Milch – Lait – Latte. An exhibition on iconic Swiss graphic design manuals setting a multilingual standard
From September 22, to October 1st, 2017 the researchers of sub-project C set up an exhibition accompanying the launch of the bilingual (French and Italian) translation of Josef Müller-Brockmann’s book Grid systems in graphic design, published by Editions Entremonde. The event took place at Espace Hippomène, the new building of HEAD Geneva. Sub-project C focuses on the dissemination of Swiss graphic design through journals, publications and exhibitions and the aspect of multilinguality proves to be one of the key factors in it.
Josef Müller-Brockmann’s book Grid systems in graphic design is probably the best known manual by a Swiss graphic designer. First published by Niggli Verlag in 1981 it has been reprinted in its original bilingual version in English and German several times and was translated into Spanish, Portuguese, Korean editions, just to name a few. However popular the book, it has never been published in French or Italian thus far – a gap which Editions Entremonde, a young publishing venture from Paris and Geneva, has now filled. The reason – they say – is to make this text available to students in Italian and French-speaking countries, so they can read Müller-Brockmanns text in their first language and expose it to a more substantial critical reflection.
The title Milch – Lait – Latte is a reference to growing up in Switzerland where it is very common to have childhood memories of sitting at the kitchen table in the early morning, still half asleep munching cereal, deciphering all sorts of packaging information and labels in three languages. Milch – Lait – Latte thus became the tagline and serves as reference to the symptom of the ubiquity of translations in Switzerland.
The exhibition is compiled of different groups of books, each referring to one possible strategy of translations. It starts with El Lissitzky and Hans Arp’s book Kunstism from 1925 which was published in French, German and English and already aimed at an international audience. Kunstism could be seen as an early model for trilingual publications. Especially for those who later became iconic for the label Swiss graphic design, such as Karl Gerstner and Markus Kutters Die neue Graphik, published by Niggli in 1959 or its contemporaries, the books by ABC Verlag Zürich. Hans Neuburg realised several books with this antsy publisher, keeping to the format of portfolio-books and propagating good work in fields such as exhibition design, design for industry or design for chemical industry in particular. The layout of the books was often arranged by graphic designer Walter Bangerter and became known for the notorious use of three columns for the three languages.
The exhibition also included lesser known publications, such as the ambitious translation project of Rudolf Hostettler The printer’s terms. Published first in 1949 it was a modest, small booklet listing translations of terms of the printing industry in four and sometimes more languages. A handy tool for everyone working with the international printing industry. On display were also other publications by Josef Müller-Brockmann in different editions and the small booklet by Jost Hochuli Detail in typography, which is still in print and has been translated into more than 10 languages. Then, as most recent books were shown the publishing projects of Spanish publisher Campgràfic Editors, the Paris based Editions B42 and Editions Entremonde, to close the circle.
Additionally a projection of images taken from the web and social media featuring Josef Müller-Brockmann’s Rastersysteme is an ode to the congenial, slightly cultish approval of the book worldwide.
A contribution by Roland Früh, Ueli Kaufmann, Sara Zeller and Robert Lzicar (members of the SNSF–research project Swiss Graphic Design and Typography Revisited)
With the generous advice and book loans of Editions Entremonde, Lena Koop, Nina Paim, Felix Wiedler, Kunstbibliothek Sitterwerk, Campgràfic, and Jost Hochuli.
See full bibliography below:
http://sgdtr.ch/site/assets/files/1154/sgdtr-wrtj68.pdf
