AisleOne. A visual journal on design, photography, film, music and culture.
40 years ago, Otl Aicher and his team designed the revolutionary identity system for the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. UCA Canterbury in the UK is celebrating this iconic work with an exhibition featuring posters, pictograms, information design, and range of print and promotion materials from the games. The exhibit will be held from June 29th – July 31st at the Herbert Read Gallery.
Eye Magazine also has a nice write-up of the exhibit, along with some photos.
Lufthansa + Graphic Design: Visual History of an Airline is a book by Lars Müller Publishers that highlights the corporate identity of Deutsche Lufthansa. In 1963 , Otl Aicher and his Gruppe E5 student group at the HfG Ulm were commissioned by Lufthansa to develop a new visual identity.
The book also includes the design and advertising history of Lufthansa from the 1920s until today, illustrations from the corporate archive, background articles, interviews, reproductions from the Ulm study of 1962, and the first corporate design manual for Lufthansa from 1963.
You can grab a copy on Amazon.
Das Erbe der Schweiz (The heritage of Switzerland) is a sexy new poster by the super talented Xavier Encinas to celebrate the second anniversary of his blog Swiss Legacy. This poster honors the legendary designers that pioneered “International Typographic Style” which include: Ernst Keller, Theo Ballmer, Jan Tschichold, Herbert Matter, Max Bill, Emil Ruder, Josef Muller-Brockmann, Paul Rand, Max Huber, Otto Aicher, Armin Hofmann, Adrian Frutiger, Wim Crouwel and Karl Gerstner.
Offset Litho
PMS 877 C
148 gsm
Pacesetter Matte Text FSC Mixed
Printed in Canada by Hemlock
–
Edition of 100 only.
Each poster comes with a certificate of authenticity.
You can purchase it here for 50€.
When it comes to my top three most influential designers of all time, the list includes Josef Muller-Brockmann, Wim Crouwel, and Otl Aicher.
Otl Aicher is a legendary designer and one of the most influential graphic designers of the 20th Century. He’s responsible for many incredible designs, but he’s most famous for the work he did for the 1972 Munich Olympics. He created a beautiful and elegant design system on top of a functional grid system for the entire games that covered all visual aspects including posters, books, catalogues, flags, mascots, medals, tickets and stationery.
To honor all this work and to create an ongoing collection, this site was created. The collection includes pieces that span the entire visual identity for the games, many of which I’ve never seen before.
A few months ago an exhibit was held in San Jose California that focused on all the work done by Aicher for the games. What I would have done to have been able to see it in person. If you’re one of the unlucky souls who wasn’t able to visit, there is a Flickr set of the exhibit.
Recently, I’ve become obsessed with obtaining items from the games. Considering that the Olympics happened in the 70’s and it’s become pretty popular among the design community, most of it is hard to find and expensive. I’ve managed to get my hands on a few things, which I’ll be photographing and adding to my Flickr page very soon, but my “holy grail” is Die Spiele (The Games), a 3 volume set covering the design, execution and usage of the entire visual identity for the games. It’s a damn gold mine! I’ve seen it on ebay only 3 times in the last year and all 3 times I’ve lost the auction because the price went too high. I’ll get a set one day. Anyway, here is a nice Flickr set showing the interior pages of Die Spiele. Get a bib because you’re going to drool.
The image above is the from the excellent Blanka Flickr set. You can also see more juicy stuff here and here and in the Otl Aicher Group.
The talented chap David Airey has just launched a new site that documents the world’s most iconic logo designers, which includes one of my all-time favorite designers Otl Aicher.
Definitely check it out. It’s a great resource that’s growing each day.