After World War II, the Swiss International Style (also known as International Typographic Style) revolutionized graphic design when the students of Switzerland's answer to the Bauhaus began to experiment with typography and photomontage. However, the standards of the style were set... [more]

After World War II, the Swiss International Style (also known as International Typographic Style) revolutionized graphic design when the students of Switzerland's answer to the Bauhaus began to experiment with typography and photomontage. However, the standards of the style were set long before the war. In 1918, Ernst Keller, of the Zurich School of Arts and Crafts, created a model that would become the core of the Swiss School's experiments. Characterized by a rigid grid system, structured layout, and unjustified type, Keller's approach determined the essential tenets of contemporary typography. Based in the 1940s design meccas of Zurich and Basel, the Swiss School played with Keller's foundations by placing a strong emphasis on objective photography and the use of sans-serif type. The designs' precision and order seemed to discourage individuality. However, pioneers of the style -- including Max Huber and Armin Hoffman -- lent notable enthusiasm and exuberance to their work. Adrain Frutiger and Max Miedinger achieved typographic success when Frutiger introduced Univers (1954) and Miedinger invented Helvetica (1957). But it was the 1960s that saw the Swiss Style's most radical overhaul, when Wolfgang Weingart interrupted all austerity with a creative dissection of typography's tenets. Emerging from the sensibilities of New Typography, Bauhaus, and De Stijl, the Swiss Style realized such success in large part because of the Swiss government. Public agencies and Swiss industries patronized new design developments as vehicles for favorable publicity. Eventually, this national support pushed the international acceptance of Switzerland's revolution in graphic design. [show less]