Wolfgang WEINGART

Wolfgang Weingart was a Swiss/German graphic designer who is recognised around the world for his typographic explorations and teaching at the Schule für Gestaltung (school of design) in Basel, Switzerland. Since the 70s, through his experimentations, he has a decisive influence on the international development of typography. Weingart has created his own language and is perceived as a pioneer of the “New Wave” or “Swiss Punk Typography”.
After studying art and design at the Merz Academy in Stuttgart in 1958, he started an apprenticeship as a typesetter. During this time, his mentor, Karl-August Hanke, a former student at the Basel School of Design, introduced him to design being done outside Germany, especially to the Swiss International Style and designers such as Hofmann, Ruder and Gerstner.
In 1963, he moved to Basel and enrolled at the Basel School of Design where he met Hofmann and Ruder. Even at the early stage of his career, his work possessed a spontaneity that transcended the precepts of Swiss design of that period. In 1968, Hofmann invited Weingart to conduct the typography class for the new advanced graphic-design postgraduate program of the school.
He experimented with interwoven geometric text, used curved metal rules to create circular compositions, researching for a new typography.
Weingart continued to experiment throughout his life. He sought to capture the spontaneity and the vigour of his own deliberately distorted handwriting as a form of typography. He has always been involved in the entire process of the creation, from the concept to the preparation of the film montage for the printer.
He has been a member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI) from 1978 to 1999 and gave lectures around the world.
In 2013, he received the AIGA medal, the highest honour of the design profession, for his typographic explorations and teaching.
In 2014, he received the Swiss Grand Prix of Design Award for his lifelong merits as a designer.