List of topics available for papers or lectures
in French or English
History of square books
The reasons of a modern monster
Duration : 1 hour & around 60-80 slides.
Previous lecture
- 12 novembre 2019: Les mardis de Lure, La Générale, Paris, France.
The great developments in the history of societies could be summed up in these rare cataclysms redefining interactions between people: articulated language, writing, printing and finally the Internet. The book remains the cultural object shared by all civilizations since its appearance more than 4000 years ago. We know it in all sizes, flexible or rigid, handwritten or printed, in codex or leporello, handmade or industrial. Of its protean anatomy it remains, like the monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey, a rectangular block. However, of all the quadrilaterals, the square has remarkable geometric characteristics: it is defined by four equal perpendicular sides and its orthogonal diagonals intersect at its centre. And if form is the substance that resurfaces, as Victor Hugo said, then the graphic designer cannot avoid a reason justifying the anything but trivial choice of the square in publishing.
AG Fronzoni
(1923-2001)
Those who refuses design accepts to be designed
Duration : 1 hour for 100 slides.
Previous lecture
- 20 octobre 2018 :
E-Artsup Lyon, France.
AG Fronzoni remains a relatively unknown Italian designer and architect in France, yet his influence on designers such as Rudi Baur and Claudio Silvestrin has been notable.
This lecture presents the maestro’s work and philosophy decade after decade, focusing as much on the formal aspects of his practice as on the holistic and minimalist thinking that directs each of his formal choices.
Young students who want to approach design without disciplinary barriers will probably find a perfect echo to their desires.
Graphic Design history through its magazines issues 1
Those who refuses design accepts to be designed
Duration : 1 hour for 100 slides
Graphic design publication were, during a century, the only source of information available for the professionnals. Based on issue 1 of a wide selection of the most important worldwide publication, we can understand how graphic design history was build month after month. Issues 1 of magazines should be concidered as a maniphesto by the editorial team: a magazine out of the publication time.
Various topics can be proposed :
- Early Modernism publication (1924-1944)
- Modernism publications (1944-1965)
- House organs publications
- Type design publications
- Japanese graphic design magazines
- Swiss graphic design magazines
- Graphic design school publications
- Bulletin Officiel des Cours Professionnels de la Chambre Syndicale Typographique Parisienne, France, 1904 (Typography).
- Wendingen, Netherlands, 1918 (architecture, decoration, graphic design)
- Gebrauchsgraphik, Germany, 1924 (graphic design, type design, advertising)
- Arts et métiers graphiques, France, 1927 (graphic design, type design, bibliophily, illustration, bookbinding, photography, etc.)
- L’Art Nouveau, France, 1938 (Art, writing, ideas)
- Graphis, Switzerland, 1944 (graphic design, type design, advertising, photography)
- La Publicité en France (Publimondial), France, 1945 (graphic design)
- Open oog, Netherlands, 1946 (fine art)
- Caractères, France, 1949 (graphic design, type design, advertising)
- Portfolio, USA, 1950 (graphic design, type design, advertising, photography)
- Caractères noël, France, 1951 (graphic design, type design, advertising)
- Idea, Japan, 1953 (graphic design, type design, advertising)
- Neue Grafik, Switzerland, 1958 (graphic design, type design, advertising, photography)
- Graphic design, Japan, 1959 (graphic design, type design, advertising, photography, illustration)
- Pagina, Italy, 1962 (graphic design, type design, advertising, photography)
- Eros, USA, 1962 (erotic art)
- Dot Zero, USA, 1966 (graphic design, semiotic)
- Opus international, France, 1967 (society)
- 2dimensioni, Italy, 1967 (graphic design, advertising, photography)
- Baseline, UK, 1977 ( type design)
- Typomondo, France, 1980 (type design, lettering)
- Octavo 86.1, UK, 1986 (graphic design, type design)
- Creation, Japan, 1989 (graphic design)
- Eye, UK, 1990 (graphic design)
- Bulldozer, France, 1993 (graphic design, type design)
- Étapes graphiques, France, 1994 (graphic design)
- Ink, France, 2006 (graphic design, type design)
- Back cover, France, 2008 (graphic design, scholar studies)
- Optical sound, France, 2009 (fine art, music)
- The Shelf Journal, France, 2012 (edition)
- Apres/avant, France, 2013 (type design)
- Pli, France, 2015 (architecture & edition)
- La Perruque, France, 2016 (type design)
- Back office, France, 2017 (digital design, scholar studies)
- GUT, France, 2017 (graphic design student zine)
- Maurice, France, 2018 (graphic design student zine)
abc verlag, zurich
swiss graphic design books collection
Duration : 1 hour for 100 slides
ABC Verlag (1963-1989) was a Zurich based publisher. Its main collection, edited by Konrad Baumann, is composed of 25 books that gathered the most important graphic designers as authors and contributors. During more than 30 years, ABC Verlag give us a good panorama of the evolution of the philosophy & style of swiss graphic design, from a the legacy of avant-garde to the postmodernism of the end of the century.
- Graphic Art of a Swiss Town, Armin Tschanen, 1963
- Official Graphic Art in Switzerland, Walter Bangerter & Armin Tschanen, 1964
- Graphic Design in Swiss Industry, Hans Neuburg, 1965
- Publicity and Graphic Design in the Chemical Industry, Hans Neuburg, 1967
- Conceptions of International Exhibitions, Hans Neuburg – 1969
- Color Sells Your Package, Jean-Paul Favre, 1969
- History of the Poster, Joseph & Shizuko Müller-Brockmann, 1971
- Basic Typography: Handbook of Technique and Design, Ruedi Rüegg & Godi Fröhlich, 1972
- Drawing, A Creative Process, Kurt Wirth, 1974
- Form + communication, Walter Diethelm, 1974
- Design Concept Realisation, Wolfgang Schmittel, 1975
- Signet Signal Symbol, Walter Diethelm, 1976
- Graphic Design International: Creative Work of Selected Colleges of Design from 12 Countries, Igildo G. Biesele, 1977
- Process Visual: Development of a Corporate Identity, Wolfgang Schmittel, 1978
- Color and Communication, Jean-Paul Favre & André November, 1979
- Type Sign Symbol, Adrian Frutiger, 1980
- Graphic Design Education, Igildo G. Biesele, 1981
- Visual Transformation, Walter Diethelm, 1982
- Top Graphic Design, F.H.K. Henrion, 1983
- Swiss Sport Posters, Karl Wobmann & Max Triet, 1983
- Corporate Design International: Definition and Benefit of a Consistent Corporate Appearance, Wolfgang Schmittel – 1984
- Political and Social Posters of Switzerland, Karl Wobmann & Willy Rotzler, 1985
- Experiment Design: More Creativity through Experimental Design Work — Case Studies from Practice and Training, Igildo G. Biesele 1986
- Communication design 2000, Heinz Kroehl, 1987
- Art & graphics, Willy Rotzler & Nathan Garamond, 1989
- Typography: Design with Letters, Ruedi Rüegg, 1989