The International Typographic Style

The International Typographic Style had emerged from Switzerland and Germany in the 1950's. This movement  was also known as the Swiss Design. the visual characteristics were : asymmetrical organisation on a mathematically constructed grid, the photography was objective meaning it was clear and factual, free from the exaggerated claims of propaganda and commercial advertising, use of sans-serif typography which was set in a flush-left and ragged-right margin configuration. According to Meggs,P. Purvis,A. 2006. Meggs' History of Graphic Design. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, 'The initiators of this movement believed that sans-serif typography expresses the spirit of a more progressive age and that mathematical grids are the most legible and harmonious means for structuring information.' They also believed that it was only socially useful and for important activities. This movement rejected personal expression and eccentric solution which brought them to a universal and scientific approach. In this movement 'the designers define their roles not as artists but as objective conduits for spreading important information between components of society.'

Pioneers of the Movement:


Ernst Keller (1891-1968) believed that the solution to the design problem should emerge from its content. Is works bring out diverse solutions.
The image below was a poster design for the Museum of Reitburg. It demonstrates strong symbolic imagery, simplified geometric shapes, expressive edges and lettering, and vibrant contrasting color. In this piece he used emblematic images which are energized by repetitive geometric elements.

1952 Poster for the Reitberg Museum

Theo Ballmer (1902-1965) had studied at the Dessau Bauhaus. He used De Stjil principles to graphic design through the use of an 'arithmetic grid of horizontals and vertical alignments.

In this poster design both the black and red word were carefully constructed. An ordered grid was used in order to construct visual form. A sense of influence from Van Doesburg's experiments with geometric letter forms is seen in the other lettering on the poster. The lettering is refined as well as graceful. There is traces of grid squares which was used to construct this poster (they remain as thin white lines) although the grids are invisible.

1928 Poster for an office professions  exhibition

Max Bill (1908-1994) did various arts such as painting, architecture, engineering, sculpture and product and graphic design. Before he relocated to Zurich he studied at the Bauhaus. Bill embraced the concept of art concret: 'paintings were totally constructed from pure, mathematically exact visual elements-planes and colors.'Max Bill said "graphic design is the antithesis of this concept in one sense, as design without symbolic or semantic meaning ceases to be a graphic communication and becomes fine art." He constructed geometric elements that was organised with absolute order. He applied mathematical proportion, geometric spatial division and use of Akzidenz Grotesk type in his works.

In his poster below he constructed with an integrate grid. Instead of the paragraph indent he explored the ragged-right margin and indicated paragraphs by an interval. The diamond shaped photographs form a wedge.

1945 Exhibition Poster

Anthony Froshaug (1918-1984) joined the Ulm faculty as professor of graphic design. 'The Ulm Institute included a study of semiotics, the philosophical theory of signs and symbols, in its curriculum.' Semiotics branches out into three categories. The first being semantics which is the study of signs and symbols and their meaning, second is called syntactics this is the study of how signs and symbols are connected and ordered into a whole, and third is pragmatics which is the study of relation of signs and symbols to their users. 

In this design he uses the four column grid system. He has only made use of two type sizes.The graphic resonance of this format were widely influential.

1958 Cover for the Querterly Bulletin of the Hochschule fur Gestaltung

Max Huber (1919-1992) had taken the advantage of the transparency of printing inks by layering typography, images and shapes in order to create a complex web of graphic information.

In his design below, Huber pushed to the edge of chaos. He achieved this through the balance and alignment although he still maintained order in the midst of complexity. He had informally balances of halftones printed in red, black and blue which is combined with yellow rectangles to turn the space into an energy-charged field.

1951 Yearbook Cover

Functional Graphics for Science

Anton Stankowski (1906-1998) a well known graphic designer based in Zurich. Is works included photography, photomontage, and dark room manipulation of images. He focused on visual pattern and form in his close-up photography. He did the creation of forms in order to communicate invisible processes as well as physical forces. Stankowski was a strong mastery of constructivist design, 'an intelectual acumen for science and engineering and curiosity. Anton had developed the tectonic element.

This design has a dynamic equilibriam.  He use asymmetrical construction in an implied square which signifies the communications transmission and reception.

1953 Trademark for Standard Elektrik Lorenz AG

New Swiss Sans-Serif Typefaces

In the 1950's several new sans-serif type families was designed. 

Adrian Frutiger (b.1928) was a swiss designer who completed the type called Univers.

He systematically alted the forms of fonts located on this chart above, below, left and right of Univers 55. It is a regular font, italic and bold.

1954 Schematic Diagram of the 21 Univers fonts

A Master of Classical Typography

Hermann Zapf (b.1918) had evolved from the traditions of calligraphy and renaissance typography. His work consisted of photo retouching, studied calligraphy, printing firm, and freelance and typographic designer. 

The Palatino typeface had a Roman style consisting of broad letters, strong serifs and elegant proportions. Whereas the Melior was more of a modern type style with vertical stresses and squared forms. The Optima type had thick and thin sans-serifs with taped strokes.

Palatino 1950 Melior 1952  Optima 1958

1954-1968 Page from Manuale Typographicum

Design in Basel and Zurich

Emil Ruder (1914-1970) attended the School of Arts and Crafts in Zurich. Ruder was the Typographic instructor of Allgemine Gewerbeshule, he taught students to strike the correct balance of form and function. He believed that type losses its purpose when it loses its communicative meaning therefore he sought that legibility and readability were dominate. He had developed sensitivity to negative or unprinted spaces which included the spaces between and inside letter forms. He used a systematic overall design and used grid structure. Ruder realized the implications of Universe.

In the design of his book jacket the contrast was created by combining different fonts which became a graphic metaphor for the randomness of Dadaists.

1967 Book jacket for an anthology of Dada Poetry

Armin Hofmann (b.1920) taught  at Basel School of Design. An educational model was developed by Armin and Emil which was linked to the elementary design principles of the Vorkus (1908). In 1947 he opened his own design studio. His design philosophy was based on the elemental graphic form, language of point, line and plane replaced traditional pictorial ideas with a modernist aesthetic. Hofmann saw the relationship of contrasting elements as the means of invigorating visual design; Light to dark, curved lines to straight lines soft to hard, form to counter-form, and dynamic to static.

The photographic image is organic, kinetic and soft which contrasts intensily with geometric, static and hard-edged typographic shapes.

1959 Poster for the Basel theater production of Giselle

Carlo L.Vivarelli (1919-1986) 

He was the designer of this poster and Werner Bischof was the photographer. It has a strong contrasting juxtaposition of an organic, human and textured photograph with sharp geometric typography which intensifies the meaning of both. The image is dramatic due to the angle of illumination.

1949 "Fur das Alter" For the Elders

Hans Neuburg (1904-1983) was the editor of 'New Graphic Design'. 

Josef Muller- Brockmann believed in using absolute and universal forms of graphic expression through means of objective and impersonal presentation. He brought out the clarity and intensity of the message through his works.

He created impact through scale and the camera angle. The red type declares 'less noise', while the photograph depicts the discomfort noise causes.

1960 Public Awareness Poster

Siegfried Odermatt (b.1926) was self educated. He was into  photography as well as graphic design. He had worked for trademark development, informational graphics, advertising and packaging. Odermatt combined succinct, efficient presentation of information with a dynamic visual quality, by using a straight forward approach towards photography with drama and impact. He created convincing and engaging photographs. Odermatt believed 'a on color typographic design can achieve the visual impact and power.' His concept and orchestration of visual form,space, shape and tone was most important. 

The close-up photography makes ordinary subjects stand out.The trademark is created from the firms initials.

1957 Ad for Apotheke Sommet over-the-counter medicine

The International Swiss Style grew during the WW2. An increased trade resulting in this movement as well as multinational corporations. This movement increased the need for communicative clarity, multilingual formats and elementary pictographs and glyphs.