Walter Käch

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Walter Käch (born June 6, 1901 in Ottenbach , Switzerland ; † December 5, 1970 in Zurich ) was a Swiss graphic artist , type artist , teacher and author.

life and work

Walter Käch did an apprenticeship as a lithographer ; This was followed by training as a graphic designer at the arts and crafts department of the Zurich industrial school, with Ernst Keller among others. From 1921 to 1922 he was assistant to FH Ehmcke at the arts and crafts school in Munich. From 1925 to 1929 he was a teacher of graphic design and woodcut and from 1940 to 1967 he taught type design at the Zurich School of Applied Arts .

Between 1929 and 1940 Käch worked as a freelance graphic designer. In his international poster exhibition (1933) for the Kunstgewerbemuseum Zurich , he played with the spatial perspective on the surface in a way that was unusual for the time.

In his publications, Walter Käch founded «a new form of didactic-theoretical literature (...). In his writings, lettering and ecritures , he draws a bold arc between the construction and proportion of the individual drawn letters and the calligraphic rhythm; between the style of the serif font drawn with a broad nib and the modular style of the linear font. This organic and rational 'image' of the font, the relationship between form and counter-form, was to become a typical feature of modern typography. It was further developed by Walter Käch's numerous students. " His prominent students include Adrian Frutiger and Christof Gassner .

Publications

  • Rhythm and proportion in writing. Walter-Verlag, Olten / Freiburg im Breisgau 1956.
  • Fonts. Written and drawn basic forms. Walter-Verlag, Olten / Freiburg im Breisgau 1949.
  • Richard Hollis: Swiss graphics. The development of an international style 1920–1965. Birkhäuser Verlag, Basel 2006, ISBN 978-3-7643-7267-5 .
  • Christian Brändle, Karin Gimmi, Barbara Junod, Christina Reble, Bettina Richter (eds.): 100 years of Swiss graphics. Lars Müller Publishers, Zurich 2014, ISBN 978-3-03778-352-8 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Richard Hollis: Swiss graphics. The development of an international style 1920-1965 . Birkhäuser Verlag, Basel 2006, ISBN 978-3-7643-7267-5 , pp. 63 .
  2. ^ François Rappo: Swiss type design. A rhythmic experience through and through . In: Christian Brändle, Karin Gimmi, Barbara Junod, Christina Reble, Bettina Richter (eds.): 100 years of Swiss graphics . Lars Müller Publishers, Zurich 2014, ISBN 978-3-03778-352-8 , pp. 277 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Käch, Walter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss graphic artist, type artist, teacher and author
DATE OF BIRTH June 6, 1901
PLACE OF BIRTH Ottenbach , Switzerland
DATE OF DEATH 5th December 1970
Place of death Zurich