Benzin: Young Swiss Graphic Design

Wim Crouwel Paris Exhibition 09/02/07

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rumberodesign/sets/72157594527501778/

Wim Crouwel

Josef Muller Brockmann Remix

Here are two nice Swiss posters [top image] from the late 1950s, early 60s demonstrating the application of geometry in design.
"The poster left, 'Experiment in Plane and Space' exhibition poster by Jorg Hamburger [1962], uses the simplest geometry in flat areas of colour to express the theme exactly. The design resolves the conflict between the illusion of perspective and the two-dimensional surface which the Modernists were at pains to preserve."

The image below is a photograph by Werner Blaser of a Japanese house.
"This facade has obvious similarities to both Mondrian's paintings and the graphic work of Richard Paul Lohse. Blaser's photographs reinforced the Swiss interest in rectangluar and modular design and in Japanese culture, which had a special appeal for Swiss designers, whose work found some of its first admirers in Japan."

Ouest Est 06 by Buro Destruct

'Ouest Est, Programme Poster, Illustration: Helge Reumann, Client: Kulturhallen Dampfzentrale Bern, Print: Serigraphie Uldry, 2006'

I have chosen to post this image because the illustration reinforces the Swiss interest in rectangular and modular design. The horizontal and vertical lines of the architectural structures contrast nicely with the curves of the flames, mountains and use of typography.

WoodtliUnivers Font

I love Woodtli's approach to this typographical experiment - having each letter transform into these funny looking robot characters. Would love to see them transform in real time as opposed to just seeing images of each stage. Cant find anything about WoodtliUnivers on the net so I've used scans from his book, which look pretty cool. There isn't really much information given away about WoodtliUnivers in the book either so I'm just drawing my own conclusions from the images =]

Thoughts

At this stage I really want to move away from the screen and do something hands on relating to the research project. A few of my recent posts have included work that goes beyond the computer screen and touches on electronics (Sign Generator Hardware Edition) or design through experimentation (Hinting) and for me personally, this type of work has a greater appeal to it. It wouldn't be the first time I will have worked partly away from the computer as my last project from second year was heavily reliant on the use of a muio box and although the outcome wasn't amazing, there was definately a lot of potential there. For now, it's just worth bearing this in mind as I'm not going to commit to something this early.

Superscript² / Hinting

A series of typographical experiments in which physical grid-like structures are used as the basis for pixelated characters. It's such a simple concept but I think the outcome is really effective particularly on the grids in the street - it's giving the grid new meaning and purpose, becoming the canvas for a piece of art. I'd love to try this out myself =]

Superscript² / Forum après bac 2005

I was drawn to the simple geometric design that encases the title with this piece. Having been reading through 'Swiss Graphic Design - The origins and growth of an international style', geometry has been an influential part of the unique Swiss style. My research project at the moment may seem a little widespread but I think geometry is definitely an area I would love to look at closer regarding Swiss design.

Superscript² / deValence (luxº)

Superscript² / Vj² (luxº)

Click here to check out the videos

Superscript² / Interactive Landscape²

The visual aids that accompany the music are what caught my attention with this piece. Geometric shapes, both three dimensional and two dimensional, appear on screen to a selection of coloured back drops. I'm not sure whether the audio influences the visuals on screen but that would seem to make sense seeing as the piece is interactive. It was a nice video to watch as the shapes are constantly in motion.

Click here to see the live action video

9dots

Play 9dots here =]

Modulograph: Dessin Modulaire

Norm Sign Generator [Hardware Edition]

Pictures taken from www.lineto.com

Lego Font Creator

"This little application was a collaboration between the designers Urs Lehni and Rafael Koch with the developer Jürg Lehni, as a progression from the design of their Lineto Lego fonts. The irresistible logic of the Lego brick prompted them to start thinking about how the fonts could be shown in an interactive type specimen, offering ways to play with it online.

They later developed it into a stand-alone Shockwave application, offering a set of preselected design elements and both Lineto Lego font alphabets to play with. Results can be exported as vector data and opened in vector-oriented graphic design programs like Adobe Illustrator or Macromedia Freehand."

Rubik Maker

"This Shockwave application, programmed by Jürg Lehni, was initially developed as a design tool for generating a set of fonts based on the legendary Rubik Cube.

The application allows users to pick and play with a set of 27 cubes, to modify them within certain parameters, and to export the result as vector data, which can be opened and edited in programs like Adobe llustrator or Macromedia Freehand.

The application is sold as a stand-alone Shockwave application for Macintosh or Windows platforms."