The role of British graphic designers and authors in spreading Swiss Style, “Swiss graphic design,” or “Swiss typography” internationally is evident, but less is known about the process and effects of transnational exchange in design. This article follows the trajectories of objects and texts, revealing how they have established and disseminated the labels in Britain and abroad, thus contributing to our current understanding of “Swiss graphic design.” It concludes with an example of alternative historiography of modern visual communication as a constant process of exchange that reveals the complex international interaction of design discourses.
Why Swiss Graphic Design Again, Now?In reviewing the two publications-"Josef Müller-Brockmann" by Kerry William Purcell and "Swiss Graphic Design: The Origins and Growth of an International Style, 1920-1965" by Richard Hollis-Michael J. Golec noted that "when it comes to the graphic design of Josef Müller-Brockmann, we had to contend with what John Walker has referred to as 'typological' approaches-or studies and categorizations of designed objects according to type." This approach applies not only to the work of Müller-Brockmann but also to the entire previous investigation of graphic design from Switzerland. Or, to put it more sharply, the construct of Swiss graphic design represents an outdated historiography based on a "sorting out of objects according to 'authorship, chronology, national and individual styles, and authenticity'" more than any other label in design history. 1 Golec goes on to ask the question, "what then constitutes an informed history of the graphic design of Müller-Brockman?" This special edition is an attempt to answer this question when related to Swiss graphic design.In graphic design history, the terms "Swiss graphic design," "Swiss typography," or "Swiss style" regularly denote an international style that can be applied to a variety of media, such as posters, books, corporate identities, and signage systems. This style emerged in Switzerland during the 1950s, was used by graphic designers in Switzerland and many other Western countries, and gained an excellent reputation worldwide. However, the term was used not only to define a certain, specific style, but also in many variations to describe graphic design from Switzerland in general, or design produced by Swiss graphic designers. This definitional blurring has in fact contributed to the success of the term. The nomination of "Swiss graphic design" as one of eight Swiss Candidatures proposed to UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2014 confirms the relevance of "traditional craftsmanship." 2 From this perspective, it becomes clear that "Swiss graphic design and typography" has not yet come to an
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