Swiss Style

This particular lecture discussed the Swiss AKA international style, which emerged in Russia, Germany and the Netherlands. This style focused on functionality overall, with the influence of a clear grid and rationality. One of the more famous creations to represent this style was the font Helvetica, which had a large x-height and shorter ascenders and descenders for easy reading.

https://www.fonts.com/content/learning/fyti/typefaces/arial-vs-helvetica

Josef Müller-Brockmann

Brockmann was a graphic designer in the mid 1900’s who by the 1950’s was the leading practitioner and theorist of the Swiss Style. He created the founder of the “Neue Grafik” (New Graphic Design), a magazine about graphic design created in this Swiss Style.

http://ingallery.ie/

As seen above, the magazine utilised design features, such as a clear grid system, simplistic colour scheme and a definitive hierarchy of text. This style also showed a distinct use of negative space which was also a key aspect of Swiss Style. Armin Hofmann released a similar publication which also illustrated the Swiss Style called “Graphic Design Manual : Principles and Practice” as seen below.

https://www.bookdepository.com/Graphic-Design-Manual-Armin-Hofmann/9783721200065

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Mies was a key contributor to the International Style in architecture, after being the director for Bauhaus. His buildings were modernistic, representing the era of their creation, like that of Gothic and Victorian architecture, using industrial steel and plate glass. Many of his creations would feature large windowed areas, allowing them to be on display for the public to see. This worked well for office style buildings, but did not fair well for his residential creations, with his most famous being Farnsworth House, which replaced all exterior walls with glass, allowing any voyeuristic prowler to see inside.

https://www.dezeen.com/2017/02/08/mies-van-der-rohe-farnsworth-house-hollywood-movie-jeff-bridges-maggie-gyllenhaal-residential-architecture-usa/