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Jan Tschichold

German typographer who shaped modern and classical print design.

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Jan Tschichold was a German calligrapher, typographer and book designer who first promoted modernist typography and later championed conservative structures.[1] In the decade after World War II, Tschichold oversaw Penguin Books' visual identity, which became a template for later corporate identity planning.[2] Sabon is a typeface that Tschichold created.[3]

Key facts and history

Born Johannes Tzschichhold on 2 April 1902, he was also known as Iwan or Ivan Tschichold.[1] He radically changed his approach after his first visit to the Bauhaus exhibition at Weimar, having previously worked only with historical typography.[4] In 1925 he summarized new approaches in a special issue of Typographischen Mitteilungen titled "Elementare Typografie"[5] His most noted work, Die neue Typographie, condemned all typefaces except sans-serif and served as a modernist manifesto.[6]

He advocated standardized paper sizes and explained effective use of different type sizes and weights.[7] From around 1932 he slowly abandoned his rigid modernist beliefs and moved back toward Classicism.[8] Between 1947 and 1949 he lived in England and oversaw the redesign of 500 Penguin Books paperbacks.[9] Tschichold passed away in 1974 at a hospital located in Locarno.[10]

Because he had moved away from Modernist principles, Tschichold was not a central figure in the Swiss International Typographic Style that developed after the war, even though he resided in Switzerland.[11]

What the cited sources add

A 2006 book by Laurence King documents that Tschichold designed the typefaces Transit, Saskia, Zeus, and Uhertype-Standard-Grotesk.[12][13] The same source notes that Sabon was designed in 1966/1967.[12][13] A 2012 book published by Quayside confirms that Tschichold designed Sabon.[3][14]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Jan Tschichold" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Vasilieva E. (2022) Jan Tschichold and the concept of the new: a picture of the world and an artistic program // Terra Artis. Arts and Design, 3, 34-49.; Stirton, Paul (2019). Jan Tschichold and the New Typography: graphic design between the World Wars. Bard Graduate Center Gallery. New York City: Yale University (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Jan Tschichold" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Doubleday, Richard B. Jan Tschichold, Designer: The Penguin Years (2006. Oak Knoll Press & Lund Humphries) (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Jan Tschichold" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Haley, "Typography, referenced : a comprehensive visual guide to the language, history, and practice of typography", Rockport Publishers, 2012, p. 105 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Jan Tschichold" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: McLean, "Jan Tschichold: A Life in Typography", Princeton Architectural Press, 1997, p. 7–8 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Jan Tschichold" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Fiell, "Design of the 20th Century", Taschen, 2005, p. 695 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Jan Tschichold" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Tschichold J. Die neue Typographie. Ein Handbuch für zeitgemäß Schaffende, Verlag des Bildungsverbandes der Deutschen Buchdrucker, Berlin 1928. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Jan Tschichold" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Vasilieva E. (2022) Jan Tschichold and the concept of the new: a picture of the world and an artistic program // Terra Artis. Arts and Design, 3, 34-49. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Jan Tschichold" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Jan Tschichold : Design Is History", www.designishistory.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Jan Tschichold" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Richard Doubleday, "Jan Tschichold at Penguin Books" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Jan Tschichold" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Jan Tschichold—Posters of the AvantGarde written by Martijn F. Le Coultre and Alston W. Purvis page 21 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Jan Tschichold" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hollis, "Swiss Graphic Design: The Origins and Growth of an International Style", Yale University Press, 2006 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  12. Wikipedia, "Jan Tschichold" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Horn, "Gutenberg on his Metal: c", Art & Industry, 1936, p. 42–3; Richard Hollis, "Swiss Graphic Design: The Origins and Growth of an International Style, 1920-1965", Laurence King Publishing, 2006, p. 199 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  13. Open Library record, ISBN 9781856694872 ("Swiss graphic design"). CC0 (metadata); book content not read. openlibrary.org
  14. Open Library record, ISBN 9781610582056 ("Typography, Referenced"). CC0 (metadata); book content not read. openlibrary.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Jan Tschichold (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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