Armin Hofmann

Armin Hofmann with students of the Brissago summer course visiting the Disentis Abbey , 1989

Posters by Armin Hofmann for the Kunsthalle Basel in the Cleveland Institute of Art

Relief by Armin Hofmann in the arts and crafts wing of the AGS built in 1961

Armin Hofmann (born June 29, 1920 Winterthur ) is a Swiss graphic designer and influential teacher.

life and work

After attending the preliminary design course at the Zurich School of Applied Arts , Armin Hofmann did an apprenticeship as a lithographer in Winterthur from 1938 to 1942 . He then worked as a lithographer at Frobenius in Basel and as a graphic artist in the Fritz Bühler studio . In 1947 he became a lecturer in the graphics class at the General Trade School Basel (AGS). Here he developed a teaching method for design professions. In 1965 he published a corresponding teaching aid that received international attention. In 1967 Hofmann became head of the commercial graphics class at the AGS. In the following year he founded the further training class for visual design together with Emil Ruder . In addition, Hofmann held various visiting professorships at international schools, including the Philadelphia College of Art, the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad , and Yale University . Between 1974 and 1996 Hofmann also directed an international summer course for graphic designers in Brissago . His students include a. Karl Gerstner , April Greiman , Jörg Hamburger , Reinhart Morscher , Thérèse Moll , Nelly Rudin and Barbara Stauffacher Solomon .

In addition to his teaching activities, Hofmann worked as a practical graphic designer. He created over 100 posters, primarily for Basel cultural institutions such as the trade museum , the city ​​theater and the art gallery, as well as postage stamps and various logos, etc. a. for the Expo 64 , the Basler Bach Choir and the St. Jakobshalle . Another field of activity was art-in-building work, such as his «concrete pictures», in which he had picture structures poured into concrete.

Armin Hofmann lives with his wife, the graphic artist Dorothea Hofmann, in Lucerne .

Awards

• 1987 Honorary Doctorate from Philadelphia University of the Arts
• 1988 Honorary member as HRD (Honorary Royal Designers) of the Royal Society of Arts
• 1997 Culture Prize of the City of Basel
• 2011 AIGA Medal, American Institute of Graphic Arts
• 2013 Grand Prix Design of the Federal Office of Culture , Switzerland

literature

• Hofmann, Armin . In: Hans Vollmer (Hrsg.): General Lexicon of Fine Artists of the XX. Century. tape 6 , supplements H-Z . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1962, p. 69 .
• André Gürtler / Wolfgang Weingart : Armin Hofmann: designer, teacher and pedagogue . In: TM / SGM . tape 105 , no. 3 , 1986, pp. 1-32 .
• Hans Wichmann (Ed.): Armin Hofmann: work, exploration, teaching . Birkhäuser , Basel 1989, ISBN 3-7643-2339-6 .
• Museum für Gestaltung Zürich (Ed.): Poster Collection 7: Armin Hofmann . Lars Müller , Baden 2003, ISBN 3-03778-004-5 .
• Fabienne Ruppen / Christof Nüssli (eds.): Armin Hofmann - color . Self-published, Zurich 2012.

Web links

Commons : Armin Hofmann  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Adrian Bättig: Hofmann, Armin. In: Sikart
• Hans-Peter Wittwer: Hofmann, Armin. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
• Hofmann, Armin in the e-Museum, Museum of Design Zurich

Individual evidence

1. ^ Armin Hofmann: Methodology of Form and Image Design . Niggli , Heiden 1965, ISBN 3-7212-0006-3 .
2. ↑ Dorothea Hofmann: The birth of a style. The influence of the Basel training model on Swiss graphics . Trieste, Zurich 2016, ISBN 978-3-03863-017-3 , pp. 423-434 .
3. ↑ Rick Poynor: Armin Hofmann. In: AIGA. September 25, 2011, accessed June 26, 2020 .  
4. ^ Katharina Altemeier: Armin Hofmann, 1920. In: Swiss Grand Prix Design. 2013, accessed June 26, 2020 .