Rudolf J. Schmitt

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Rudolf J. Schmitt (born November 25, 1925 in Nuremberg , † December 17, 2016 in Berlin ) was a German graphic designer and painter .

life and work

Rudolf J. Schmitt initially did an apprenticeship as a type lithographer in Nuremberg, where he completed painting and drawing training at the technical college until 1950. He then worked at the Exhibition Section HICOG in Nuremberg. Since 1952 he worked as a freelance graphic artist, from 1954 he lived in Berlin.

From the mid-1950s to the 1970s, he gained attention through the design of series of advertisements, posters and exhibitions for the Eternit company . Since 1965, Rudolf J. Schmitt has devoted himself to the development and step-by-step implementation of the “Berlin Layout” on behalf of the Berlin Senate, in close collaboration with Anton Stankowski . Stankowski and Schmitt were u. a. Awarded by the ICTA as part of “Typomundus 20” .

Between 1978 and 1987 Rudolf J. Schmitt took over the design of the journal Werk und Zeit of the German Werkbund as a member of the editorial board and shaped it through his "typographical image design". From 1980 to the 1990s he also designed many publications for CEDEFOP and developed a number of unusual information graphics and visualizations.

Another focus of Rudolf J. Schmitt's work was spatial orientation systems and the like. a. for the US Army Hospital in Berlin, for the Science Center Berlin (WZB) and the Max Delbrück Center (MDC) in Berlin Buch. He also designed a large number of book covers, series of publications, theater, museum and other cultural posters, exhibitions, catalogs, signets and appearances.

Grave of Rudolf J. Schmitt in the Heerstraße cemetery in Berlin-Westend

He was an honorary member of the BDG and has been associated with the IDZ Berlin since it was founded .

Rudolf J. Schmitt died in Berlin in December 2016 at the age of 91. The funeral service took place on January 9, 2017 in the Berlin-Baumschulenweg crematorium . The urn was buried in the state's own cemetery in Heerstraße in Berlin-Westend (grave location: II-WC-12).

Design philosophy

Rudolf J. Schmitt described his view of commercial graphics in retrospect in 1976:

“I am not reducing the earnings of my teachers when I say that I have acquired the decisive impetus for my work in project-related theoretical and practical cooperation after graduation. With architects, domestic and foreign colleagues, scientists and technicians.

Chance of the time (1950), own will or simply happy situation? I couldn't answer that question.

For me, simplicity is an aesthetic criterion. The volume is important to me and the dynamics and statics in contrast to the respective environment. With the inclusion of time, the context of the whole should become visible. Building on the previous and the starting point for further development are decisive for my work. For me, the moment is a movement between two points. "

Anton Stankowski characterized Schmitt's work in an interview with Gina Angress in 1995:

"... He just saw no boundaries between the individual arts. Schmitt was always enigmatic and lovable at the same time. Versatile in conception, variable in execution. Is a brooder and tinkerer and a systematic. He was as obsessed with the profession as few . That is why he has become one of the leading graphic designers in Germany. ... "

Publications and exhibitions

  1. graphic design: rjschmitt; edited by Klaus Popitz and Rudolf J. Schmitt. Kunstbibliothek Berlin , Staatliche Museen Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin 1975, 40 pages (catalogs of the commercial graphic collections in the art library; 7) - published on the occasion of the exhibition in the Berlin Art Library from February 28 to May 31, 1975
  2. ahA - visual order, graphics, design Rudolf J. Schmitt; Editors: Rudolf Stegers, with contributions by Angela Schönberger, Erik Spiekermann , Rainer Höynck, Joost Bottema, Anton Stankowski / Gina Angress, Eckhard Neumann , Günter Gerhard Lange , Günter Höhne , Tübingen and Berlin, Wasmuth 1995. 77 sheets, mostly with illustrations, graphic representations, catalog raisonné. ISBN 3-8030-2504-4 - published on the occasion of the exhibition of the same name from December 7, 1995 to January 26, 1996 in Berlin | International Design Center Berlin
  3. Oases in the gray area, Eternit + Design Rudolf J. Schmitt (1955–1975); Editor: Eternit AG, with contributions by Helga Schmidt-Thomsen and Jan R. Krause; Berlin 2004 - published on the occasion of the exhibition "Oases in the Gray Zone - Rudolf J. Schmitt + Eternit" in the gallery of the Deutscher Werkbund Berlin from April 21, 2004 to June 4, 2004

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Yoshihisa Ishihara: Idea Extra Issue: Graphic Design in West Germany . Ed .: Sebundo Shinkosa Publishing. Tokyo 1976, p. 194 .
  2. ↑ Jan Krause: Oases in the Gray Zone - Eternit + Design Rudolf J. Schmitt (1955 to 1975) . Ed .: Eternit AG. Berlin 2004.
  3. ↑ Rainer Höynck: precision but loose in: Aha - order visually graphic design Rudolf J. Schmitt . Ed .: Rudolf Stegers. Wasmuth, Tübingen and Berlin 1995, ISBN 3-8030-2504-4 .
  4. ↑ Eckhard Neumann: werkundzeitundschmitt. in: ahA - visual order . Ed .: Rudolf Stegers. Wasmuth, Berlin 1995, ISBN 3-8030-2504-4 .
  5. ^ A b Rudolf Stegers (ed.): Catalog raisonné Graphic Design Rudolf J. Schmitt. in: ahA - visual order . Wasmuth, Berlin 1995, ISBN 3-8030-2504-4 .
  6. ↑ Günter Höhne: The IV. Dimension of Architecture - 3 Orientation Systems. in: ahA - visual order . Ed .: Rudolf Stegers. Wasmuth, Berlin 1995, ISBN 3-8030-2504-4 .
  7. ^ Obituary notice from the Berliner Tagesspiegel of December 31, 2016. Accessed on November 15, 2019.
  8. ↑ Gina Angress: Speeches about Rudolf, a conversation with Anton Stankowski. in: ahA - visual order . Ed .: Rudolf Stegers. Berlin 1995, ISBN 3-8030-2504-4 .
personal data
SURNAME Schmitt, Rudolf J.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German graphic designer and painter
DATE OF BIRTH November 25, 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH Nuremberg
DATE OF DEATH 17th December 2016
Place of death Berlin