Monday 2 July 2007

Art from Code - Generator.x

I came across this website by doing a Google image search for a Swiss book I was interested in. The website is designed in the style of a blog/exhibition and examines the role of software and generative strategies in current digital art and design.

One of the past blog entries was about the Swiss based designers Lineto. After having browsed the Lineto website I was quite surprised that I hadn't heard more about them in the past. Some of the work I managed to find on their links in perfectly with my research project choice - two interactive pieces in particular:

- Rubik Maker (by Jürg Lehni and Cornel Windlin)
- Lego Font Creator (by Jürg Lehni, Urs Lehni & Rafael Koch)

Sunday 1 July 2007

New Book

I just bought the book 'Swiss Graphic Design: The Origins and Growth of an International Style 1920-1965' by Richard Hollis. The synopsis can be found below.

Originating in Russia, Germany and The Netherlands in the 1920s, Modernist graphic design and typography found a firm foothold in Switzerland. By the 1950s Switzerland had developed a uniquely clear graphic language, evident not just in posters but in pharmaceutical labelling, tourist brochures, train tickets, timetables, passports and bank notes. Abroad, 'Neue Grafik' or 'Swiss' style, as it became known, was admired for its formal discipline. Images and text were organized into geometrical grids used together with sans-serif typefaces such as Helvetica and Univers. These chief components of the Swiss style spread across the world and their influence is still seen today. "Swiss Graphic Design" gives a rich and fascinating account of this key period in graphic design history, setting the stylistic developments into the social and cultural context of the times.