Join the Mailing List

Membership

Graphic Design History from Design Reviewed
Karl Oskar Blase

50th Anniversary of German Airmail Services, German Stamps, 1969

Information

Details

  • Format: Stamps
  • Designer/s: Karl Oskar Blase
  • Year: 1969
  • Size: 26mm x 43mm
Karl Oskar Blase was born in 1925 in Cologne, Germany. He was a prolific painter, designer, sculptor and exhibition curator. His work included magazine covers, for publications such as Form and Gebrauchsgraphik, stamp designs for the German Postal Service and film posters for companies such as Atlas Films.

Linked Information

50th Anniversary of German Airmail Services, German Stamps, 1969. Designed by Karl Oskar Blase
50th Anniversary of German Airmail Services, German Stamps, 1969. Designed by Karl Oskar Blase
Karl Oskar Blase was born in 1925 in Cologne, Germany. He was a prolific painter, designer, sculptor and exhibition curator. His work included magazine covers, for publications such as Form and Gebrauchsgraphik, stamp designs for the German Postal Service and film posters for companies such as Atlas Films.
More graphic design artefacts
Graphic Design 29, 1967. Cover design by Tadanori Yokoo
From the design archive:

Graphic Design 29, 1967

  • Format: Magazine
  • Designer/s: Tadanori Yokoo
  • Year: 1967
View Artefact
Anarchy 19, Freedom Press, September 1962. Cover design by Colin Munro
From the design archive:

Anarchy 19, Freedom Press, September 1962

  • Format: Magazine
  • Designer/s: Colin Munro
  • Year: 1962
View Artefact
Visible Language, Vol 08, 03, Summer 1974. Designed by Wolfgang Weingart
From the design archive:

Visible Language, Vol 08, 03, Summer 1974

  • Format: Magazine
  • Designer/s: Wolfgang Weingart
  • Year: 1974
View Artefact
Visible Language (The Journal of Typographic Research, Vol 02, 03, July 1968
From the design archive:

Visible Language (The Journal of Typographic Research), Vol 02, 03, July 1968

  • Format: Magazine
  • Designer/s: Jack Stauffacher
  • Year: 1968
View Artefact

view more of the graphic design archive

More graphic design history articles

Members Content

Design, Council of Industrial Design, 91, July 1956. Cover design by Ken Garland
  • Design Archive Feature

Ken Garland and the Industrial Magazine, Design

Before setting up Ken Garland & Associates in Camden, London, Ken was art editor of Design magazine in 1956. The magazine was published by the Council of Industrial Design, which was set up in 1944 with the prime focus of supporting Britains economic recovery.

Members Content

design-reviewed-twitter
  • Design Archive Feature, Members Only Content

Industrial Design Magazine – American Modernist Inspiration

Industrial design was an American design magazine featuring furniture, ceramics, housewares, appliances, automobiles, buildings, radios, projectors, televisions, and many other objects designed for the postwar middle class. First published in the 1950s by Charles Whitney with Alvin Lustig as art director.

Members Content

Olivetti, advertisement, 1962. Designed by Walter Ballmer. Found on the back of Graphis 115, 1964
  • Design Archive Feature, Design Inspiration, Members Only Content

Walter Ballmer’s Mid-Century Italian Graphic Design

Walter Ballmer was a Swiss graphic designer born in Liestal, Switzerland in 1923. He worked across various design disciplines including advertising design, packaging, typography and exhibition design.

Members Content

The Swiss designer Adrian Frutiger (1928–2015) created some fantastic typefaces such as Univers, Avenir, and Frutiger, alongside posters, catalogue designs and architectural lettering. He began his career at Deberny & Peignot in Paris as a type designer and set up his own studio in 1960 in Paris focusing on typography and advertising design. Working alongside André Gürtler and Bruno Pfäffli, Frutiger designed many logo designs. Here is a selection of the designs which were featured in Der Druckspiegel, December 1961. I have also translated and rewritten the descriptions to provide more depth. When describing the work of Adrian Frutiger, Kurt Weidemann states, “We live in a time of increasing abstraction,” says Frutiger, in a time of visual, intellectual symbols. If a miller wants a company logo, then a windmill or watermill does not provide a sufficient symbol of his profession. Rather, its job is to crush grains between two masses. Finding a pictorial metaphor for this process might be more difficult, but also more expressive, more apt and timeless. Memorable shapes are simple. A mark that can be immediately drawn in the sand by a child is good. The accompanying typography must not compete with the brand; it must be brought into harmony with it, supporting its expressiveness.) - Der Druckspiegel, October, 1961 (Translated from German) Logo for the advertising agency Arma Publicité. The symbol is based on the letters A R and M. The logo has an emphasised flatness that corresponds to the essence of advertising thanks to its black and white contrast. The triangle shape is a symbol of advancement and dynamism. The embossed form is used in cases requiring discretion. Lettering for the title of a scientific journal. The letterforms are made of straight lines and circles in the spirit of the exact measurements and structures in science. Small and capital letters are mixed together as a deliberate move away from tradition. Business brand for the Brancher Frères paint factory. On the one hand, it is based on the letters B and F, and on the other hand, the silhouettes of the paint can, seen from the side and from above (square and circle). The logo is designed more to the colour than to the formal expression. Original colours: grey, green and blue. Lettering for a printing company. The close sequence of circular elements makes one think of printing cylinders and ink rollers. Logo for the Scripta pantograph milling machine. The arrangement of the arms and joints of the machine have resulted in this S-shape. Right angles were avoided to evoke mobility. The contrast of the strong arms to the fine white space indicates the solidity of a precision device. Company lettering and signs for the Hermann scientific bookstore. The basic element that provided the impetus was the construction plan for the new business facility. Monogram for Jacqueline Iribe, designer of modern decorative fabrics. Irish favourite motifs are rectangles and triangles; the symbol attempts to symbolize this style in the letterform. Original colours: cobalt blue for j, broken cobalt blue for i. Two designs for a sign for the Prache bookbindery. The speciality of this house is spiral and ring binding. The first draft is a name made up of wire, interlocking letters in a circle shape. The second draft follows the same principle but is only based on the P. The rectangle (book, sheet of paper) was included. Monogram for the French architect Georges Johannet. Its architecture is strictly based on geometric elements, in very finely coordinated spatial proportions. Ipreig is the official abbreviation for the Institut professionel de recherches et d'études des industries graphiques. With a view to serving professional progress, it seems justified to give the symbol of this institute the character of an experiment that could be renewed from time to time. (Design not executed).
  • Design Archive Feature, Members Only Content

Logos and Lettering by Adrian Frutiger, André Gürtler and Bruno Pfäffli

Working alongside André Gürtler and Bruno Pfäffli, Adrian Frutiger designed many logo designs. Here is a selection of the designs which were featured in Der Druckspiegel, December 1961. I have also translated and rewritten the descriptions to provide more depth.