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Based on extensive archival research, this open access book provides a fresh perspective on the early history of Isotype and pictographic communication, with new information about largely unknown episodes throughout its development. The picture-script Isotype (International System of Typographic Picture Education), previously conceived as the Vienna Method of Pictorial Statistics, evolved through numerous publications and exhibitions in the early 20th century. Christopher Burke and Günther Sandner trace how its development responded to differing cultural and political climates, through a period when the idea of a universal language – an artificial or planned language – was linked to ideas of internationality and democratic planning. This book explores in depth, for the first time, the early picture-statistical work carried out at Austrian institutions during a new era of visual education and communication during and after World War II. Examining the work of Isotype’s initiators – Otto Neurath, the founding director of The Social and Economic Museum of Vienna, the artist Gerd Arntz, and Marie Reidemeister, who performed the role of ‘transformer’, a prototype of the modern information designer – this book challenges existing conceptions of an enormously influential pictographic language. Richly illustrated throughout with over 60 examples of work by key figures, this book provides a comprehensive history of Isotype and offers critical reflections on its legacy within, and relevance to, contemporary design practice. The eBook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com.

Oft ist die Benjamin-Forschung dem Ziel verpflichtet, den ›ganzen Benjamin‹ oder dessen ›Denken in nuce‹ zu erheischen. Im Gegensatz dazu erörtert Sven Schöpf das ›ganze Trauerspielbuch‹. Im Zentrum steht hierbei die typographische Gestaltung der 1928 publizierten Erstausgabe von Walter Benjamins legendärem Barockbuch. Um deren hermeneutisches Potential aufzuzeigen, rekonstruiert die Studie schlaglichtartig die Geschichte der Druckschrift sowie die Semantik der Typographie. Zudem wird, vor dem Hintergrund der Buchkunstbewegung und der ›Krise des Historismus‹, ein richtungsweisender Blick auf die Machart literarhistorischer Publikationen geistesgeschichtlicher Provenienz geworfen.

This publication on the reassessment of Swiss graphic design history has the format of a reference book. “Tempting Terms” assembles a variety of keywords that are without any systematic order or normative or comprehensive conception. This approach is an appropriate response to the expectations raised by the title of the research project Swiss Graphic Design and Typography Revisited. It engages on how a critical rereading of a national label might be achieved-a label that is equally understood as a style, as an economic argument in graphic design history, and an ongoing practice. The essays are written by researchers who share an enthusiasm for graphic design but come from a variety of backgrounds, from graphic design practice and teaching to art history. The specific structure of this publication intends to bring to the foreground various perspectives on the subject by individuals with their own specific self-understanding as practitioners, teachers, art historians, and designers. It is intended that the authors’ competencies should complement and challenge each other in a productive way.

The publication “Visual Arguments” provides a window onto an imaginary archive consisting of the familiar, as well as the unknown entities of Swiss Graphic Design and Typography. This window is divided into twenty-five “visual arguments”-image clusters-each of them raising a specific topic that has not hitherto been subjected to historical inquiry. These arguments reveal aspects of design and typography practice, education, and discourse in Switzerland from the early 20th to the turn of the 21st century that go beyond the “metanarrative” of the so-called “Swiss Style.” The curated selection of images consists of graphic and typographic works, photographs, spreads from books and journals, letters, legal documents, and student work. By bringing these documents to the fore in an image-centered context rather than in a text-centered publication, Visual Arguments intends to provide an annotated collection of sources related to the history of Swiss Graphic Design and Typography. The arguments here derive from the visual source material and are formulated in short accompanying essays.

This publication gathers together the accounts of people who-willingly or not-have taken part in, contributed to, and been influenced by histories of Swiss graphic design. “Multiple Voices” are the voices of designers, their collaborators, peers, and clients that have been collected through interviews and other forms of oral communication such as speeches, minutes, or conversations. Some of them have seldom been heard in the literature or have even been silenced. The voices and perspectives of different generations tell us how and by whom Swiss graphic design was given meaning within specific contexts and show how that meaning has changed over the years, depending on circumstances. The expression “figure of speech” usually refers to a phrase having a meaning different from its literal sense, such as a metaphor or a simile. The multiple voices collected in this publication likewise offer more than their literal accounts. They give an insight into how stories are also told as illustrative, metaphorical accounts of the topics they deal with.

Historically a dubbing country, Germany is not well-known for subtitled productions. But while dubbing is predominant in Germany, more and more German viewers prefer original and subtitled versions of their favourite shows and films. Conventional subtitling, however, can be seen as a strong intrusion into the original image that can not only disrupt but also destroy the director’s intended shot composition and focus points. Long eye movements between focus points and subtitles decrease the viewer’s information intake, and especially German audiences, who are often not used to subtitles, seem to prefer to wait for the next subtitle instead of looking back up again. Furthermore, not only the placement, but also the overall design of conventional subtitles can disturb the image composition – for instance titles with a weak contrast, inappropriate typeface or irritating colour system. So should it not, despite the translation process, be possible to preserve both image and sound as far as possible? Especially given today’s numerous artistic and technical possibilities and the huge amount of work that goes into the visual aspects of a film, taking into account not only special effects, but also typefaces, opening credits and text-image compositions. A further development of existing subtitling guidelines would not only express respect towards the original film version but also the translator’s work.