photos.

In the 1950s and 60s, the design studio of J.R. Geigy AG was the launching pad for one of the great periods in Swiss graphic design. This marvelously-illustrated text is the first comprehensive presentation of Geigy design.

"Probably the most important work on typography and graphic design in the twentieth century."--Carl Zahn, The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston