Rudolf Hostettler

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Rudolf Hostettler (born June 8, 1919 in Zollikofen near Bern; † February 19, 1981 in Engelburg ) was a Swiss typographer and editor of the typographic journals Schweizer Graphische Mitteilungen and Typographische Monatsblätter .

Life

Rudolf Hostettler completed his training as a typesetter at the Hell book printer in Zollikofen near Bern . In 1939 he attended the London School of Printing for a year and then worked at the Feldegg AG printing company in Zurich. From 1943 to 1980 he was the typographic designer at the Zollikofer & Co. printing company in St. Gallen, responsible for various types of printed matter: including the daily newspaper St.Galler Tagblatt , the specialist magazines Schweizer Graphische Mitteilungen and Typographische Monatsblätter , as well as various books from the Zollikofer publishing house . Hostettler also built up the in-house typographic design department at Zollikofer.

As a book designer, Hostettler tried to combine conventional and new design elements in such a way that the printed matter was visually appealing and easy to read. The 15 volumes of the scientific series 'Huber's Classics of Medicine and Natural Sciences', which he designed and published by Verlag Hans Huber in Bern from 1963 to 1979, bear witness to this. Further examples are the books by Hermann Strehler: Die Buchdruckerkunst im alten St.Gallen , St.Gallen: 1967, or The Newspaper on the Way to 2000 , St.Gallen: 1972. All the titles mentioned were honored with the Most Beautiful Swiss Books award .

In 1949 Hostettler launched the publishing house sgm-books, or SGM-Bücherei, together with Hermann Strehler. The specialist vocabulary Technical terms of the printing industry (commonly known as The printer's terms ), compiled by Hostettler in five languages, was published in 1949 as 'sgm-books 1' . Also in 1949 they published Rudolf Hostettler's typeface collection Type. A selection of types . Both became pioneering specialist publications that are still often cited today.

Hostettler's work as an editor of trade journals was of great importance for Swiss typography . From 1943 on, he and Hermann Strehler were in charge of the editing of Schweizer Graphische Mitteilungen ( SGM ). From 1952 until his death in 1981 he was the main editor in charge of the newly merged Typographical Monthly Papers ( TM ). Hostettler always made the magazines available as a forum for various positions. As the example of the symmetry dispute between Max Bill and Jan Tschichold in the SGM in 1946 shows, Hostettler knew how to moderate a discourse and, with his comments, make the ostensibly contradicting positions usable for a dialogue. In contrast to the TM , the printing industry DI , which appeared biweekly from 1972 , was designed by him. According to Hostettler's idea, it was intended as a companion publication to TM to publish current news from the graphics industry. In keeping with the character of the publication, it shows (especially after the redesign from January 1978 and as long as it was in charge of Hostettler) a lively and, despite the strong structure, clear, attractive layout.

Outside of the Zollikofer & Co. printing company, Rudolf Hostettler also made essential contributions to training in the typesetting profession and adapting it to contemporary conditions. He was particularly committed to training typesetters. According to his idea, in the spring of 1980 the part-time courses in 'Typographic Designer' were able to start working at various design schools.

Fonts

  • Technical terms of the printing industry. The printer's terms. sgm books, St. Gallen 1949 (commonly known as The printer's terms ).
  • Type. A selection of types. Hostettler, St. Gallen 1949.
  • Rules for authors, typesetters and proofreaders. Zollikofer, St. Gallen 1953.

literature

  • Roland Früh: Book design in St. Gallen. VGS, St. Gallen 2008, ISBN 978-3-7291-1116-5 .
  • Jost Hochuli: Epitaph for Rudolf Hostettler (= Typotron. Book 1). VGS, St. Gallen 1983, ISBN 3-7291-1019-5 .
  • Richard Hollis: Swiss graphic design. The origins and growth of an international style, 1920-1965. Laurence King, London 2006, ISBN 1-85669-475-5 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Rudolf Hostettler: Typographical currents in Switzerland. In: Swiss graphic messages. No. 12, 1946, pp. 455-464.
  2. ^ Roland Früh: Rudolf Hostettler. Editor of the Swiss graphic communications. In: love and anger. Book culture in the city of St.Gallen. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2009, ISBN 978-3-447-05922-0 .
  3. ^ Jost Hochuli: In memory of Rudolf Hostettler. In: Typographic Monthly Pages. No. 2, 1981.
personal data
SURNAME Hostettler, Rudolf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss typographer
DATE OF BIRTH June 8, 1919
PLACE OF BIRTH Zollikofen
DATE OF DEATH 19th February 1981
Place of death Engelburg