Pierre Mendell

Pierre Mendell (1929 - 2008) born in France, emigrated to America in 1947 before returning to France in 1953, where he worked in the family textiles company. In 1958 he began studying graphic design under the infamous leadership of Armin Hofmann at the Schule für Gestaltung in Basle. In 1961 the Mendell & Oberer studio was founded in Munich.

Mendell was to become one of the world's leading graphic designers and for almost 30 years was responsible for creating the visual identity of the neue sammlung - the international design museum in Munich.

The foundation of Mendell's work is typically Swiss but is characterized by elements of vibrancy, poetry, and humour. His cultural posters and corporate design identities -- including his designs for Vitra and Siemens, are timeless yet contemporary. For more of his great poster designs grab a copy of Pierre Mendell, Plakat fur die Opera.

Fred Troller

Fred Troller (1930 - 2002) was an American graphic designer that emigrated from Switzerland. Born in Zurich in 1930 and graduating from the Zurich School of Design in 1950. Troller was best known for the fantastic graphic work for the Geigy Chemical Corporation. He later established his own design studio in New York working for clients such as Exxon, General Electric, IBM and American Airlines. Troller helped make the Swiss New Typography popular stateside. His work was heavily influenced by the Bauhaus school and his style was characterised by the manipulation of geometric forms, jarring juxtapositions of large and small types and visual puns formed from the fonts themselves. He later became an educator of design and taught at Cooper Union, the School of the Visual Arts, and Rhode Island School of Design.

Anton Stankowski

Just picked up this months issue of Creative Review where it features the top 20 logos of all time. Following the beautifully crafted woolmark in second position is Anton Stankowski's (1906-1998) Deutsche Bank logo which was introduced in 1974 and was the epitome of modernist rationalisation.

Stankowski was a German designer, painter and photographer and pioneered Constructive Graphic Art. It was during his time working in Zurich for Max Dalang's ad agency he met Max Bill and developed his personal theory of graphic design - his Gestaltungsfibel. The emphasis was on clear and functional design and the oblique line was a recurring theme in both his paintings and graphic work. Whilst his logo for Deutsche Bank was widely criticised at the time (100,000DM for 5 lines! - the Bild-Zeitung newspaper stated) it has stood the test of time, just like a classic logo should.

Carl B. Graf

Carl Bernard Graf (1926-1968) was a Zurich based designer that contributed to the swiss style with his work regularly appearing in Graphis. There is little known about this designer on-line although if you look at the excellent wiedler.ch site you will find a classic example of 1950s' swiss modernism: asymmetric page layout and page numbers, sans-serif typeface, lowercase titles revealing the influence of 1920s' new typography, created by Graf. In 1964 Graf created a logo for Zurich firm Metallbau, makers of Norm metal building components. The rectangle containing the letters became a structural element in the stationery and advertising including this excellent example. For more his great work check out Insect's flikr set.

Cabrera de Mar

I am always on the lookout for modernist architecture and would love to feature more on this blog, so was pleased when I came across these photos of a residential property in Cabrera de Mar, Barcelona. The concept is simple; two prisms placed one above the other, with a slightly displaced movement of the top prism, creating an immense overhang and an interior fissure. This wonderful modernist structure was created by Spanish architectures AIA Salazar Navarro. Their website is well worth a visit as they have a plethora of modernist buildings with designs that really create a bold statement against the landscape. Great work.