11 Contemporary Projects Influenced by Swiss Style Design

We’ve catalogued some of the best, inspiringly creative, modern graphic design projects influenced or inspired by the Swiss Style.

The Swiss style – sometimes referred to as the International typographic style – is an aesthetic approach to graphic design style popularised in the 1950s and 1960s by influential industry figures Max Miedinger, Adrian Frutiger, Josef Müller-Brockmann and Le Corbusier amongst others.

Legibility through minimalism is a primary stylistic idea common to the Swiss Style – Large, clean or clear typography, asymmetric layouts, generous white space, a grid system, sans-serif typefaces like Akzidenz Grotesk, and flush left, ragged right text typify early and contemporary examples.

Tribute Posters by Michael Dolejs

‘Decided to make some tribute posters to my favourite designers and artists like Max Bill, Müller-Brockmann or Ikko Tanaka, that influenced me ever since I started learning more about design history.’

‘The goal was to design posters, that would pay tribute to them and also summarize their styles, while keeping them recognizable.’

La Plage by Dimitris Kostinis

‘This is a proposal for the band “LA PLAGE”, for their new album cover. //The cover has been designed to adhere to the feeling of the album.’

Bolonaf by empatía

‘Bolonaf is an artisanal chocolatier from Philadelphia that specializes in fine, handmade & fresh chocolate confections. We were tasked to create an image that could express both the diversity and energy of Philly and stand out from its competitors. The identity system we designed is an unexpected explosion of bright colors and silver foil print finish.’

Bolonaf (Swiss Style Packaging) by empatía

The Championships by Abbas Mushtaq

‘A reconsideration of the Wimbledon Championships. Applying old International Swiss Style design objectives towards a contemporary global context, through the process of global collaboration.’

Typeface Specimen by Shangning Wang

‘A series which focuses on the research and study of typefaces. The poster shows the research progress.’

Swiss Stye Typographic Poster by Shangning Wang

LHC Guide Book by Matthew Blick

‘Concept for a guide to the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva, Switzerland, this design takes strong International Typographic Style influence, creating a clean and crisp design. The cover uses an abstract take on colliding particles and the inner pages display the information legibly and with style.’

Swiss Style LHC Guidebook Cover by Matthew Blick

Swiss Style Large Hadron Collider Guidebook by Matthew Blick

DESIGN DAYS 2014

‘In reference to last century modernist style, the poster for the Design Days manifests a resolutely minimalist spirit. Evoking the event name, both D are interwoven and thus claim that design has no boundaries.’

‘Strong visual codes – plain colours, gradient and geometric shapes – recall the event topic itself, design. Official Colour of the Design Days, yellow is completed with intense silver, but it is ultimately a tonic blue that enlightens those both dominants. The serif typography created in 2012 by a Swiss foundry contrasts with the refined style of the poster. Nevertheless, it is contemporary and blends perfectly with the whole picture.’

Just My Type by Daniel Barkle

‘To set the record straight – there isn’t an overcomplicated concept behind this project. I’ve designed a set of prints displaying the characters of my favourite typefaces, focusing particularly on the weight I like to use the most when designing. As you can see,I don’t delve into using Serifs: I’m massively in favour of Grotesk and Swiss inspired typefaces.’

Swiss Style NBI Pro Typographic Poster by Daniel Barkle

Swiss Style Futura Typographic Poster by Daniel Barkle

Red, White & Blue Poster by empatía

‘A1 sized two colour poster. A limited edition printed poster we designed to accompany a free music event in France. Our poster paid tribute to the french flag and a piano.’

Red, White and Blue Swiss Style Poster Design

David Bowie by Quim Marin

In what he describes as ‘a visually polluted environment’, Quim Marin – a Bracelona-based designer and art director – tries to conceive concepts and create designs that are ‘fresh and memorable, with a clear aim at essential beauty and equilibrium’.

Quim Marin - Swiss Style David Bowie Poster

Swiss Ritual

‘Unoriginal in ideation, this on-going project was initiated to keep idle hands in motion, explore the visual realm in its most minimal form, and test one’s commitment to a weekend ritual. This project is a personal reaction to one album per week through the lens of Swiss minimalism.’