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I q7 2HOW CAN ONE M AKT SWISS TYPOCRAPHV:Wotfqang tvetn.qan

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WH AT I5 'SWISS TYPOGRAPHY':

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t ,e.m ro rmplv_on rhc c.n +rrilry. rs lou wrI see lbr vourlelfhF.Because I come frorn Snirzerlanr

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,,,11,!yrr o, nor say .teaching .icrivities.because

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renounces extcnsilc design dogma, .rnd tends to look unorthodox. Bur this seconddirecrion is unthinkrblc withouc the classicrl'Swiss Typogrrphy,' in thar rr is a logicalturrher development ofrt.Thrt is the kind oftypogrrphy which, together with my stu-denrs, I havc tried to develop for the past 6ve ycars With that, I end my introduction.

I would likc to summarize what you can expecr in the next sixry minures: aconfrontaiion with the lcgendary concept of'Swrss TypographX' and a very personalstatemenr of a very personal concept of typoguph], rnd rypography education. (Forsome peoplc, maybe too penonal).

But 6rsr, the ansrver ro a question which I am repeatedly asked. and perhapsone thar may be in the minds of some of you here: 'How did you come ro teachrypography in Bade. Wcingart?

The short answer is rhat in 1963, by chance. I met Armin Ho&nann. Actuail):,I or,1y rvanted to inquirc about his and Emil Ruder! clases. I showed a ferv rypo-graphic desigas that I had brought from Germanv, and as far as I can remember therewere three designs in particutar (right) which enablcd mc to begin study wrrh bothteachers one year latcr.The attempr to learn wpography wrrh Emil Ruder failed.l felcmyself les of a studenr, :nd more oF an observer. In this role I remained free fromrypographic dogma. and critical in the face of design crireria. A1so, the conracr withArmin Hofinann was. at rhat dme, very short-he lelt our school for some time andwent ro rhe national Design Institute in Ahmedabad. India. In that respect, I feel thatI am neirher a Ho6nann strdent, nor a Ruder student, bur insread, self-taughr.

Through my way ofmaking rypography, and through publicarions in rechnFcal journals, my relatronshipEo rhe Basle School was drs-Eanr but friendlr lpcciallvwl(h Armin Hofmann. qhohas acovelv supponcd myideas all along. I can stil1remember the question in1963 as to wherher I wouldhke to teach typographv forhim in the near future.

In spring 1961t thcAdvanced Course for Craphic Design was started, andtodall as lar as I knorv, it remains a solitary nlodel inSwitzerland, as wcll as the rest oF Eurcpe. It is a$endedpredominandy by foreign students. rhe mrjoriw liomAmerica.Wirhin rhis course, a posiiion in rhe typogmphyiaculw was open. and so I began.

Up until thrt tine it was accepted that thcwpographv teachers and studencs rvould teach rnd learnqpographv .rccording to the patented concept of'SwissTyp ograph-v'

What then, is ro be understood bv thc term 'Swrss Typoeraphv?'We canattempt to explain thi! coorplex concept perhaps wrth the aid of rhese frve especiallyrypical examples:

With them, vou !.D sce rhat certain desrgn principles arc very predominant.That rs. ceftain char.rctcrirocs likc the typc stvle, design structure and grav valuebecame nrmediatel,r obvious in the trrined obscrvcr. Evcrythnrg is based on the right

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angle, and everyrhrnq is ordered wirh regard ro maierials and rhe hand_serrine process.The esscnrial goal is to inplicare rhe unprinted whire space :s a design f;cror. Thecriteria for this are rhe r\\o rarher puriranic.rl concepts of.informationi and its re:,1_ability,' which, in their complex meaning, are simplified. We are in agreemcnr thartoday. in spire ofall rhe progres and knowledge in connnunictions research. there nno reliable definidon ofwhar is r reasonable. aair, unmanipulared message. coniptetcl.,,aside 6om the quesrion ofwhecher rhere could. or cven should be suct , a.n"t,;".Furthermore, ir n aho difrculc ro explain how a mcsage cor_r1d be translared. wpo_graphicaly, ),er remain efecrive.

Here is lvherc I began, because when all ofrhe previous quesrions are unanswered, rhen 'Swiss Typographv' can be ontv one of many posible diredions, and inno way, as some ofits advocates rssume. rhe absolute typography.The decidine factorfor mc r. ro rake the oergn . rrrena of Swr . Tvpogtuoh!. r. a ,en.rbte p,inr oideprrru'e, Jnd rhrough rercn.ne and crpe, imenr"oon. (o Jevetop n(s de.rgn modet.. rinccrhe bcginning. I have bcen conscious ofwhat mv responsibitities are as a rlpoeraphvteacher in Basle. Ir was never rhe idea ro throw either .B,sle,or .S-rss T;og;a;h;,overboard, bur rather ro attempr to expand them-ro entiven and .t *g. ri.l, *iif,the heip ofinrensivel,\, consrdered design crireria and new visuai iders. Final{ the re:.onforthr le. rure r. ro p-c.en, ,l-e re.!rtr. or . rej"rrretr .horr per od or dereloprcnrin both our class wrcrk and mv own experimenratron.

I think I should explain what I undersrand bv.he rerms,teaching merhod,and tchool.' k seems importanr ro me, because such a de6-nirion will make the following pifturcs:nd theories more ffid"*,"dunderstandable. 2/utbk

'Schooi,'for me, rs.rn insiitution which, rhrough a cerr]in reaching program, a(emprs ro clari6,. ccrrain infbrmarion.This inaomration rs essen.ially indcpendent trom lhe concreredemands made by exisring profassioul srandards.The reachingprogrrms are open, nor bound by 6xed opinions.The conrenrofthe proeram is deternined and consranrlv devetoped in rhe

o lIschool. Ir is imporrant thar'school'maintarns rn erpertmenrJ character.The s.udenrsshould nor be srven irrevocable knorvledec or values. bur insread, the opportuniw roindependenrlr .earch f,,r .u,h \rlue. Jnd Lnowtedg.. ro devetop ,hem.

"nd t..rn ,oapply rhem.

The resuh oa such schooting is not a programmedrypogrphv bur rnxe.o. , wpogtuphv o, g-aphr. oe.rmcr 1972who.

-. " .t"rung pi)rnL rn nr\ pracr, ri uork. n,\ ,h< po..r. Hsusmitteilungen

b,lrrre. ,nd potenti,.'ric of nposrrphr de:re rn rr. gra,p 6'ln*1i#l?rrr;.Thx vierv is acrually the rrademark oF rhe Basle schoot: pro- Baseividing thorough basic knowledge abour design possibiJrriesand consranrlv developing Jnd building upon rhis knowiedge. Nor.just the 6nding ofp.e-ser desien patterns! but insread, rhc arrempt to tuin rhe \enses ro recognize aitern:rive design direftions, and to use each of these direcrions with equat imporrance.instead ofsearching for rypographic expresion, our cducarjonal goal is ro tind diFer_entirted tl pographic solurions.

In m,v rvpographv clas one can 6nd both middte-aris and stmns grid srytcsbcside thc rieer, more flcrible exerclses.The prerequisi.e, e\clusivelx rs rhrr t'br eveN.olutron a rc'ren be dcvetrpcd wrrh h"r.,hc ,ndrvrdult ;ceJom ,.olarge thit, iilr c\rmple, .rn'uulv design can becomc a.beaLrtiful,desien

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I hope thar mv short dcinrtion h.rs ma,lc clcar royou what kind of'rchoot'w.e rre srriving for in Baslc. andhow these ideas operarc relativc ro rhe goals, lnerhods andcriteria otmy rypography course.Then. rvhen you knowrhese didadic ideas, you will tind rhar the abundant pos-sib rties of'Swrss Typognphy,' which I wil sholv you. area natural conscquence of them.

Wuh ihar, I beleve I have clarified why I n1ustspeak about rypogGphy insrrucrion, if I w:rnr to speakabout rypography. For me. one is nor possible without

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the otherBack to our rheme:'How Can One Make Swis Typographv?, Obviouslv rhe

que:rron hr: a double meanrng. Ir. firx ob.Jecnvc rs Sws,Tvpoer"phv. atrhough. r: uehave seen, no one accually knows exactly whar .Swiss Typograptry,x today. ihe sec_ond aim ofthe question is that of the 'making' of typography, which is in iaeifoues_rionrble. rn rhJr I L, qurre drmcult ro mrke ,omrrnrng rh-r on< :,nnot ex,ctlr def,""_The ansuer ro rn) ruo-'rded que.uon i.. Fir.tlv. rU or rh ex"mple\ tiom m) rypogrr_phy courses and my personal rvork are 'Swns Tvpograph,v,-they t

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-rai ;"Switzeiland_ and srem Fom chcqi.l swt( qpography Secondly, you will learn aboutche 'making' of rhis wpography in that I shall discuss irs entire design process_rhar is,the preliminrry, conceprual, and design considerations, as rve| as our finat crrreria.

I do nor wanr ro overlook a dncussion about typography! right ro e!st. Ithink thar irs existence hrs a sense, rs long as we have somethins ro communic,r+and thar i, a: human berng\. ra irh very drfferenri"red .en.rr.l necd'., not as auromaronswith facrual informacion needs, capable ofbeing mechanicallv satxfied.

Derprre rhrs. I rm nor ,ure rbour rhe valuc "nd po.rri"n of wpographv inloday's communications scene. Cerraidy, rypographv todav does nor hr"., r"a ."""*

lead, its own life; much les so rhan in earlier times_ Bur what does this,own life,mean? Aclually nothing rnore rhan life &om itseli for itsell sufiicient

In concrest, rhis inside cover ofrhe Roling Srones record E.rile o, Mdn Srr.era4-d {ie r- u{ !16 is exa.tly rhe opposire. The artcmpr is much more ro

express visuall,v those specific Roling Sronei qu:licies ofhard-rock subculture aesrhetrcs and nonconformist ;ttitudc!: 'shabbv-beruriirl.' A Germrn music critic rnd.non-d.signer said oa rhis anti desien idea,, ,Thi cover,wi.h all rrs vulgarin and rasretessness, wo*s like an iron_ic cormenr on the polished image which rhe Ro[ingSrones ecquired. in rhc eves of mrnv cdrics. afcer theirhst English rour.'

Thi\ cover quesrions rhe convcnrional conceprof cvpography. which .omnoniy means thar which crn be ser rnd princcd. tu weknew, thx idea is verv limrted. Ir origin.rred trom r hrndcrafr ideotosr.,i,, *t i.t, ,t...was no place for important modern reproducrion tlrcrhods.

In contrast, u,e dc6nc q pograph,v rodar ,:s onc of many dcsign 6etds in whichthe object is to producc comrnunicarion. We, rhe rvpoqraphcrs. rlciermine rvhar rhespecific wpographic rncrns arc. rnd which olrhcse .rre to bc used.

Thn rs .}n examplc tiom rhe 1971 perer Stur.vcsanc crmpaisn in WesrGerman,rl which is probably unf.rmiLiar to most ofyou.Thx camprign, which was oneof the most successful evcr in German adverrlsins, rxn for .tlmost ren vean with the

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slogan The Aronra of rhc crcrt Wide Worid..Atrer rhefirm had decided ro dcve)op a newer, more modern crn_paigr, the problem was how ro rerain. at leasr partial,v, rheold and succcstul conccprjon. One does not just throw"w,! rhl which hrr tun,. oneJ.. welt. {. \ou ,.n rec,nrhr .olur on. onir 'thc A-orna i. ptJ,.eJ Jbove ,he pcrerSru."Tesanr pack wirh rhe urrds.of rhe GrearWideWorld,being supplied by the mrnd ofrhe German consumer,

rhe,re.:1r in advemsrng. :s rtrong concepruat ideas move to the foreground,de"gn i\ pu\hcd rnro th< b:ctground.Whar is rhe tuncrion of qpognph,v hire? Forexaraple. rs readabitity a problem in rhx case, which must be sof".a _,ift *"ri,t"i".:It is because I thlnk this w:ry that my relationship wuh wpognphv.em,,nsunbroken. I sec the uncerrarnor bur I have it tess than

--y *1.. ,i.g'."ifr..,. i".me. there have never been any tvpograph). probtems. but instead.,i.rl {,p.3r'ai*problems.There is no comperirion berween rexr and picrlrre. bu, in,*"j.,.'rfili_-

AJthough therc x no picrurc involved. this csampie demonsrr.rces clcarly rvharI me"n. A, 6r ont! d krnJ or rechni;Jl orsJ'rrz ,on .f,;. ";;eraphr. e cnrenr.. bur srrh nrure crrr.al ob,ir\"rion on" ,..i,,.. ,1,, ,h. t,,. .,;;.design lies in irs synracrrcal values. Thar rs, from rhe .."r..,io, b..r.., ,*; ;_

ments as npe, format and placcmenr. I believe it is exrcrt,\, here, in the expression ofthe svnra.ric momenr, rhar thc decisivc criteria lie, in that here ,h. grrph,. ".;;,"iconigurarion comes ro fruirion.

A parallel cxrmplc: a printed word can only tunction

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'ucn , role. In orher wordr, rt beionr.. ordenr ontv

Jt:LT:'::T"TT--;.TJ::;: ffl' ::,.;,':l : ;:j_ BAS LEFrJphrcJl loc"rio.r. wh.r.a l-( wortd B",te i .lor. On rheorher hand. the rvord Basle is undersrandable to an Engtrsh speaking person. Basel:German, Basle: English.

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I woutd like ro intro,duce rhe rheorerical concep.of syntax hcre. because ir issom*hrng of .r kcy concept rnundersrandine mv view oftypographv k rs a kind offrx-point in my design goals, andthe drive behind m,\, di&cricwork. From now on. I wilt herepearedlv speakrng about svnlactlc. semanhc, rnd pragmrricrelationships,n npographtSorne ofvou rrc probabl,v notfamiliar wirh rhese elenlenrarvconcep* in reiation ro a so-cild coirnnurucarlons rheoryso I harr mrde r dirgrID which!hould help illusrrarc rhe

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fundions ofsigns-The point of deparrure is rvhat one mcans by a sign'' In this casethe word breast'has rwo meaninss: the mani breast and rhe woman's brelst' I! is aword *'rrh two complctely dilTerent meaningp Thrs prinred rvord does notjust standrhere: it merns somerhing, a ccrtain 'breast,' which in our case will be a mm\ breastThe fact rhat a sign only funcdons as a sign when n refers to somdhing' or shouldmean something, is c2lted rts'semanric sign-func'ion'

Thrs sign, or rypographic word-picture.'brersr" rs composed ofdifferent basicsigns, or le*eri. Thc relarionship of the lerters to one anolher and ro the paper' is."ll.d rh. ty,rt".ri. sign-func cion' of a sign And of course it's ciear that a sign canonly tuncrion as r sign when lhere is someone there ro rcad n, whi'h means a sign-,st be madc in such a wav rhat it crn be seen. read and undersood Thrs'etrecC ofa sign betongs in the area of'pragmrtic sign-function' This simple model demon-,trri., a .orrmrt i"uti"n Pro.ess that does not function very well The receiver (3) ofrhe messrge'breasr, undersrands a woman\ breast, which is something diferent thrnthe sendei (t) acually intended.This is a Problem lvhich we all share our designsoroduce Jrfferent efecr.. Ou rgn' can "cqulrc r mernrng orner than rhar rntended'

ln an.uer ro the que\tron poseo l thc rheme for tni' le'ture l wo'rld hke rosay that one can od,v make rypography rodav ifone undersrands its syntrctic dimen-sion. More simph stated. the svntacrLc dimension in wPograPhv is. for fle, iI new rer-riror,v Here I see an undiscovered. surprrsrng vnual I'ocabularv, wrth more effe'tivedesign merhods for supplving information. N.lturalh: rhese new Possibilities are not*ithin e"sy reach: these first bits of knowledge rnd 6rsr nerv panerns cannot imnre-dirtely be ransposed to a prarical level, especially not in roday! world of consumera

picx. In thrs way vou can become a student of mine fbr a while. Forger rhar voualready know something about !)-'pography-possibly too much. Put aside your n?o,graphic cxperiences, prejudices and aesrheric preconceptions, r! leasr for rhe nex!

TECHNI(JAL WORK AND ELEMENTARY TYPOCRAPHY

Imaginc th:t you need my course and have no ideas abour qpography. As your mostimporrant goal you want to experience as many cypographic posibilities as you canin pcrhaps rwo years, and become independent.

Our 6rst exercrse is as follows:In rhe 6rst fLw hours I insuuct you in typcsctting techniques and rei:ted

probtems.You set a ragged-right composrtion, print it and attempt ro improve it opri-ca1li.. Fmm tlls ragged-right composihon you now mrke .ompositions ofblock, middle-axis, and free line placemena.

When you have rhesc abilities ac your command, F'c can Proceed.o the second exerci\e I give you a qpcwritten manuscript rvhich ,vou set in one t-vPe size.Ihatis rvhv vou have learncd to sct r.vpe du ng the 6rst cxercrse. Only rhe prinled *'ordis reali+', not rhat which has been skerched or nade 6om btind rexr. Onlv with ; setand prinred word can you rerlize its rctual length, its relarionship to orher rvords and!o lhe enrire text. as well as ro your predesig:r:red space.

The text and lormar ofthe next eiercise (abo\) rs also devised to deepenyour 6rst experiences ofthe division ofspace. through chc studv of the placement oflet.ers and lines and their inrerrelarionships, and wirh che aid of .r certain selt--decermined program.lou attempt to orsanize vrsuall,v your namc and address rvrthin

\r nh rhe ume hmr:rror'. ro', ,rrempr ro 'ohe a ' ; irnore conpler. pracn.e-orrent,rcd pt"blem You ,ttenpt ,o , I Ivisu:lize rhe logic and conrenr of.he text.You rry ro tindfunctional rypographic design possibilities, b:sed on crneriaiikc reedabiliw, texr organizrcion, .lnd vrsurl qualiry

A, r'1i. porr,. J .iighr Jrgre^ronnisrake to assume that r-vpograph-v Instrucrion for graphrcdetigners rs not very me:rningful, or ro sa,v thtrt the terching ;:--

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ofelcmentarl r),pographv problenx rs supericial. in rhat an,vinteligenr studenr can mrsrer lhcm b,v himselt-To thts I would like to rePly thrt the

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LOOKINC CLOSER

:!:more basic a problem n slared, rhe more dificuft itbecomes to solve. Complcx problems allow mistakes andsuperficialities to be more casily hidden.

Because we have already pushed rhese elemen-tary exercises somewh:rr roo far,let us solve anorher func-tional problem as an end to rhis firsr chaprer.You have rodesign a business lerterhead conforming co the DIN sys-rem, rhe German industrial Norm syscem, which n ahovalid in Switzerland.

As .Jready stated, I rm convinced rhat such ele-menrary rypographic exercises are a prerequisite for thesolution of complex rypographic design problems. OnIyhere can the eyes, mind and feelings be equally and grad-ualy trained, and only here can one tearn ro deal con6-dently w:th formar.

'pace, proportron and \ompo\rnonBeyond rhat. these basic exercises prcvide insighr andknowledge into general typographic problems, and are

indispensable in the erecurion ofconcrete prrcrical prcblems. Only when the studenrhas understood that makingtypography means the visua1 organization of a givenspa.e with regard ro a spe-.i6c tunctional intention,will he be in a posirion inrhe tuture to make indcpen-denr wpogrrphical deci-sions, regardles of wherherthe emphasis iies on deating with complex praftical pmblems or on experimentalwork. Obvioudv, I see rhat a brc idealisrically

The mosr important result of these basic exercises is rhar the studenr devel-ops a relrtively open relationship ro everything that has ro do with rypognph,: He is

in a posirion ro explode rhe old venerable concepc ofrypograph,v-.rt lerst in rhe syntactical sense. In opposi_tion ro flxed tradirions, he rs less rigid in dealing u.rth the

' materials and technical opporrunities of che workhop., He has learned chat a composed word need noc look like

composed word. For example (far lett), rhe conven_,.

rional word piclure for Swissaia and with ic the wordr' Swrssair ser wirh an increasing progression from bottom

rowards rop. which becomes : semancically changedword-picrure. In this case Swissair is an aidine company which. through the pmgres-sion ofrhe lerers. has a part ofits most typical acciviry visuatized-that offl,ving;rheform rres into the air.The srudent has now realized rhar the marerial is nor. as in ctas-sical rypography, stiffand only applicable in : very lnn-ited war

This picture shows the tecbnically limited possibiliiies of hand-setting-the hodzonral and verrical.The studenr shouid have rhe courage ro viola.e rhere.pe. red irw' of leal q p.grrphv when rr rs nere.url

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THE SY\TACTI(' DIME\SION IN TYPO(;RAPHY

As you can see. rhe arrangemenr oFexamples into chaprers is nor mernr so preciselv Nattrall,v in rhc basic

exerclscs rve bcgan rvorking rvlththe connecoon of qpographicelements to onc anorher. Ne-rr, Ibegan to distribure diffcrentproblems to rhc srudents-morccomplex problems rhat dcmandgreater eifor. nalurath., withconsrderanon ro leveis oa ralenrand inrerest. Our fr6h probiem isrcally an erpansion ofthe prcviousones. The text rs more compte\and you har.e fint onc. then nro.and finall,v manv rype sizes rr

,vourdisposal. to dcr.elop a senes ofvendiferenr results.

In these Swissair adver*ements ibr a daily newspaper(righr), rou have rhe possrbilii ro

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-a:compicrely exhausr rhe inrcrprerarive possibiliries conrained rnthc text and flight-plan. Therc are fewer resrrictions tn rcl.r_oon to rvpe marerial :nd dcsign freedom.

Thcsc lurther er.rmptes (lefr) deuronsrrare a strongcontrasr and clearrension in rhe 6.po-graphic design rrlrerial uscd. Thcvshow advercisemenrslor thc Swiss Post,Telegr3m and Telegraph Service flrl),which rre p ub-lished on rhe backcovers of relephonebook.Thev conrarninlbrmation aboucthe diflcrent ser-vices olfe re d byPTT.

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Here is a posrer for the Tr:ns-European Express(TEE).We have set oursclves the go.rl of connecting differenr semantic in.erpretations wirh on. another.The methodfor rhis should be thc rppli.ation of different syntaccicdesign material: middlc-axrs composirion (upper left and atthc bottom)t block composition, with extreme word andlinc spacing (upper righQ; block composition. spaced indc.reasing progressions (1ower left). block compositionwithout additional manipulation (lorver right).

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The work rhat I have shown you is verv diverse becruse rhc studcnts thcnr-seives rre very- ditGrent fiom one anothcr.They differ in their basic educrrions. in.ercsts,rnd rbiti.ics. as wcll as rhcLr natrrnalities. Oftcn there are as manv as si\ diEcrentnariomlities on one couIsc. On avenge,l figure on onc-tburrh.onvinced opposition,one-fourrh convinced supporr, one-fourlh nor convinced support, and one tourthmisdirecred prolcssionals. As you can imagine, rhis is I fundrmenrrl handicrp for anvlcson or teachine mcrhod.There rre some students often thc majoriry-who

.rrevery dependenr on .hcir rcspeclrle reachers rnd constandy w:nt to be led. Only a ttware in a position to scarch. tind, and decide independcntll:

This 6equcnrlv rnrense srudenr-reacher relarionship is naruralty the c.ruse ofa certaln unifornirv in rhe rcsula from the class.To thr oftcn-rlade reproach:grinstborh rhe school and rnvseli. I rvould say tro things: Firsrly. whrt reaching merhoddocs not le.rd to a certain uniformity? Regardles of whcre I look I see only eradurtdiEerenccs. Secondty, these more or lcss cvident rraces ofunifornirv in rhe rlork arenot of primary importance, bur insread. what is important is the foundation uponwhich thcv .rre built. I admit thar our school docs in ,t cert:rin sense produce Lrniftrrnresults-in r visual sense. But ar the samc ome I rhrnk rhrr rhe exercises enrblc thestudcnrs to trunsfer their undcrlving knonledge and abiliry to a polition $,hcrcbxduring practical work, erch can reach complctclv drlferenr krnds ofresulrs. Obviously.this is nor so ersil,v generatize.t-lt is inrporrant to rake inlo considerarion rhe e\.cr1tto which rhe personalio. rntelligence. rnd rbl1i6, ofthe srudcnt has been dcveloped.

As I've alrcad_v mcnooned. I place gre;rt importance on thcse exrnples andthe workrng process thar leads to rhcm.Thev rre loosening up e\ercises for the designstudent. similar to elenenrarv exercnes in rvhrch the emphasis is placcd nor so muchon familjarity wlth the marerials rnd rechm.al aspects. as on exp:inding the rypographical design vocabula .The nudent dis.overs a vrsurl l:tnguage-the vrsu3l hnguage. 1 nern that when the lesson functions corrccll), everv student should Iearnhow to asert himself. When .he teacher is colofxl and srimularing enouqh in wharhe does. rhe studenr rvill .eceive enough stimulLrs for the dcvclopmcnr ofhis i,ld,vid-ual abihrres .lnd ideas.

Finall\l I do not givc rhc srudcnt rny tecipes to take lvirh him, bur insreadonl,v models tbr the solutlon ofspeci6. problems.Wirh,n rhc diilerenr kinds orprob-iems set. the sludenr has enough opportuniw to practice coning ro rern1s \rirh borhthc problenrs rnd hnnrelt. Bu. as I srid,I see rhe problen ven cl.rrlv and I am con-scious that it cannor be i:uUy expl3lned wi.h r few quick sentences. The so calledschooi crxrs ralked rbout lodr_v rs not rs noriceable in Basle a\ in other similar instFtutions. From whar i have seen. rhe crisis is visible in o.her.ountries, especi:rlv inEurope. Toda!, itw schools can or wanr ro luncrion as in earlier tinres. Obvroush, thereason is thr. both classical understanding ofone: selaand the soci.J role ofrhe schooLas rn adaplrble institution hrvc broken dorvn. But I believe-rnd nsk saving rr rharthere is rnorher rerson: not onlv hrs this self understanding' brokcn down. bur ,rlso. sohas drscrphne.'Therc rs no reliable.e:tching concept irnv ntore. no prograrn on rvhlchan educroon can bc btrsed not even a rehrble direction lvhlch one .ould ib o\r

Evcr,vone does what hc \ranrs.What is mrssinE! rre good reschers rnd lecrur-ers.I do not know ofone school oda,v in Germanr tbr e\.tmple. lvhich connnues themethodi.al pioneer $ork begun by thc Bauhrus. Ir was rrrenlprcd b,v Lrr,, but wthdi$erent prcrequisitcs.rnd in anorher envirrnne nt-and

,vou know how thar ended-Wirh rhe e\trmplc oF t-'lfl ),ou ,ian see what I metrn. in rhtrr L7r, was ruincd b,v, amongother rhrnej. the loss olits threc dorrinrnr personalities: Mr\ BiI.Tonis M,ldonJdo. and ,-l

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Bonsiepe. Certainl,v, todry\ studenB *?nt nothing ro do with such strong domineeringpersonalines. Bur I am opposcd ro this. If we want to recons(ucri ro nor only look forbut also re;rlize new direcoons. u'e need snong, flex1b1e, and acnve personalides.

THE SEMA\TIC DIMENSION IN TYPoGI'APHY

The basic exercises in my classes are syntactic exercises. But in working wich rhe synthetic dimension che semanlic cannor be excluded. By thar I mean activating thar parrof typognphy dealing wirh the meaning ofthe design elements.

As I mentioned * thc beginning, whar is decisivc for me in my instrucrion isrhe typogrdp/ri. aspect of typographl This is not.just a question ofsyntax. but instead,a quesrion ofsemancic evalua.ion ofEhe syntadical elements.

Nacurally, our erercises on chis deme are very Jimited in chac we are not ascientiic insti.ution, which could, with large technical expenditure, conducr testsrelated ro the semantic qualirv and etrectiveness of wpographic signs- In rhar respectour exercises remain relativelv subjective. But wirh experience and a healthy humanundersranding at our disposal. we expedment with the character ofletterforms, theirsizes and associations, as remancic factors. One could say that we are expanding rhevnual vocabulary of design alternacives. But, in cerrain respects, we go much turrherrhan anv scientiic testing can, in rhat empiical science wirh ir! social scientific test-ing merhods can in general dcal onJy with the expectations and known experiences ofthose .ested. Only in rare cases can something new bededuced fiom such information.

As an example, some years ago I received a hinrfrom the disciplined and intelligendy solved logorype for Atabian AirlinesArabian Airlines. I Eried co derermine if the Arabic association tunccion onl,\7 bec.tuse the i dot was turned on irs

fuabian AirlinesOr n it perhaps just as good wirh simple rcund

dots, which are nor normally used wirh rhis cypeface.Helveti.,?

I am sure you find, as I do, that the effect of theturned square cannot be surpassed.As proof of rhe qualiryof rhx vsu.ri idea-which is definirely an idea, and nor aproducr olso-called syntaccic research-l placed it in con-Eontauon with a Iine otArabic scripr.

One realizes where the connection of this mosringenious microaesthctic invasion into our wesrern letter-ing structuie lies-in the dots-whi.h in Arabic scripr, aredeternxned by the wriung implement.

Here are some othcr examples that I lbund inkne1. Thq, supporr my theory rhat certain graphicmodifLcations in typograph),, or lettering, can inrensitv the

:il:t,j.i:."]:il :iff :i':illr il::i::::;:H:H:, jt*r ., jr,-typographv reduces rhe rssociacive sem.]ntic dimcnsion ofwpogr"ph, .r,

" mcrn, of.omJnunrt'lrion Ihc frmou.

. AraDlan ArnrnesLo!q-Loia trJdenrark look\ rittteren! rn Hebrew -hLr.hll

awakens an immedirte associarion-because we idenri6,

Arabian Airlines

Arabian Aidines

Arablan Airlines

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cerram essential chafuctcrisric\ otrhrs wett-kno$,n superngn.Wc;re rl1 ablc to recog_nize \u.h rssocirrions, errhcr conscrcuslu or. as in rhe casc oa the icss visurllv *vr;..ub,

.,n.. rourlvIr rs complete)v dif.iirrcnr wirh rhe inrcrnarionaUv knorvn conccpt .policc,

Althoush rhls lerrcring appcars on a jeep, we would not bc ;blc to dccotic theHebrcrv (ord for pohce ifthc English word was deteted. To us, t could lust rs rvellbc a milurrv jeep. The rypographic sisns in rhc English vcrsion arc rhcD \\lrhour

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A 5imiiar suurrion occlrrs $nh rhe geographical concepr.Tet Aviv', whi.hwhen spoken evokes .r largc number of asyrciations, none of rvhich can bc foundwhen looking ar rhis srreet sign In order ro orienratc ourselve\ in Israel. we need Iet-terfbrnrs rhar rre famiLar to Lrs.

-{hhough rhe\. are s!111 in rhe carl' srrges, here arcsome eramples of whar has resulted lroni our exercises

I $iI e\piain rhe con.ep.s and rdjectivcs thet scrwed assemantic soals lor e.rch ofthe respecrive probiem Shownhere are nr.o semanric interpreralions ofrhe threc lerrers,TEE, for lrans European Exprels. Comfort.tble neeping:rhe round form reprcsenr 'clouds.' whrch are soti andshould lead to the associarion w.ith 'solt bcd.'Thc quafteimoon \uFpor6 rhrs idea of'bed' and a nighr! sleep'rhrough .r\\ocia.ions sirh 'dreamrng' rnd 'romanclc ni-ehrs'Fasr to rhe destinarion:lhe extrcmc perspectlve ofthe cap-ital letters and rhc rrovemenr'torvrrds a poini or los.ardsa go.r1.'should help usu.rlize the racinq rempo ofthis lons-dxtance, high specd uain.

Obviouslr', rhese cxamples do nor have much to do wuh typographic de,gn.,but rhcy do otler a ve4, good vielv ofrhe overlap berween graphic design and rrpog-raphy, especially with reterence ro problems thar emphasize rhe scmrnrrc. To rhrrextenr the_v tun.rion !s preliminar,v desi-qn exercises, or as burlding blocks in thedesign proces ofa poster or Logonpe.

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PolrcE S;Irtsl[n gir'l^'1' \i,i.,r1 L1!..riil.I,,,.

i;]T,i;i?, rE;^isti

This examplc illusrrates the rype ofdevelopment inour design proccss.You can see the sreps rvrth which wecame ro rhe desircd result of a semancic interpreution ofthc concept 'Biblc.'

Firsdy, wc sct rhe word'Bible' as ir is commonlyknown.Thrr is, readable, and with the normal letters ofouralphaber.

Secondlyl wc considercd how we could best incerprert1rrs concept visuallyWc selected one possible inrerpreraron;the 'classical' o rigins ofrhe Bible.Then we considered wrrhwhich letters of the alphabet it is possibtc ro visuilly de6ne

Finallr,, we placcdthe selected b.rsic lerterstogerher ro form the newsupersgn 'Bible.' Thisnew rsord picture awak-ens semantic associarionswirh 'old greek lenering'or 'classical' Bible.

We ,crempt roscimulare and secure ourideas through marcri:lsrudies during the desienprocess-chat is, to con-vey the individual ide, ina generally understand:rbleform- In rhe casc of theword 'Arhens,' we invesri-galed the sEucture and thenthe wrirten origins of rheGreek letterforms. In thetypographv workshop, weattempt ro properlv represent rhe characreristicswhich \re discover, wirhrhe letrers rnd line marer-ial at our dispos.rl. ATr-t=N

BIBLE

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THI F()RNIATION OF SICNS TS 1 SYNTICTIC PIlo(]ESS

The sreps we have takcn in synracic change. \.hich until now have been concernedmosdy with compler typographic problems, are atso posiblc lvirh 5ingle letrers.Thelimirs ofrhe possibilities, excepr for a Gw ex:mples, rrc decermined bv the extent ofthe marerial m the Npogrrphv workshop, .}nd thc .rcarive abitiw oi:rhe individual

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this specinc semanric

ATH ENS ATHE NS

ATH{NS ATH=NSATI-|=NS

ATH E NS

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To what degree can we change the natlrre ofrhcletrer r? Ar whjch poinr can we srill identi& rt as an d?In other lvords, whar rs the most rypical vilual characer-rstlc necessary for ir ro be recognized?

C"n rhe,rmdn,rc vrtue ofrhe cJprrrt lerrer H bech"ngcd: I.l u hJr w"v due" rrs merning deveiop rhroughdrrercnflduon in uerghr and proporrrorrng ofthr rypo_graphic line marerial?

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In rhis exercise. rheproces of exploring tree ideasis given greater emphasis th;rnthe conscious u.ilization :ndapplication of rhese dir.overedrypo-sigrs as trademarks orlogorypes. Despire rhe tack oia given speciic probtem, thcstudent can clearlv see rheconnection of npography tographic design.

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PURE DESICN TYPOCR.{PHY AS .PAIN l ING

In case you somerimes h:rve rhe impression rhat we workin a bit oa a vacuum, I would tike to shorv vou rvhatworking in a vacuum realv means. In aI oi our work w.eare conscious thar we have anelnpty space. a vacuum, whichwe musr fiIl with wpographic

For both mvself andmy sudenrs, I rvould say thatrhe aascinarion of typographv

lies in rrs abiiil to r nsform r silenr, unprinted piece ofpapcr. wrrh rhe rrJ ofr urd .rgn,. rnro, d1n"mr. torm or

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HOW 1)oES IJASLE D]FFER FRoM()THElr SCH() O L5:

I have alrerdy spokeD to you manytimes abour 'Swrss Typography' inrelation to our work in Basle. Butrhere are many dillerent schools inSwirzerland, e.rch with verv differ-ent concepts of wpography.

How do my ideas differfrom rhe orhers? In replii I would like ro show vou some more rypical examples of'Swiss npognphy:' 6ve designs 6om Emil Ruder rndhis students (opposrce prge). The rnain crirerion lor thelorm ofrypographic dcsign rs'readab iry'Ir is the dominanr facor in the selecion and optical orgrnization ofth< npographrc sign..Th( me)\Jge to be communrc:r.ed is nor intensified through the use of additional syn-tactic or semantic material.

To question rhe mocive behind such an a$irudecowards rypography, is to question the ardtude rowardsconrmunication in gencral. For a long rime rhere has

been a rendency in 'SwissTypography'to deliver a message in a'vrlue &ee'man-ner.'Value fiee'means to prcsent a messge simply. rndnor ro eqlrip rL wrth addrrronal vrrual characteflsrlc. roheighten its semantic and persuasive ell'ecriveness_ Herethe erhics ofthe designer are very much involved.

Wrrhour brrneing erhrc inro que\oon. we (rnsay thar this 'value-ftee' arrirude rowards } 'messrge' h

onlt one ofmany However, even rhe mosr objecrive infbrma-tion, lvith the mosr sober visual presenration, sdll connects rhereceiver with personal values.

This idea. containcd in 'Swrss Typography' and strivenfor in Swrrzerland .tnd other counrries-of pure fundionalorgantzation, lvirh its grid, unifred rypetrce, rype size, andsemrntic resrrainr-is a vain rvish. It can onty be one part of.he complex fun.cion rhar discinguishes rvpography as a meursof conrmunicarion.

The humrn being has more rhan jusr rechnical andeconomic needs. Hc has very dili-erentiated psvchologicat needs, especialty in rhose

arcas that have to do withculture and aesrherics.That rs, those areas lvhichrve call 'design.'This is asociil psy.hologicrl plac-rtude from which adverrisrng, with inreiligenridcas. lively texrs andvisualizarions, has :tready

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objecri\e !ubJe.t mrrrer.Thcse lasr nvo exrm-

ples show clearly lhar .SwissTypogrrphy.' ar leasr in Swirzerland. rs in a srare of radicalchange. Or drllercntlv sratcdtoda), in Swi.zerland ar least. noone knorvs anvmorc whar rhespecirlisrs acually mean whenthe), bestow rhe honorablepredicare'Swiss Typographr'

profred grearly. (This *as very amusingly formularcd aswell x ideallv pracriccd bv rhe grand a.tverrisingphilosopher, Howard Luck Cossagc.)

Of course rhese arc only sorne examples froman abundance ofother designs wrth which I could havcilluscrared rhe concepr of.Sw.rss Typogrrphy., In conrrr.r. ,he ( J(.isn' lion thc Ba.te

"d!erri.,ng "genc)GCK ftonom), show how sonrerhine can took whenone rreJ to make inrercsring $pograph), from cotd and

Rerurning ro the acru.]t {tuesrionr How does mv concepr of typognphv andrypogrrph,v instrucrion differ fiom orher such concep$ in Swn; scho;i?.

Bastcallv. these conceprs do nor ditre. cood or bad, rve are a1I buitding on rhcdxsical'Swiss Typogrrphy.'We complercly r.ccpt rh. aundameniaf p.i".ipr.i .r r1.,.purin and piecisioD of typographjcal mnterial, irs togical and disci;hrej srrucrure.and the meaning ofrhe whrte spacc in a dcsign.W. ,..

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Perh:p. rhc rcJ,on tor rri. rs tnar Srvir:eriand orIer. even prr.on workine, rearireh ven rpec, ,l .onJ,Lron,. whr(h fo- rhe.e peopte mean. ."n,.ir,i.. Lt. , u",i6ed'ferole base.'In borh its domestic and toreign policy, Switzerland i, ,; .:

limits and recipes for typogrrphic design.Also. we try to remain blind to rhe gaEls andrrends of the internatlonal adverrising rnd design sccne. With my deinition ofschool, I h.rve arremprcd to cxplain whv \\ ,rre so logical and sometimcs a bit too

self:cons.ious in our work.k would be unfair to present our school and irs typograph_r, teaching meth-

ods onl_v in a positivc light. We also have ideas abour how we can becre! reach ourreaching goals rhrough unproved didactic means.

One of the problems n our almost exciusive occupation wirh synractic andsemantic design problcms in rypograph,v But this is only an outward expresion ofsomerhing complerely diferent.That is, the rerl problem olthe meaning of a text.lnmy opinion one cannor nukc raUy good wpogriphy withour exac knowledge andprecise understanding ofa tcxc.The srudy ofthe meaning ofrexts. through special andrheorerical lectures, seminan, and exercnes, rs completely mising in our programs.Our acrion-radius of'typographic design'rs quite small within a cheorctical model fora communicacions Process.

As you can see from my self-criricrt remarks, we are aware ofthe deficienciesat our school.The atrempt to remedy rhis siruation has been Iiusrrared by many probIems. Firsrly. by rhe organization rnd institutionsl structure of our school. Secondly,by rhe vry Limited time:t our disposal to cover the various arcas ofour ivpographyprogram. And tinalh: the entire problem rs embedded in the general social proces ofchanging consciousness and the new order ofsocial rnd cultural values.Thus. we areagain confronted u'ith the questions of the dcinition and goals of'school,' and wilhthe value and nature ofwpography.

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I\ (i():.ICLUSION: WHAT SHOULD tHECOR I\ E CT TYPOCRA PHY EDUCATION CONTAIN?

What should an ideal design school be like? And w-ith reference to my own fleld ofacdvin. what should a 'correci rvpographv educrrion consist ot? Perhaps I can our-line a deinition ot rhe gorls that the typography course must fulfill. Basicaun I see

1.The valLre of rypographt witlxn the mosr diversified cornmunicarionproceses, and its efticienc,v of communicarion. must beredefined. Such r redelinition would be rn attempt to expand thc meaningand r:nge of the concepr 'typography.'

2. In rhe fuiurc, ncw information technology and chrnging forms of commumcarion will obviously require additional new wpogrrphic standards inrelation to thc syn.actic and semantic. The substance of rypographv mustchange. along wrth the informarion it has to convey, and rhe generrl cul-tu l scene in which ir mus! fun.don.

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3. Fin.rlly. although n mav be a sublecrivc and pe.haps provocaove srrlenrent romake, I leel stlon6y'y rhar rhis neu,wpoerrphv musr.Js