Elements of International Typographic Style

One movement I learned about through my research for Project#2, A Survey of Typographic History, was the International Typographic Style or also known as the Swiss Style. It's also known as the Swiss Style because it originated and became most popular in Basel, Switzerland. Designers most associated with this movement are Armin Hofmann and Emil Ruder.

The design pieces from this movement were minimalist, objective, and ordered in a way that made the copy compliment the accompanying image.

Elements that were emblematic of this movement at the peak of it’s popularity, mainly the 1950’s until the early 1970’s were:

Asymmetrical layouts
Strict use of a grid
Geometric abstraction in layouts
Fondness for negative space
Flush left and ragged right copy
Use of sans-serifs typefaces

Here are some examples:



Both of these posters were crafted by Armin Hofmann.