“Swiss Graphic Design Histories” now available
As the main output of “Swiss Graphic Design and Typography Revisited”, the entire research team contributed to “Swiss Graphic Design Histories”, a three-volume publication. It publishes the findings in a form that should appeal to an academic and non-academic audience and makes available the large amount of diverse data and sources that we have analyzed for more than four years. It is entirely available in open access under a CC BY NC ND 4.0 license on the website of Scheidegger & Spiess and as a high-quality printed edition designed by Simone Farner and Naima Schalcher in a slipcase.
“Swiss Graphic Design Histories” offers a redefinition of Switzerland’s graphic design landscape. Based on the extensive research done in line with the project’s multiple and inclusive approaches, the publication reaches beyond the usual canon and the well-known epicentres with the Germanophone fathers of what has become famous as the Swiss Style.
In its three volumes, it features visual artefacts and archival documents, the majority published here for the first time, alongside likewise previously unpublished conversations with designers who have forged developments of the past decades, as well as new essays discussing key terms that refer to various design practices. The complexity of the undertaking is embraced through a system of keywords, thus enabling readers to connect contents within the individual volumes. An additional booklet comprising a glossary, bibliography, and an index of the keywords rounds out this long-awaited new survey of graphic design in multi-lingual Switzerland that sheds new light on networks, practices and media largely ignored so far.
Our research activities have not ended with the present publication. Further individual findings from the project will be discussed and published independently by our doctoral students as part of their theses. We hope they will continue the academic discourse in graphic design history in Switzerland, conduct further research, and ultimately assume positions from which they might pursue additional topics in this vein.
The publication is supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation, Pro Helvetia, Burgergemeinde Bern, Stadt Zürich Kultur, as well as by the participating universities: HKB Bern University of the Arts, ZHdK Zurich University of the Arts, FHNW University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, ECAL University of Art and Design Lausanne, HEAD – Genève and SUPSI University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland.
With contributions by Chiara Barbieri, Rudolf Barmettler, Jonas Berthod, Sandra Bischler, Constance Delamadeleine, Davide Fornari, Roland Früh, Ueli Kaufmann, Sarah Klein, Robert Lzicar, Jonas Niedermann, Sarah Owens, Michael Renner, Peter J. Schneemann, Arne Scheuermann and Sara Zeller.
Photos © ECAL / Niccolò Quaresima.
