The project is the first larger scientific study of the typographic oeuvre of Wolfgang Weingart (b. 1941) and examines the stance of the trained typographer towards design in the context of typographic and artistic discourses on typographic traditions and in international debates. A media-practical analysis elucidates Weingart’s ambivalence towards new technologies.
Wolfgang Weingart revitalized modern Swiss typography. In the 1960s, his dynamic compositions of letters and texts (using letterpress) caused a furor in the field, breaking all the rules of typesetting and defying the canons of the Swiss typography. In the 1970s and 80s, he once again caused a stir with his innovative halftone film collages. The transparent material enabled him to superimpose text and image, anticipating digital sampling and today’s Photoshop software. Weingart rose to international prominence in particular as a teacher of the Advanced Class for Graphic Design at the Basel School of Design. The school’s reputation attracted students from all over the world who went on to spread Weingart’s teachings far and wide.
Although Weingart’s work and teachings have been duly recognized in recent historical overviews of graphic design, they were not the subject of a differentiated academic study until 2012. Weingart’s self-written monograph Typography: My Way to Typography/ Wege zur Typografie, published by Lars Müller in 2000 and reprinted in 2014, thus still represents the most comprehensive reference work on his oeuvre. With this book, as well as articles in trade journals such as Der Druckspiegel and the Typografische Monatsblätter, together with the typescript of his lectures about his typography lessons at the Basel School of Design, published in several editions since 1976 in German and English, Weingart has been instrumental in steering the reception of his work and teachings. Up to now, however, a distanced and critical examination of his work against the background of design and cultural history has been lacking, as has a reflection on his techniques in the context of media practice and theoretical research. This research project fills this gap with respect to three defined subject areas: rules and dissent: the “typographic rebel”; Weingart’s design practice in the light of technological revolutions; Weingart’s visual research approach in his design and teaching practice.
The three-person research team inquires into the creative attitude of the trained typesetter in the context of typographic and artistic discourses. It positions Weingart as a “tradition-conscious” innovator of the typographic profession who drew on artistic myth-making strategies in his self-portrayal in order to establish himself as a visual author. The media-practice analysis demonstrates Weingart’s ambivalence towards new technologies. Unlike what is claimed in the relevant literature, Weingart fundamentally rejected phototypesetting and only hesitantly employed the computer in his own work. In his classes at the Basel School of Design, by contrast, he advocated the differentiated use of the computer. The third question examines Weingart’s exploratory “image research” against the backdrop of the Basel School tradition and current debates on design research. The results show that Weingart closely followed the practical approach endorsed by the Basel School in his process-oriented way of working, seeking an academisation at the most as a way of artistic differentiation. The Basel School diverged in this sense from the more economically oriented research at contemporary design universities. In its investigation of the three focus areas, the research team is able to draw on the rich material in the archive that Wolfgang Weingart donated to the Museum für Gestaltung Zurich. Stored in an image database kept by the museum, the documentation was readily available from the beginning of the research.
The team also consults the relevant literature and conductes qualitative interviews with Weingart, ex-students and experts from Weingart’s professional circle, both those enthusiastic about his work and others with more critical viewpoints. The methodological approach includes comparative analysis of sources, interpretation of the material evidence, and the classification of findings to the design-, art-, media- and cultural-history discourse. The interim results are discussed during a workshop as well as bilaterally with graphic design specialists and research experts. The final results are incorporated into a 2014 exhibition at the Museum für Gestaltung Zurich that included an education program and booklet, and are also presented at a symposium on the historiography of Swiss graphic design at the Bern University of the Arts.
Exhibitions
Weingart Typography, Museum für Gestaltung Zurich, May 7 – September 28, 2014
Hong Kong Design Institute Gallery, November 6, 2015 – March 30, 2016
Praça do Tap Seac, Macao, April 16 to June 12, 2016
Exhibition booklet
Institute for Cultural Studies in the Arts ICS, Museum für Gestaltung Zurich (eds.), Weingart Typography, Zurich 2014
Preliminary project
2010 to 2011 (Barbara Junod and Claudia Mareis)