Swiss Modernism

Swiss Style, or International Typographic Style, is often characterized by highly structured layouts and sans-serif typefaces that attempt to achieve a clear, legible, and harmonious design. A big part of typesetting in the Swiss Style is the use of grids. Check out this article: “What is Swiss Style Typography?”.

The International Typographic Style, also known as the Swiss Style, is a graphic design style that emerged in Russia, the Netherlands and Germany in the 1920s, and was made famous as it was developed by designers in Switzerland during the 1950s. ^[1] The International Typographic Style has had profound influence on graphic design as a part of the modernist movement, impacting many design-related fields including architecture and art. It emphasizes cleanliness, readability and objectivity.^[2] Hallmarks of the style are asymmetric layouts, use of a grid, sans-serif typefaces like Akzidenz Grotesk, and flush left, ragged right text. The style is also associated with a preference for photography in place of illustrations or drawings. Many of the early International Typographic Style works featured typography as a primary design element in addition to its use in text, and it is for this that the style is named.^[3]^[4] The influences of this graphic movement can still be seen in design strategy and theory to this day. — Wikipedia

Here are some simple examples of type set in the swiss style...

Neue Grafik, it was an influential journal on graphic design published 1958 – 1965

The use of the grid above is necessary to help organize the three languages used in the piece. Neue Grafik, it was an influential journal on graphic design published from 1958 – 1965 by Josef Müller-Brockmann, Richard Paul Lohse, Hans Neuburg and Carlo Vivarelli. It’s essentially the bible for the International Typographic Style.