# Die Neue Typographie

> The programme that turned avant-garde experiment into a functional typographic method, named by Moholy-Nagy in 1923 and codified in Jan Tschichold's 'elementare typographie' (1925) and Die neue Typographie (1928). It demanded asymmetric layouts, sans-serif type, standard paper formats, photography and active white space, all justified by clarity of communication, and spread through the Ring neue Werbegestalter and designers from Delft to Prague.

- Period: 1923–1940
- Where: Central Europe, Western Europe
- Origin: Germany (Weimar, Leipzig, Munich, Hanover), with centres in the Netherlands, Czechoslovakia and Poland
- Branch: Avant-garde
- Also known as: The New Typography, Elementare Typographie, Ring neue Werbegestalter
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/new-typography/

## How it works

- Organise the page asymmetrically around the logic of the content, never around a central axis.
- Set text in sans-serif, flush left and ragged right, building hierarchy from size, weight and position.
- Treat white space as an active compositional element, not leftover background.
- Use photography rather than drawing, and integrate it with type as 'typophoto'.
- Restrict colour to black plus one accent, usually red, laid flat.
- Standardise: use DIN paper formats and systematic letterheads, forms and advertisements.

## Its design choices

Defining choices make the style, characteristic ones are usual, occasional ones turn up now and then.

### Layout & composition
- [Dynamic asymmetry](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/dynamic-asymmetry/) (defining)
- [Diagonal axis](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/diagonal-axis/) (characteristic)
- [Column grid](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/column-grid/) (occasional)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Generous white space](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/generous-white-space/) (defining)
- [Extreme scale contrast](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/extreme-scale-contrast/) (characteristic)
- [Layered information](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/layered-information/) (characteristic)
- [Single focal point](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/single-focal-point/) (occasional)

### Typography
- [Grotesque & neo-grotesque](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/grotesque-and-neo-grotesque/) (defining)
- [Flush left, ragged right](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flush-left-ragged-right/) (defining)
- [Geometric sans](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/geometric-sans/) (characteristic)
- [Lowercase only](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/lowercase-only/) (occasional)
- [Rotated & vertical setting](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rotated-and-vertical-setting/) (occasional)
- [Type as image](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/type-as-image/) (occasional)

### Colour
- [Limited spot colours](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/limited-spot-colours/) (defining)
- [Monochrome](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/monochrome/) (characteristic)
- [Light ground](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/light-ground/) (characteristic)
- [Flat fields](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-fields/) (characteristic)

### Form & shape
- [Rectilinear](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rectilinear/) (characteristic)
- [Geometric primitives](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/geometric-primitives/) (characteristic)
- [Non-representational](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/non-representational/) (occasional)

### Surface & texture
- [Flat](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat/) (characteristic)

### Ornament
- [Ornament-free](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ornament-free/) (defining)
- [Rules & bars](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rules-and-bars/) (characteristic)

### Imagery
- [Straight photography](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/straight-photography/) (characteristic)
- [Photomontage](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/photomontage/) (characteristic)
- [Typography only](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/typography-only/) (characteristic)

### Medium & production
- [Letterpress](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/letterpress/) (characteristic)
- [Lithography](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/lithography/) (occasional)

### Tone & intent
- [Rational & objective](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rational-and-objective/) (defining)
- [Technological & futurist](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/technological-and-futurist/) (occasional)
- [Utopian & idealistic](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/utopian-and-idealistic/) (occasional)

Avoids: Central symmetry, Classical text block, Blackletter, Ornamented display, Script, Abundant decoration, Borders & frames

Palette: #f3efe4, #141414, #d32a1f, #7d7a73, #e2dccb

Typefaces: Futura (Paul Renner, 1927), Akzidenz-Grotesk, Erbar-Grotesk (Jakob Erbar), Kabel (Rudolf Koch, 1927)

Known for: Jan Tschichold (elementare typographie, 1925; Die neue Typographie, 1928; Phoebus-Palast film posters); El Lissitzky (Topography of Typography, 1923); Piet Zwart (NKF cable catalogue, 1928); Paul Schuitema; Ring neue Werbegestalter (founded 1927 by Kurt Schwitters, with Max Burchartz, Walter Dexel, César Domela and others); Karel Teige & Ladislav Sutnar (Czechoslovakia)

## Where it comes from, and what it’s close to

- Grew out of: [Bauhaus](https://stylogeny.com/styles/bauhaus.md) (1919–1933)
- Influenced by: [Russian Constructivism](https://stylogeny.com/styles/constructivism.md) (1917–1934)
- Influenced by: [De Stijl](https://stylogeny.com/styles/de-stijl.md) (1917–1931)
- Influenced by: [Dada](https://stylogeny.com/styles/dada.md) (1916–1924)
- Led to: [Milanese Industrial Modernism (Olivetti, Pirelli, Studio Boggeri)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/milanese-industrial-modernism.md) (1933–1975)
- Led to: [Nippon Kōbō & Tōhōsha Photo-Propaganda Magazines (NIPPON & FRONT)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/nippon-kobo.md) (1933–1945)
- Led to: [Japanese Postwar Modernism](https://stylogeny.com/styles/japanese-postwar-modern.md) (1950–1990)
- Led to: [International Typographic Style](https://stylogeny.com/styles/swiss-international.md) (1950–1975)
- Led to: [West German Conceptual Film & Culture Poster (Hillmann and Rambow)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/neue-filmkunst-poster.md) (1953–1990)
- Alike in its design choices: [Neo-Swiss Revival](https://stylogeny.com/styles/swiss-revival.md) (2005–present), 77% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Total Design & Dutch Functionalism](https://stylogeny.com/styles/dutch-total-design.md) (1963–1990), 74% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Czech Poetist Book Design (Devětsil)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/czech-poetism.md) (1922–1938), 70% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Di Tella Graphic Design (Instituto Torcuato Di Tella)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/di-tella-graphics.md) (1960–1970), 69% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [HfG Ulm Systematic Design](https://stylogeny.com/styles/ulm-school.md) (1953–1968), 69% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [GOV.UK Design (GDS Style)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/govuk-design-system.md) (2012–present), 67% alike

## Real works

- [Ausstellung Margarete Naumann – Spitzen, Posamenten, Perlen, Bast, Stickereien, Papier usw. – Römermuseum Hildesheim](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CH-000957-X-40352_Schwitters.tif): Kurt Schwitters, 1930, Plakatsammlung der Schule für Gestaltung Basel, CH-000957-X:40352 (gift of Jan Tschichold, 1935; scan contributed by the collection to Wikimedia Commons)
- [dammerstock: Ausstellung Karlsruhe, Dammerstock-Siedlung, Die Gebrauchswohnung](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CH-000957-X-11567_Schwitters.tif): Kurt Schwitters, 1929, Plakatsammlung der Schule für Gestaltung Basel, CH-000957-X:11567 (scan contributed by the collection to Wikimedia Commons)
- [USSR. Russische Ausstellung, Kunstgewerbemuseum Zürich](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CH-000957-X-8308_Lissitzky.jpg): El Lissitzky, 1929, Plakatsammlung der Schule für Gestaltung Basel, CH-000957-X:8308 (scan contributed by the collection to Wikimedia Commons)
- [Neues Bauen: Lichtbildervortrag Walter Gropius](https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1105177/): Jan Tschichold, ca. mid 1920s, Victoria and Albert Museum, London (CIRC.415-1974)

## Sources

- Jan Tschichold, Die neue Typographie (1928; trans. Ruari McLean as The New Typography, 1995)
- Christopher Burke, Active Literature: Jan Tschichold and New Typography (Hyphen Press, 2007)
- Paul Stirton, Jan Tschichold and the New Typography: Graphic Design Between the World Wars (Bard Graduate Center, 2019)

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From Stylogeny (https://stylogeny.com/), an atlas of graphic-design styles by Van Riel Online Services. How it is made: https://stylogeny.com/about/. Cite as: Stylogeny, “Die Neue Typographie”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/new-typography/