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The postmodern poster

From the 1970s on, Jörg Hamburger, Wolfgang Weingart and the Zurich graphic design team Siegfried Odermatt and Rosmarie Tissi loosened up the rigorous Swiss style: they retained its modernity, clarity and reduction, but took a more playful approach to the grid.

Weingart, who taught at the Basel School of Applied Arts, developed the experimental ‘New Wave’ style of typography and thus had a major influence on graphic designers worldwide, which continues to this day.

Jörg Hamburger: Kunstgewerbemuseum Zürich – Modellfall Citroën, 1967. Image: Artifiche AG.
Jörg Hamburger: Kunstgewerbemuseum Zürich – Modellfall Citroën, 1967. Image: Artifiche AG.
Wolfgang Weingart: Das Schweizer Plakat, 1983. Image: Artifiche AG.
Wolfgang Weingart: Das Schweizer Plakat, 1983. Image: Artifiche AG.
Siegfried Odermatt: Swissair, 1982. Image: Artifiche AG.
Siegfried Odermatt: Swissair, 1982. Image: Artifiche AG.
Rosmarie Tissi: Internationale Musikfestwochen Luzern, 1994. Image: Artifiche AG.
Rosmarie Tissi: Internationale Musikfestwochen Luzern, 1994. Image: Artifiche AG.

In the cultural scene of the 1980s and 1990s, various graphic designers made ‘precise’ Switzerland more lively, cheerful and colourful with their unconventional styles: Paul Brühwiler with narrative, almost poetic posters for the Zurich Filmpodium; Niklaus Troxler with his colourful posters for the Willisau Jazz Festival, which he founded; Claude Kuhn with memorable figure designs and clear colour surfaces; Werner Jeker, who stands out with his many black and white posters for the Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne; K. Domenic Geissbühler with his imaginative, often collage-like posters for the Zurich Opera House and Ralph Schraivogel with his highly idiosyncratic font design.

Paul Brühwiler: Alfred Hitchcock im Filmpodium, 1995. Image: Artifiche AG.
Paul Brühwiler: Alfred Hitchcock im Filmpodium, 1995. Image: Artifiche AG.
Niklaus Troxler: Jazz Bass, 1981. Image: Artifiche AG.
Niklaus Troxler: Jazz Bass, 1981. Image: Artifiche AG.
Claude Kuhn: 50 Jahre Tierpark Dählhölzli Bern, 1987. Image: Artifiche AG.
Claude Kuhn: 50 Jahre Tierpark Dählhölzli Bern, 1987. Image: Artifiche AG.
Werner Jeker: Musée de l’Elysée Lausanne - Lois Greenfield, 1998. Image: Artifiche AG.
Werner Jeker: Musée de l’Elysée Lausanne - Lois Greenfield, 1998. Image: Artifiche AG.
K. Domenic Geissbühler: Zürcher Ballett – Heinz Spoerli – Giselle, 1998. Image: Artifiche AG.
K. Domenic Geissbühler: Zürcher Ballett – Heinz Spoerli – Giselle, 1998. Image: Artifiche AG.
Ralph Schraivogel: Filmpodium im Studio 4 – Chaplin, 1996. Image: Artifiche AG.
Ralph Schraivogel: Filmpodium im Studio 4 – Chaplin, 1996. Image: Artifiche AG.

The graphic designer Bruno Monguzzi, who lives and works in the southern canton of Ticino, deserves special mention. His typographic sense and sensitive design style are reflected in his corporate design for the Musée d’Orsay in Paris and in his poster masterpieces for the Museo d’Arte Lugano.

Bruno Monguzzi: Museo cantonale d’arte Lugano - Oskar Schlemmer – Les Noces – Igor Stawinsky, 1988. Image: Artifiche AG.
Bruno Monguzzi: Museo cantonale d’arte Lugano - Oskar Schlemmer – Les Noces – Igor Stawinsky, 1988. Image: Artifiche AG.

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