International style/Swiss style is a typographic style that was created post-WWII in 1950. It leaned toward designs that were legible and readable, with the main focus of the design to be universally accessible. They used asymmetrical organisation which was very experimental at the time, but they still used mathematical grid structures to ensure that each element was placed carefully and purposefully. Sans-serif typefaces were commonly used, especially Akzidenz-Grotesk and Helvetica.
Helvetica is everywhere, there is even a movie about it. It is very commonly used for signs that we see all around us, for example, on doors, street signs etc. Not only is it great for Swiss style, but it is also just a great typeface for everyday life, as it is legible and simple. It is a great staple typeface. As interaction designers, it is very important that typography in our designs are legible and readable universally, so we need to appreciate and understand when type is accessible and when it’s not.
Armin was very experimental with his designs. He was born 1920, Switzerland, and taught in the Basel school of Art. He was a big fan of laying the foundation of his designs using shapes, and working up from there, which as a designer is very important, as we learnt at the start with point, line and plane. His designs were very legible and readable, asymmetrical and structured. I think his designs look very fresh and I wouldn’t have thought that they were from the 50s or 60s, but today, which shows how great they are.
Josef was born in Switzerland in 1914. He studied graphic design and architecture. Josef’s designs are very uniformed and very grid-orientated, which I think looks extremely clean. He was very good at emphasising different elements of his designs, which means that when they are looked at, viewers naturally look at the elements in the order that he wants them too. He done this by making type large, bold or using colour. As you can see from the designs below, there is a clear hierarchy of what he wants you to look at, and what isn’t as important. For the left one the white text stands out immediately and for the one on the right the cow stands out at first glance.
The International Style is probably my favourite style of design. I enjoyed todays class as we looked in detail at some designers that used this style, so it was cool to see how they were able to achieve these designs, even before digital art became available. They must have bee very highly skilled.