Student Work

Swiss Design-Inspired Posters

A collection of posters designed in the Swiss style. Sans serif typefaces and abstract shapes that are various tints and shades of purple are on each

Overview and The Basics of Swiss Design

To refresh my graphic design skills, I decided to take the Graphic Design Masterclass by Lindsay Marsh on Udemy, which is a self-directed video course. As part of this course, students were challenged to create their own poster that draws inspiration any of the following influential design movements from history: Art Nouveau, Bauhaus, Art Deco, Swiss Design, Pop Art, and the more digital-focused style that is popular currently.  

For this exercise, I chose Swiss Design, also known as the Swiss Style or International Typographic Style. It came about in the mid-20th century and was greatly influenced by previous design movements, such as Bauhaus, De Stijl, Constructivism, and New Typography. Some common traits of in Swiss Design are the use of sans serif typefaces, a focus on clear communication, a grid system to structure content, the use of negative space, asymmetrical layouts, and sometimes photography or abstract geometric shapes. Most designs done in this style tend to lean towards minimalism.

As a part of the in-house marketing team, I completed various creative tasks. I was responsible for:

  • Creating new print and social media post designs for marketing campaigns, program information, industry news/updates, events, or internal communications
  • Updating existing design files with updated loan officer/realtor information
  • Managing and adding content to both the existing website and company's internal intranet dashboard
  • Proofreading designed material
  • Attending marketing meetings
  • Narrating and editing internal tutorial videos for loan officers
  • Writing or editing blog posts
  • Communicating with other internal staff outside of the marketing department when needed in order to obtain project objectives and send deliverables

I had multiple projects assigned to me at any given time.  I worked alongside other designers and marketing specialists. Tasks were divided up between the members of the team, and we all had to communicate effectively to make sure all projects for our loan officers and company were completed and accurate.

Programs used: Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Canva, Teamwork, Microsoft Teams, Adobe Premiere Pro, etc.

The Poster Designs

The typeface I used was Nimbus Sans L, which looked much like the sans-serif fonts often seen in classic Swiss Design. It is clean and has a great level of readability, which in turn enhances the overall focus on clear communication. I chose varying shades and tints of purple for the wording and geometry. While colors have many different meanings across cultures and applications, purple seemed like a fitting choice for the poster's subject (Design Exhibition), as it is often associated with creativity.

During this project, I created a total of six posters using InDesign. The first two I designed (not shown) ended up feeling blocky and uninspired, in a sense; while the typeface I used served its purpose, the shape layouts chosen weighed down the pieces as a whole and didn't exactly lend themselves to the style I was after. They seemed to hinder the delivery of the message somewhat and made the posters feel very static. After exploring these two solutions, I decided to go in a different direction.

I continued on looking for sources of inspiration, and I found better examples of abstracted shape layouts that provided visual interest without being too obstructive to the overall point of the event poster. The shape patterns I came across that influenced my posters' final designs seemed to draw most heavily from the abstract geometry found in the movements Bauhaus and De Stijl. Each shape present in the posters (aside from their backgrounds) are parts of a circle, which unites them amongst the abstraction. I experimented with various layouts of the text and visuals that made use of negative space and complemented the positioning of the shapes without allowing them to impede the message in any way. The four posters below are the ones I consider the most successful out of the six.

Two posters designed in the Swiss style. Sans serif typefaces and abstract shapes that are various tints and shades of purple are on eachTwo posters designed in the Swiss style. Sans serif typefaces and abstract shapes that are various tints and shades of purple are on each

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