Swiss typography - just a generic term?

GBS launched a new series of events under the name "Tÿpo St. Gallen" from November 18 to 20. Does Swiss typography still exist and, if so, what is typically Swiss about it? These two questions were the focus of the three-day symposium, which was organized by the St. Gallen School of Design together with the College of Art, Design and Design. "GBS St. Gallen has been involved in typography since 1738," says Thomas Gerig, Head of the School of Design. "Our aim with this event is to promote the exchange between experts and companies even more and to enable students to experience top-class design." The organizers were able to engage 13 luminaries from Switzerland, Germany, Austria, England, the Netherlands and the USA as speakers and workshop leaders. These included book designer and typographer Jost Hochuli, poster and book designer Bruno Monguzzi, type designer, type theorist and typographer Gerrit Noordij, poster designer and lecturer Ralph Schraivogel and design blogger Tina Roth Eisenring aka swissmiss. The speakers did not really agree on the answers to the two key questions. For Andreas Maxbauer, CEO of Forum Typografie Deutschland, for example, one thing is clear: "Swiss typography is a generic term. A genre in which the greatest ornamentation is the addition of a second color." For the Swiss Jost Hochuli, the term "Swiss typography" is even misleading. This is because in the 1930s and 1960s, it was mainly people from German-speaking Switzerland who represented this ideology. However, everyone agreed on the success of the event: the symposium attracted around 450 participants. For Gerig, this is a good reason to continue the "Tÿpo St. Gallen" project. However, it remains to be seen when this will be. Simone Fankhauser