Théo Ballmer (1902-1965) was a Swiss graphic designer, photographer, and professor. He is best known for his Modernist poster designs which influenced the development of the

International Typographic Style The International Typographic Style is a systemic approach to graphic design that emerged during the 1930s–1950s but continued to develop internationally. It is considered the basis of the Swiss style. It expanded on and formalized the modern ...

Life and career

Auguste Théophile Ballmer was born in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

in 1902. He trained as a draftsman and studied under Ernst Keller at the Zurich Kunstgewerbeschule. Ballmer began professional work in

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

as a designer for

Hoffmann-La Roche F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, commonly known as Roche (), is a Swiss multinational holding healthcare company that operates worldwide under two divisions: Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics. Its holding company, Roche Holding AG, has shares listed on ...

in 1926. In his years at the company, Ballmer became acquainted with a number of avant-garde contemporaries, including

Hannes Meyer Hans Emil "Hannes" Meyer (18 November 1889 – 19 July 1954) was a Swiss architect and second director of the Bauhaus Dessau from 1928 to 1930. Early life Meyer was born in Basel, Switzerland, trained as a mason, and practiced as an architect ...

. In 1928, Ballmer enrolled in the

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the , was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined Decorative arts, crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., ...

, then under the direction of Meyer. At the school, he studied photography under Walter Peterhans. Ballmer left the Bauhaus in 1930, motivated by his left-leaning political beliefs. Ballmer is best known for his political poster designs, produced directly after his departure from the school. The works are characterized by their use of red and black linocut silhouettes and leftist messages. In 1931, Ballmer joined the faculty of the Allgemeine Gewerbeschule Basel, where he taught photography and design. Ballmer remained associated with the school until his death in 1965. After 1930, Ballmer additionally worked for a number of corporate clients; among the work he produced in this capacity is the logo for the Basel municipal authority. In the mid 1940s, Ballmer and his contemporary, Max Bill, pioneered a new style of graphic design characterized by the use of photography, sans serif typefaces, and logical arrangement of elements. The work produced by the two designers in this period proved foundational to the later emergence of the International Typographic Style. Théo Ballmer died in 1965. He is the father of Theo Ballmer II, who is famous for having created in 1971 the very recognizable logotype of

Ouest-France ''Ouest-France'' ( ; French for "West-France") is a daily French newspaper known for its emphasis on both local and national news. The paper is produced in 47 different editions covering events in different French départements within the régi ...

, which is the most read francophone newspaper in the world, ahead of French national newspapers

Le Figaro () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It was named after Figaro, a character in several plays by polymath Pierre Beaumarchais, Beaumarchais (1732–1799): ''Le Barbier de Séville'', ''The Guilty Mother, La Mère coupable'', ...

and

Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ballmer, Théo 1902 births 1965 deaths Swiss graphic designers Bauhaus alumni 20th-century Swiss photographers Artists from Lausanne Swiss communists