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swiss design an endless scope of influence with many destinations from Wim Crouwel to Buro Destruct

Typographer Book

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Design Book comparing and contrasting type designers Wim Crouwel and Buro Destruct.

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Page 1: Typographer Book

swissdesignan endless scope of influence with many destinations

from Wim Crouwelto Buro Destruct

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Wim Crouwel

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burodestruct

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Th r o u g h o u t t h e m o d e r n

h i s t o r y o f t y p o g r a p h y ,

d e s i g n e r a f t e r d e s i g n e r

h a s c i t e d S w i s s d e s i g n a s a p r i -

mary inf luence. What’s interest ing

a r e t h e m a n y d i f f e r e n t p a t h s a

d e s i g n e r m a y t a k e w i t h S w i s s

d e s i g n a s t h e i r f o u n d a t i o n .

Some may take a dogmatic approach, insisting on following every rule

of Swiss design. These include strict adherence to a well defined grid,

plenty of white space, minimalism, and an allegiance to certain sans serif

typefaces. Some may follow the basic principles, such as fine craft skills,

attention to detail, precise organization, and intense technical training,

yet branch out in their own design work. They may find new ways to break

the grid, add contemporary elements, or incorporate quirkier typefaces.

Others may fall somewhere in between. A look at two very different type

designers from different eras can help us explore this idea more in depth.

A good comparison would be between Dutchman Wim Crouwel and Swiss

based type collective Buro Destruct.

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Wim Crouwel is a Dutch designer

born in the city of Groningen, Neth-

erlands in 1928 (Middendorp,

117). He started as a fine artist

and even left art school to become

an expressionist painter (Polano,

Bottin). However, all this changed

when in 1952 Crowell designed

his first poster. In designing this

poster, he discovered a passion for

organizing information, especially

in an aesthetic context. This led him

to explore the work of the Bauhaus

and Swiss-inspired International

Style. The Bauhaus was a school

of art, architecture, and design in

Germany between 1919 and 1933

(Middendorp,). They didn’t differ-

entiate between fine and applied

arts, and for that reason insisted

that all students be extremely adept

at hand crafts. This was a momen-

tous idealogical shift and one that

would change the face of design,

and the way future designers

would approach their work.

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An example of a more contemporary type foundry and

design studio worshiping at the altar of Swiss Design

is Buro Destruct, made up of Marc Brunner, Heinz

Rever, Heinz Widmer, and Lorenz Gianfreda. Former

member Fidel Berger now runs the “Buro Discount”

gallery and store in Zurich (Buro Destruct, Web). Buro

Destruct has a more significant cultural tie, as they

originated and are still based in Switzerland. In the

foreword of their book Buro Destruct II, they speak of

how growing up and studying in Switzerland informed

their work. They talk about how “Swiss products

are still associated with the image of precise, prac-

tical and reliable craft”. They describe the virtues

of Swiss people as “orderliness, thoroughness, and

cleanliness”. These words fit right in with the histor-

ical Swiss Design aesthetic. Buro Destruct also make

reference to their training in a time before computers

and software in which they had to develop strong hand

skills. “It was the old school technique of Chinese ink,

the brush, the ruler and the ruling pen, which made

designing fonts a real pain” (Buro Destruct, Print).

j

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jj

While Crouwel pledged his allegiance to the Interna-

tional Style, the work he was to create would reveal

numerous contradictions. Like the founders of the

International Style and the De Stijl artists who in-

fluenced them, Crouwel had a strong interest in the

machine. Swiss born Purist Le Corbusier is quoted

as saying “A house is a machine for living in” (Arna-

son, Mansfield, 260) which became the revolution-

ary calling card for a new way of thinking. Crouwel

would praise the virtues of the

machine saying things like “we

need the machine since we have

no time” (Middendorp, 124). At

other times, Crouwel lamented its

rise to prominence: “The machine

cannot replace the precision of the

human eye and human feeling”.

It is precisely these contradic-

tions that would inform Crouwel’s

creative output. Whether he was

aware of it or not, it is clear that

Crouwel was always searching for

the perfect balance between the

emotional and the rational.

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“they called me

Mr. Gridnik”

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“we feel deeply related to the people of the

forests and the fairies of the

meadows”

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bWhile Crouwel was working at a time when new machines were just begin-

ning to point the world of typography towards the world we know in the

21st century, Buro Destruct has had the advantage of contemporary soft-

ware. While both Crouwel and Buro Destruct appreciate their hands on

training, Buro Destruct has a much less conflicted view of the computer

and their place in the digital age. They come across as deeply appreciative

of the fact that they are working in an era when one can type their own

fonts on a keyboard.

in o u r o p i n i o n , i t i s a m i s -

c o n c e p t i o n t h a t m a c h i n e s

r e s t r i c t o n e ’ s f r e e d o m t o

c r e a t e . W e b e l i e v e t h a t w o r k i n g

w i t h m a c h i n e i s l i b e r a t i n g . N o t

o n l y b e c a u s e y o u ’ r e f a s t e r t h a t

w a y , b u t a l s o b e c a u s e w o r k i n g

w i t h c o m p u t e r s – a s o p p o s e d t o

p e n a n d p a p e r – m a k e s i t e a s i e r t o

break the ru les of design. Working

b e y o n d t h e r u l e s o n l y m a k e s t h e

r u l e s m o r e v i s i b l e . ”

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b Of course, if Crouwel wanted to

create an original typeface, he

didn’t have the advantages we have

today. In 1957, Crouwel began hand

drawing his own letterforms. Based

on a strict grid, they were made up

of basic geometric shapes arranged

to form each letter. While still based

on his beloved grid, even these ear-

ly experiments revealed a quirkiness

that went far beyond anything seen

in Swiss Design. In 1963, Crouwel

designed type for an exhibition for

the painter Edgar Fernhout. Again,

the type was based on a strict grid

but Crouwel decided to break the

grid and cut off each letter at an

angle to mimic Fernhout’s painting

style (Middendorp, 119).

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KBuro Destruct also employs geo-

metric shapes and a strong grid

in many of their typefaces but

takes their aesthetic in a variety

of different directions. Again, the

technology of today makes exper-

imentation an easier endeavor.

Since 1995, Buro Destruct has

been creating anywhere up to

sixteen typefaces a year. Many of

them look like direct descendents

of Wim Crouwel’s type designs,

while many others have a much

more specific vernacular.

Crouwel’s audience was primarily other typographers

and design critics, while Buro Destruct speaks to a

myriad of youth subcultures. In Buro Destruct’s type

designs one can see the influence of punk rock, skate-

boarding, snowboarding, grunge, metal, goth, and

nearly any other prominent youth movement there is.

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

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KDuring the first years of his design

firm Total Design, Crouwel and his

colleagues stuck to strict design

principles, often setting type in

Helvetica capitals and incorpo-

rating simple geometric shapes

such as circles and triangles. Soon

however, as this method grew in

popularity among other firms, Total

Design had to branch out into more

expressive, playful areas to sep-

arate themselves from the crowd

and make their clients more visible

(Middendorp, 119).

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

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abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz1234567890Wim Crouwel’s

New Alphabet

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Buro Destruct’s

Fimo

ABCDEFGHIKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

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Possibly Crouwel’s oddest and most controversial type experiment came in

1967. A major transition in type technology had occurred with the advent

of phototypesetting. Crouwel was extremely discouraged with attempts to

convert classic typefaces for this new technology. As an experiment de-

signed to open up conversation about this problem, Crouwel designed Neu

Alphabet. The idea was to reduce the letterform to only its most essential

elements. Crouwel believed he was creating a typeface deeply rooted in

the history of typography: a clean, uncluttered, hand-drawn letterform

for a new era. What Crouwel fails to mention is the ground-breaking

result which he insists was not his intention. “I simply wanted to make

a consistent alphabet based on

that grid of squares.” It’s difficult

to make sense of this statement

when viewing Neu Alphabet. To

the average viewer, Neu Alphabet

comes across as bizarre, experi-

mental, and undeniably futuristic.

Crouwel left no distinction be-

tween uppercase and lowercase

letters. Many of the forms are so

minimal that they are unreadable.

Many critics were unkind saying

that Crouwel’s experiments were

unrealistic and had gone too far.

(Middendorp, 120). If anything,

Neu Alphabet is a prime example

of Crouwel’s blissful ignorance

of his own contributions or his

insistence on down-playing his

experimental nature. One gets

the sense that Crouwel was

working under the belief that all

of his work still fell under a strict

Swiss inspired design sensibility.G

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GAfter Neu Alphabet, Crouwel’s experimental nature would only grow

stronger. A poster he created for the Fodor Museum for instance

resulted in an incredible merging of Modernist typefaces with a futur-

istic, computer based aesthetic. The letterforms themselves are based

on standard Modern type but made solely with rectangular forms. Each

rectangle has slightly curved corners giving it an even more intriguing

look. The real experimental nature came when Crouwel laid this type on

top of a pattern of pink dots on an orange background. The result was a

completely unique and somewhat

decorative letterform. The type-

face Stedelijk also came out of this

experimental time, looking like a

more legible Neu Alphabet.

While the majority of Buro De-

struct’s typefaces use strong geo-

metric design, a certain number of

them look like direct homages to Wim

Crouwel. Lo-Fi and Console creat-

ed in 1997 look like descendents of

Crouwel’s Fodor or Stedelijk. The

following year they made Stereotype

and Console Remix which also owed

a debt to Fodor and Stedelijk.

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fBuro Destruct’s Cash from 2001 bears a strong re-

semblance to Architype Ingenieur, a newer typeface

Crouwel created based on his exhibition work from the

1960s and 70s. Buro Destruct’s interest in these forms

continue to reveal themselves throughout the years. For

instance the typefaces Designer and Spinner from 2004

show an interest in creating hybrids out of Crouwel’s

work and the cultural vernacular of today.

In weighing the evidence, the

similarities between Wim Crouwel

and Buro Destruct far outnumber

the differences. On the surface,

they seem incredibly different. Wim

Crouwel continues to cite the grid,

structure, and architecture as his

major influences. He didn’t see it

coming when pop culture eventu-

ally embraced his work and start-

ed using Neu Alphabet in a hip,

contemporary manner. “Suddenly

it appeared in pop magazines like

Raygun and blah, blah, blah”(Hel-

vetica). To those of us living in the

contemporary world, Neu Alphabet

seems like an obvious choice for the

avant garde of music or any other

arts for that matter.

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fBuro Destruct on the other hand, know that they

reside firmly in contemporary culture. They cite their

Swiss roots, but are quick to diverge into bizarre ram-

blings about the nature of their work.

“ . . . w e f e e l d e e p l y r e l a t e d t o t h e

p e o p l e o f t h e f o r e s t s a n d t h e

f a i r i e s o f t h e m e a d o w s . F r o m f a r

a w a y o n e c a n s e e t h e l i g h t s a n d

h e a r t h e s o u n d s . T h e y ’ r e l i k e a

d r u m r o l l i n a t w o q u a r t e r b e a t o r

p o s s i b l y a l i t t l e m o r e . ” ( B u r o D e -

s t r u c t , P r i n t ) .

r

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Buro Destruct’s

Equipment

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

abcdefghijk lmnopqrstuvwxyz

1234567890

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abcdefghijk lmnopqrstuvwxyz

1234567890Wim Crouwel’s

Fodor

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tBuro Destruct makes it perfectly

clear that they are aligned with cur-

rent youth culture. Aside from fine

art and design influences, they also

reference “pop groups like Kraft-

werk, KLF, or the Sex Pistols” (Buro

Destruct, Print). However, when you

look past what they say, who they

reference, and simply look at the

work—the typography of Crouwel

and Buro Destruct looks surprisingly

similar. It is clean, sharp, and highly

structural. Much of it emphasizes 90

and 45 degree angles. The type of

both is almost always fairly minimal

and strongly defined by the grid. It

is in this sense that a love for Swiss

design shines through.

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Swiss design still has an incredible

impact today. In a world becoming

increasingly chaotic by the vast

number of media outlets, design

studios, and type foundries made

possible by 21st century technol-

ogy, people still want order. They

want neatness and cleanliness.

Swiss design gives us that. Whether

it’s through the work of Wim Crou-

wel, Buro Destruct, or nearly every

other type designer working today,

Swiss design has solidified it’s place

in design history and contemporary

design practice. Far from being

just a movement in history, it is

here now, and it has a guaranteed

place in our future. t

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D e s i g n e rDavid Hodgson

P roj e c tTypographer’s Book Design

C o u rs eTypography III

F a cu l t yFrancheska Guerrero

Co l l e g eCorcoran College of Art and Design

W o r k s C i t e d“BD Biography.” BD Biography. Buro Destruct, 2012.

Web. 04 Nov. 2013.

Destruct, Buro. Buro Destruct II. Ed. R. Klanten. N.p.:

Prestel, 2003. Print.

Helvetica. Dir. Gary Hustwit. Perf. Manfred Shulz, Massimo Vignelli,

Rick Poynor. Veer, Swiss Dots, 2007. DVD.

Middendorp, Jan. “Wim Crouwel and Dutch Calvinism.” Dutch Type.

Rotterdam: OIO, 2004. 117-23. Print.

Polano, Sergio, and Wiliam Bottin. “Wim Crouwel’s Adventures into

the Experimental Worlds.” IDEA Magazine Issues No. 323 July 2007:

n. pag. Web. 2 Nov. 2013. <http://www.idea-mag.com/en/

publication/323.php>.

Lopetz (Buro Destruct). “Introducing Buro Destruct.” Interview by

Hype For Type. Hype for Type. N.p., 9 May 2011. Web. 2 Nov. 2013.

<http://www.hypefortype.com/blog/2011/05/09/

introducing-buro-destruct/>.

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T y p ef a c e s

Wim Crouwel

Foundry Gridnik

New Alphabet

Fodor

Stedelijk

Buro Destruct

BD Fimo

BD Chantilly

BD Algebra

BD Outline

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