wiedler.ch

book (design) story #147

christian padrutt:
die zeitung auf dem weg ins jahr 2000

zollikofer & co. ag, st. gallen, 1968
printer: zollikofer & co. ag, st. gallen
size: 25 x 17 cm
designer: rudolf hostettler

when hans zollikofer, boss of the zollikofer printing company in st.gallen, switzerland (see their type specimen in the previous book story) turned 70 in 1972, he was honoured with this festschrift.

pages from newspapers published by the company are reproduced on on the slipcase.

the title the newspaper on the way to the year 2000 is printed in red, with a tipped-in photo mr. zollikofer on the frontis.

renowned typographer rudolf hostettler (1919-1981) designed the book.

the typeface is adrian frutiger's univers. note the asymmetrically arranged running titles and page numbers.

there is an essay by hermann strehler on what newspaper production will look like by the year 2000. the author believes that experiments such as "a system for transmitting newspapers on televsion screens of private households (...) will fizzle out because nobody wants to give up cheap newspapers that can be read anywhere for a system that costs a thousand times more"... well, that was 20 years before the web took off. on the other hand strehler was quite right: also in the 21st century people won't want to do without newspapers.