Hermann Eidenbenz (1902–1992) was one of the first professionals in Switzerland to describe himself as a graphic designer. From the 1910s to the 1950s, he was involved in graphic design education in Zurich, Magdeburg, Basel and Brunswick, first as a student and later as a teacher.
Starting from a broad research on historical type design education, the project culminated in the discovery of two consistent convolutes of didactic materials. A collection of glass plates documenting a lettering course in Magdeburg, Germany (1926–1932) and a set of student works reflecting a course in basic design exercises in Basel (1940–1943), both held by Eidenbenz as a teacher. Together with documents from private and public archives in Basel, Berlin, Brunswick, Magdeburg and Zürich, the outcome of the project sheds light on a significant chapter in Swiss graphic design, shortly before it became internationally known.
ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne
Sarah Klein
(project leader)
Sarah Klein
(researcher)
François Rappo
(supervisor)
Roland Früh
(supervisor)
october 2014 – november 2016
ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne
Publications
Conferences
