Swiss Design

Swiss Design

The International Typographic Style, also known as the Swiss Style, is a graphic design style that emerged in Russia, the Netherlands, and Germany in the 1920's and was developed by designers in Switzerland during the 1950's. The International Typographic Style has had profound influence on graphic design as a part of the modernist movement, impacting many design-related fields including architecture and art. It emphasises cleanness, readability, and objectivity. Hallmarks of the style are asymmetric layouts, use of a grid, sans-serif typefaces like Akzidenz Grotesk, and flush left, ragged right text. The style is also associated with a preference for photography in place of illustrations or drawings. Many of the early International Typographic Style works featured typography as a primary design element in addition to its use in text, and it is for this that the style is named. The influences of this graphic movement can still be seen in design strategy and theory to this day. Each design done with International Typographic Style in mind begins with a mathematical grid, because a grid is the “most legible and harmonious means for structuring information.” Text is then applied, most often aligned flush left, ragged right. Fonts chosen for the text are sans serif, a type style believed to “[express] the spirit of a more progressive age” by early designers in the movement. Objective photography is another design element meant to present information clearly, and without any of the persuading influences of propaganda or commercial advertising. Such a strong focus on order and clarity is drawn from early pioneers of the movement believing that design is a “socially useful and important activity ... the designers define their roles not as artists but as objective conduits for spreading important information between components of society.” In the image I've chosen the shapes and colours are very simple and the colours are mostly monochrome and dull, with a hint of vibrant orange.