Swiss Style

The International Typographic Style of 1950s Switzerland: mathematical grids, asymmetric composition, sans-serif type, and photography over illustration — design as objective information.

Fig. — a strict grid, a flush rag, one color doing the shouting.

Example usage

“Set the conference site Swiss — strict grid, flush-left type, one accent color, zero decoration.”

Editor’s note

Swiss Style is the belief that clarity is a moral position: the designer as neutral conduit, the grid as constitution. It is also the unacknowledged house style of the web — flush-left sans on a column grid is what CSS wants to do anyway. The tell of real Swiss work isn’t Helvetica; it’s restrained asymmetry — tension held on purpose, never centered into peace.

Fig. — a strict grid, a flush rag, one color doing the shouting.