Armin Hofmann ( HonRDI) (29 June 1920 – 18 December 2020) was a Swiss graphic designer. He began his career in 1947 as a teacher at the Allgemeine Gewerbeschule Basel School of Art and Crafts at the age of twenty-six. Hofmann followed

Emil Ruder Emil Ruder (20 March 1914 – 13 March 1970) was a Swiss typographer and graphic designer, who with Armin Hofmann joined the faculty of the Schule für Gestaltung Basel (Basel School of Design). He is distinguishable in the field of typography ...

as head of the graphic design department at the Schule für Gestaltung Basel (Basel School of Design) and was instrumental in developing the graphic design style known as the

Swiss Style The International Typographic Style, also known as the Swiss Style, is a graphic design style that emerged in Russia, the Netherlands, and Germany in the 1920s and was further developed by designers in Switzerland during the 1950s. The Internatio ...

. His teaching methods were unorthodox and broad based, setting new standards that became widely known in design education institutions throughout the world. His independent insights as an educator, married with his rich and innovative powers of visual expression, created a body of work enormously varied – books, exhibitions, stage sets, logotypes, symbols, typography, posters, sign systems, and environmental graphics. His work is recognized for its reliance on the fundamental elements of graphic form – point, line, and shape – while subtly conveying simplicity, complexity, representation, and abstraction. Originating in Russia, Germany and The Netherlands in the 1920s, stimulated by the artistic avant-garde and alongside the International Style in architecture. He is well known for his

poster A poster is a large sheet that is placed either on a public space to promote something or on a wall as decoration. Typically, posters include both textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or wholly text ...

s, which emphasized economical use of colour and fonts, in reaction to what Hofmann regarded as the "trivialization of colour." His posters have been widely exhibited as works of art in major galleries, such as the New York

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of t ...

. He was also an influential educator, retiring in 1987. In 1965 he wrote the ''Graphic Design Manual'', a popular textbook in the field. Hofmann died in December 2020 at the age of 100 in Lucerne, where he lived with his wife Dorothea Hofmann-Schmid. Armin Hofmann Passes
/ref>Urs Tremp: ''Reduktion war Armin Hofmanns Haltung.'' In: '' NZZ am Sonntag'', 3. Januar 2021, S. 20
EpaperNZZ.ch
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References

1920 births 2020 deaths Logo designers Men centenarians Swiss centenarians Swiss graphic designers Swiss typographers and type designers Listen to Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers {{graphic-designer-stub AIGA medalists