# Swiss Punk / New Wave Typography

> A rebellion from inside the Swiss school: Wolfgang Weingart and his Basel students kept the grotesque and the grid but set them in motion with extreme letterspacing, stepped and angled lines, rules and bars, enlarged halftone screens and layered film montage. Carried to the US by April Greiman, Dan Friedman and others, it became an intuitive, textured counterpoint to corporate modernism and a bridge to digital postmodern typography.

- Period: 1968–1990
- Where: Central Europe, North America
- Origin: Basel (Allgemeine Gewerbeschule), then Los Angeles and New York
- Branch: Postmodern
- Also known as: New Wave, Swiss Punk, Basel New Wave
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/new-wave-typography/

## How it works

- Start from a Swiss grid and grotesque, then violate the grid with stepped, angled and floating lines.
- Vary letterspacing to extremes: open one word across the page, then crowd the next line.
- Use rules, bars, dots and stepped lines as structural, rhythmic elements.
- Layer film positives, halftone screens and type into a translucent, spatial montage.
- Mix weights and sizes within a single text block to give it texture, not just hierarchy.

## Its design choices

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

### Layout & composition
- [Broken grid](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/broken-grid/) (defining)
- [Dynamic asymmetry](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/dynamic-asymmetry/) (characteristic)
- [Diagonal axis](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/diagonal-axis/) (characteristic)
- [Collage & layering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/collage-and-layering/) (characteristic)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Layered information](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/layered-information/) (characteristic)
- [Visual tension](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/visual-tension/) (characteristic)
- [Extreme scale contrast](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/extreme-scale-contrast/) (characteristic)
- [Illusion of depth](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/illusion-of-depth/) (occasional)

### Typography
- [Grotesque & neo-grotesque](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/grotesque-and-neo-grotesque/) (defining)
- [Wide letterspacing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/wide-letterspacing/) (defining)
- [Rotated & vertical setting](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rotated-and-vertical-setting/) (characteristic)
- [Eclectic mixing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/eclectic-mixing/) (characteristic)
- [Experimental & distorted](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/experimental-and-distorted/) (characteristic)

### Colour
- [Monochrome](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/monochrome/) (characteristic)
- [Limited spot colours](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/limited-spot-colours/) (characteristic)
- [Light ground](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/light-ground/) (characteristic)
- [Pastel](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/pastel/) (occasional)

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

### Surface & texture
- [Halftone & Ben-Day dots](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/halftone-and-ben-day-dots/) (characteristic)
- [Misregistration & overprint](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/misregistration-and-overprint/) (occasional)

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

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

### Medium & production
- [Letterpress](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/letterpress/) (characteristic)
- [Offset printing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/offset-printing/) (characteristic)
- [Desktop publishing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/desktop-publishing/) (occasional)

### Tone & intent
- [Rebellious & subversive](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rebellious-and-subversive/) (characteristic)
- [Playful & witty](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/playful-and-witty/) (characteristic)
- [Rational & objective](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rational-and-objective/) (occasional)

Avoids: Central symmetry, Classical text block, Floral & vegetal, Abundant decoration, Script, Painterly illustration, Skeuomorphic material, Nostalgic & retro

Palette: #f4f1ea, #111111, #e6007e, #0098d8, #f7d117, #9fd8cb

Typefaces: Akzidenz-Grotesk, Univers, Helvetica

Known for: Wolfgang Weingart (Kunsthalle Basel posters; Typografische Monatsblätter covers); April Greiman (Wet magazine; Design Quarterly #133, 1986); Dan Friedman; Willi Kunz; Rosmarie Tissi & Siegfried Odermatt; Allgemeine Gewerbeschule Basel (Weiterbildungsklasse für Grafik)

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

- Grew out of: [International Typographic Style](https://stylogeny.com/styles/swiss-international.md) (1950–1975)
- Influenced by: [Dada](https://stylogeny.com/styles/dada.md) (1916–1924)
- Led to: [Cranbrook & Deconstructivist Typography](https://stylogeny.com/styles/deconstructivist-typography.md) (1980–1998)
- Led to: [Emigre & Early Digital Type](https://stylogeny.com/styles/emigre.md) (1984–1998)
- Led to: [Lucerne Poster Scene (Neubad & Südpol Posters)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/lucerne-poster-scene.md) (2007–present)
- Alike in its design choices: [Czech Poetist Book Design (Devětsil)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/czech-poetism.md) (1922–1938), 61% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Di Tella Graphic Design (Instituto Torcuato Di Tella)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/di-tella-graphics.md) (1960–1970), 55% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Russian Constructivism](https://stylogeny.com/styles/constructivism.md) (1917–1934), 53% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Dutch Expressive Postmodernism (Studio Dumbar & Hard Werken)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/dutch-expressive-postmodernism.md) (1977–1994), 53% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Out-of-Square Hangul Typography](https://stylogeny.com/styles/out-of-square-hangul.md) (1985–present), 53% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Mavo](https://stylogeny.com/styles/mavo.md) (1923–1925), 52% alike

## Real works

- [Typographic Process, Nr 5. Typography as (Painting)](https://www.moma.org/collection/works/86507): Wolfgang Weingart, 1971–1974, The Museum of Modern Art, New York
- [Kunsthalle Basel Kunstkredit 76-77](https://www.moma.org/collection/works/101455): Wolfgang Weingart, 1977, The Museum of Modern Art, New York
- [Didacta Eurodidac (18. Internationale Lehrmittelmesse, Basel 1981)](https://www.moma.org/collection/works/101351): Wolfgang Weingart, 1980–81, The Museum of Modern Art, New York
- [CalArts (California Institute of the Arts poster-mailer)](https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1176676/): April Greiman and Jayme Odgers, 1978, Victoria and Albert Museum, London
- [Sci-Arc: changing concepts of space in architecture and art (lecture-series poster)](https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1176682/): April Greiman, 1986, Victoria and Albert Museum, London

## Sources

- Philip B. Meggs & Alston W. Purvis, Meggs' History of Graphic Design
- Wolfgang Weingart, My Way to Typography (Lars Müller, 2000)
- Steven Heller, 'Wolfgang Weingart, Typographic Disruptor and Pioneer', Print

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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, “Swiss Punk / New Wave Typography”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/new-wave-typography/