Wolfgang Weingart

Through researching Joseph Muller-Brockmann I fortunately came across another Swiss designer Wolfgang Weingart, and in particular his series of lithographs on typographic process. Immediately I was drawn to these black & white pieces that had such a clean technical aesthetic to them.

"Wolfgang Weingart, born in 1941, was trained as a lead-typesetter. Since 1968 he has taught typography at the Basle School of Design/Switzerland. In the past several years he has also conducted typography workshops at the Yale University Summer Program in Graphic Design/Brissago, Switzerland. His teaching has focused on conventional and photographic experiments with typography.His work has appeared in international design journals and he has received awards from the Swiss Government for his posters and book cover designs. Weingart is a self-taught designer and educator. He is a member of Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI)."

Typographic Process. Lithographs
Nr 1. Organized Text Structures. 1974.
Nr 2. From Simple to Complex. 1973.
Nr 3. Calender Text Structures. 1971-1972.
Nr 4. Typographic Signs. 1971-1972.
Nr 5. Typography as (Painting). 1971-1974.

Leonardo Sonnoli (Rimini, Italy)

Although not a Swiss designer, I couldn't help but take notice of Sonnoli's work, which reminded me so much of the Swiss style. I love his type-based replica of the periodic table in particular.

Poster for lecture by Leonardo Sonnoli at the High Institute for Design, Naples / High Institute for Design / Italy / 2000

Interviews

Short interview with Norm
An interview with Leonardo Sonnoli by The 5th Color (April 22, 2005
An interview with Wolfgang Weingart

Swiss GD Motifs & Noted Designers

Motifs: Strong geometric forms, strong and evident use of underlying grid structure, Helvetica, aim of objectivity, standardized systems, abstraction and reduction of form.

Noted Designers:

- Armin Hoffman
- Max Huber
- Herbert Matter
- Josef Muller Brockman
- Siegfried Odermatt and Rosemarie Tissi
- Emil Ruder
- Jan Tschichold
- Carlo Vivarelli
- Wolfgang Weingart
- Successors in the USA: Hans Alleman, Inge Druckrey, Dan Friedman, April Greiman, Vignelli Associates

Josef Müller-Brockmann

"Brockmann is perhaps best-known as graphic designs foremost proponent of grid systems to assist in functional, objective design, which he discussed in detail in his books 'Grid System in Graphic Design' and 'The Graphic Designer and his Design Problems'. The grid system allowed Muller-Brockmann to organize his subject matter to create more effective design, to not be overwhelmed by the seeming chaos and complexity of design decisions."

"All his works were built upon a grid system, and it is interesting that even those designs that appeared free of structure were rigidly organized beneath the surface. The development of the grid was also the main subject of his teaching (he held many lectures and seminars throughout the world) and of his contributions to magazines such as 'New Graphic Design'. In many ways, Müller-Brockmann is the perfect subject to study for a representative understanding of the so-called Swiss Design movement."

Check out the Eye feature 'A conversation with Josef Müller-Brockmann' by Yvonne Schwemer-Scheddin online here

Woodtli: First Impressions

Received Woodtli's book in the post today and my first impressions of it are definitely positive. The book comes in a rather nice cardboard slipcase and the special binding for the book is a nice break from the norm.

The book itself feels and appears like a hefty design manual for some sort of complex machinery - the type of book you would expect to receive in an advanced Design & Technology class. The graphics are highly impressive and personally, I just love to look over and admire each drawing because you know you will have missed something the first time over. Isn't much writing but that is fine by me. It's a great book for inspiration regarding this style of work.

Reading List

Over the Summer I am going to have a lot of time to research my project so it will definitely be worthwhile creating some sort of reading list. I will keep adding to this list over the Summer.

- 'Woodtli' by Martin Woodtli (Paperback - Dec 2001) ***Purchased***

- 'Norm: The Things' by Manuel Krebs & Dimitri Bruni (Paperback - Sep 2002) ***Purchased***

- 'Swiss Graphic Design: The Origins and Growth of an International Style 1920-1965' by Richard Hollis ***Purchased***

- 'Altitude: Contemporary Swiss Graphic Design' by Nicholas Bourquin, R. Klanten, and Christian Mareis ***Purchased***

- 'Armin Hofmann (Poster Collection)' by Steven Heller & Armin Hofmann

- 'Benzin: Young Swiss Graphic Design' by Benzin Young, Michel Fries, and Thomas Bruggisser

- 'Grid Systems in Graphic Design' by Josef Muller-Brockmann (Hardcover - 1996)

- 'Josef Muller-Brockmann' by Kerry William Purcell (Hardcover - Oct 1, 2006)