The Schweizerischer Werkbund (SWB), also known as Werkbund Suisse, is a Swiss national association founded in 1913 that unites members from design and craft professions. Its logo, created in 1962 by the Bern-based graphic designer and artist Marcel Wyss, is a notable example of Swiss modernist graphic design from the period when the “Swiss Style” gained international recognition.
Design and History
Marcel Wyss (1930–2012) designed the Schweizerischer Werkbund logo in 1962. Wyss trained as a graphic designer (1946–1950) and studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule Bern. He co-founded the magazine “Spirale” in 1953 with Dieter Roth and Eugen Gomringer, and later worked with Karl Gerstner at the agency GGK (Gerstner, Gredinger + Kutter). He was also a member of the Allianz group of constructivist-concrete artists. After working in the atelier of Robert Sessler, Wyss became an independent graphic designer and worked for the Schweizerischer Werkbund, for which he designed the logo in 1962. [1] [2]
The logo was created during the 1950s and 1960s, a period when Swiss graphic design achieved international fame under the label “Swiss Style.” This style was characterized by a reduced formal language, the use of graphic symbols, sparing color, sans-serif typefaces, and asymmetric layouts. The Swiss Werkbund, founded in 1913 on the German model, had given important impulses to the development of the Swiss graphic industry and promoted functional industrial design from the 1920s onward. [3]
Wyss also designed a related poster for the SWB “Form Forum” exhibition at the Gewerbemuseum Bern in 1962, the same year as the logo. That silkscreen poster, measuring 127 × 90 cm, is held in the Plakatsammlung (poster collection) of the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich. [4]
Meaning and Symbolism
The logo is documented as a circular mark, categorized among circle and curve logos. [5] The design reflects the broader Swiss modernist approach of the era, which emphasized conceptual strength, formal precision, and technical clarity. [3]
Typography and Design
No official documentation specifies the exact typeface used in the Schweizerischer Werkbund logo. The design belongs to the Swiss modernist tradition, which favored sans-serif typefaces and a reduced, functional formal language. [3]
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