c. 1950s – early 1970s
A design approach prioritising clarity, structure, and grid systems, combining typography, photography, and rational composition.
The International Typographic Style is also known as the Swiss Style. It emerged from the design schools of Basel and Zurich in the late 1940s and became the dominant visual language of the second half of the twentieth century. Designers like Josef Müller-Brockmann, Emil Ruder, and Armin Hofmann established principles, grid structure, and rational composition that were exported globally through publications, teaching, and the work itself. The archive documents this tradition through scanned poster award documentation, designer profiles, and printed matter from the movement.
Advertising Design, Design Archive Feature, Members Only Content, Studios & Collectives
Gerstner, Gredinger + Kutter's advertisments for Merkur and the problem of ideographs, with a translated article by Masaru Katzumie from Graphic Design 15, April 1964
Read Article
Design Archive Feature, Designer Profiles, Members Only Content, Regional Histories
Max Huber was born in 1919 in Switzerland. He studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule (School of Arts and Crafts) in Zurich where he excelled in graphic design and photography. Huber worked across advertising, packaging, design and industrial design. He had a distinctive style that skillfully blended bright hues with photomontage.
Read Article
Design Archive Feature, Design Education, Movements
A short free-to-access feature on Swiss Design. The movement was influenced by Bauhaus and De Stijl, sought clarity and visual unity, making it a powerful force in global graphic design that remains influential today.
Read Article
Movements, Book Reviews & Press Releases, Design Education, Regional Histories
Founded in 2015, Triest Verlag für Architektur, Design und Typografie have published notable works on graphic design history, including biographies of Othmar Motter, studies on Eugen Gomringer’s typography and poetry, Ernst Keller’s teachings. Thier latest book The Birth of a Style, focuses on the influence of the Basel Educational Model on the evolution of Swiss graphic design into the renowned international style.
Read Article
Design Archive Feature, Members Only Content, Poster Design, Regional Histories
“Der Druckspiegel” typographic supplement May 5, 1967, was focused on a selection of the winning entries from Die besten Plakate des Jahres featuring over fifty winning entries.
Read Article
Design Archive Feature, Members Only Content, Poster Design, Regional Histories
The 1960 awards presented 420 poster entries from Swiss designers. Notable winners included Robert Büchler's typographic poster for the Museum of Applied Arts Basel and J. Müller-Brockmann’s Der Film poster for the Museum of Applied Arts and Gerstner + Kutter's asymmetric typographic poster for National-Zeitung SA Basel.
Read Article
Design Archive Feature, Members Only Content, Poster Design, Regional Histories
As part of an ongoing series showcasing Swiss poster designs from the 1950s and 1960s, this article features 1961 poster entries of Die besten Plakate des Jahres (The Best Posters of the Year) 1961. Originating in 1941, Die besten Plakate des Jahres initially served as a platform for the evaluation and showcase of Swiss posters.
Read Article
Design Archive Feature, Members Only Content, Poster Design, Regional Histories
Forward and a selection of poster designs entered to the Die besten Plakate des Jahres 1963. Featuring the work of Hans Hartmann, Jörg Hamburger, Jost Hochuli, and Armin Hofmann.
Read ArticleExplore designers central to this movement including Emil Ruder, Armin Hofmann, Josef Müller-Brockmann, and Karl Gerstner. See also the Switzerland country page and 1950s graphic design history.
From the graphic design archive:
From the graphic design archive:
From the graphic design archive:
From the graphic design archive:
From the graphic design archive:
From the graphic design archive:
From the graphic design archive:
From the graphic design archive:
From the graphic design archive:
From the graphic design archive:
From the graphic design archive:
From the graphic design archive:
Design Archive Feature, Designer Profiles, Ephemera, Members Only Content
Beyond his books, Dick Bruna's vivid colour and simplified forms found their way onto posters, packaging, murals and stamps, many of which feature in my growing collection.
Read Article
Members Only Content, Design Archive Feature, Designer Profiles
An article on Valentin Zietara , originally in German, published in Gebrauchsgraphik, 10, 1930, written by H K Frenzel translated by E. T. Scheffauer
Read Article
Members Only Content, Designer Profiles, Studios & Collectives
A 1903-1904 article on Die Steglitzer Werkstatt, originally in German, published in Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration, Vol. XIII, October 1903–March 1904.
Read Article
Regional Histories, Ephemera, Illustration, Members Only Content
A collected visual record of the Kanto, Chubu and Tohoku Lottery tickets.
Read Article
Designer Profiles, Members Only Content, Movements
April Greiman is known for her experimental approach to graphic design, her role in the development of Californian New Wave and being one of the first designers to fully embrace the computer in her work.
Read Article
Illustration, Ephemera, Members Only Content, Regional Histories
A collected visual record of the first eight years of Japan’s Rural Medical Care Promotion Lottery.
Read Article
