Wolfgang Weingart’s typographic landscape Keith Tam 1 (This article was originally published in Polish in as ‘deconstructive’ would be too simplistic a com- 2+3D magazine, issue i-2003, Nr 6. Permission ment. His typographic experiments were strongly for the use of the images were granted by grounded, and were based on an intimate under- Wolfgang Weingart.) standing of the semantic, syntactic and pragmatic functions of typography. Whereas ‘traditional’ He started it all. It was he who ignited the spark Swiss typography mainly focused on the syntactic of ‘typographic anarchy’ that exploded on the function, Weingart was interested in how far the verge of the nineteen nineties. It was he who graphic qualities of typography can be pushed fathered what was subsequently dubbed ‘Swiss and still retain its meaning. This is when the se- Punk’, ‘New Wave’ or whatever you care to call mantic function of typography comes in: Weingart it – perhaps even post-modernism. His name believes that certain graphic modifications of type is Wolfgang Weingart. Weingart was born in the can in fact intensify meaning. ‘What’s the use of midst of the World War II in Germany. Most fa- being legible, when nothing inspires you to take mous for his experimental, expressive work that notice of it?’ How true. broke the mould of classical Swiss typography, Weingart’s work is characterized by his paint- Weingart began his typographic career in the early erly application of graphical and typographical sixties as an apprentice of hand composition at elements. The emotionally-charged lines, the a typesetting firm. He then decided to further potent, image-like qualities of his type, the almost his studies at the Basel School of Design in cinematic impact of his layouts, all speak of his Switzerland, the cradle of classical Swiss typog- great passion of creating with graphical forms. raphy. Following his rather unsuccessful attempt His typographic layouts are compelling yet lucid, at completing his course, Armin Hoffmann, who free yet controlled. Some of his personal work is was then the head of the Basel School, invited almost akin to landscape paintings, only that his him to teach there, by the sheer admiration of his paintbrush is replaced by type, rules and screens. work. He has been teaching there ever since and He doesn’t seem to perceive a divide between fine had made extraordinary impact on the contem- art and typography. His inspirations were mainly porary typographic landscape. drawn from the processes of typesetting and re- What exactly is ‘Swiss typography’? Swiss production, where he finds great pleasure in dis- typography was founded upon the teachings of covering their characteristics and pushing them to the Bauhaus in Germany soon after World War II their limits. and became a rational approach to typography. Since the first day when he arrived at Basel as The use of grid systems was the key to the logical a student, it was clear that Weingart was a rebel. disposition of type and images on the page, along In a class he had with Armin Hoffmann, the stu- with sanserif typefaces for clear, functional com- dents were asked to work on a line composition munication. Figures such as Armin Hoffmann using ruling pens. Instead of drawing the lines as and Emil Ruder were the major proponents of he was told, he went over to the type shop and Swiss typography, who were teachers at the Basel made a contraption that he could use to print School of Design at the time. They believed that lines. Weingart’s ingenuity is simply impressive: typography should be unobtrusive and transpar- he took a plank of wood, screwed L-shaped hooks ent, in order to clearly communicate its textual on it in a grid format, then turned them at 0, 45 content. By the beginning of the sixties, the lan- and 90 degree angles to form compositions, inked guage of Swiss typography had already gained it and printed it on a letterpress. He screwed reputation the world over. Swiss typography the hooks into the wood at different levels so became synonymous with corporate design for some received ink at type-high and some did not. multinationals, and subsequently referred to as Perhaps ‘rebel’ is too harsh of a description – he the ‘international typographic style’. was simply inquisitive. There is no doubt that At this point, our dear Mr Weingart barges Weingart bent the rule of classical Swiss typog- in, hurriedly corrects my one-sided viewpoint raphy – both literally and figuratively. When he of Swiss typography: ‘not only one conception was an apprentice at a letterpress workshop, he of typography exists in Switzerland’. He would was pondering about why the brass rules that proudly acknowledge that his experimental ty- were used to print tabular matter always had to pography is also Swiss, because it was a ‘natural be straight and at 90-degree angles to each other. progression’ from the classical Swiss typography He created highly abstract letterpress prints with as we know it. To call what he did and still does rules shaped into elegant curves, almost resem- 2 bling rolling hills in a beautiful countryside. ego aside and emphasize on solving particular de- Weingart works with a very limited palette of sign problems. It is the tension between his desire typefaces. He suggests that four typefaces are to express and his consideration for communica- enough to address all typographic problems. One tion that creates this interesting mix of work and of these typefaces would certainly be Akzidenz his perpetually inquisitive working ethos. Grotesk, an early sanserif of the grotesque genre How well was his progressive idea about ty- designed by the Berthold Foundry in Germany pography received at that time? Weingart recalls, at the close of the 19th century. ‘I grew up with ‘in my presentations in 1972, there was always a Akzidenz Grotesk and I love it. Akzidenz Grotesk group of audience that hated it, one group that has a certain ugliness to it, that’s why it has loved it, and the rest would all leave during the character.’ He feels that Univers, which is Emil lecture.’ The people who were against his experi- Ruder’s favorite, is too slick and cosmetic for his mentations dismissed it as something that could taste. The simplicity of his choice of typefaces never be adopted commercially. It wasn’t until speaks of his fondness of simple tools. the early eighties, when his American students Weingart’s fascination with everything me- like April Greiman and Dan Friedman brought chanical started at an early age. When he was back to the US a wealth of typographic arsenals a young boy, he once completely disassembled from Basel and co-opted it into the mainstream his bicycle and put it back together again. In his of graphic design. From April Greiman’s ‘hybrid typographic work, Weingart has been equally imagery’ to David Carson’s deconstructive page fascinated by the technology and mechanical layouts, anarchy reigned supreme in the nineties. reproduction processes. ‘For me, typography is a Those were the days for graphic design super- triangular relationship between design idea, typo- stars, whose style many a graphic designer adored graphic elements, and printing technique,’ writes and imitated. While no one can give a definitive Weingart. The possibilities that these technologies answer as to whether these American graphic offer seem endless to him, and he finds it hugely designers took what Weingart did and brought it satisfying to explore the materials: ‘The thing that to new heights, they certainly managed to make is so special for me… is the variability of the ma- it a huge commercial success. ‘They were doing it terials under the influence of idea and technique.’ as a style and it was never my idea to create fash- Technological progression eventually led ion’, denotes Weingart. The teaching at Basel for Weingart to experiment with photographic repro- Weingart is not about trends but a ‘stability’ that duction processes. Not satisfied with the rather they try to move away from, but never totally. limited range of sizes that metal type offered, Weingart’s typographic experimentations Weingart began to explore the possibilities of spanned across three different eras of typesetting the repro camera. He found that with the repro technology: letterpress, phototypesetting and the camera, a more fluid range of type sizes was computer. Yet, despite how readily he accepted possible. Working alongside Emil Ruder’s class and pushed the boundaries of the letterpress and at Basel, Weingart was able to continue pursuing phototypesetting processes, he is rather unen- his letter ‘M’ series of typographic studies that thusiastic about the computer technology. The he had begun when he was working part time computer, to him, is too illusive. He compares at a typesetting firm. He printed a few letter Ms the computer to a digital watch: a traditional by letterpress, pasted them down on a cube, and watch shows a ‘landscape’, it tells a story; a digital photographed them from different perspectives. watch only shows a particular moment. That’s This unique process yielded dramatic black and why Weingart’s students do not design on the white letterforms in perspective and formed the computer – they are asked to first work out their basis of many engaging abstract compositions. ideas by hand. Weingart wants his students to ex- In the midst of his emotionally satisfying perience design as a tactile, hands-on experience. work one will also occasionally encounter work It is surprising that he was probably also the first in his repertoire that is undeniably Swiss in its person to introduce the Macintosh computer into original flavor – calm, rational and clear.