wiedler.ch

book (design) story #67

ernst wetter:
das fliegerbuch

büchergilde gutenberg, zürich, 1947
printer: buchdruckerei berichthaus, zürich
size: 24 x 17 cm
designer: richard paul lohse

this post-war büchergilde zürich edition is another book about flying, and another book design by richard paul lohse (1902-1982). the jacket shows a montage of otto lilienthal with his glider, a 3-blade propeller (lohse also designed brochures for zürich-based propeller manufacturer escher wyss at the time) and the silhouette of a modern plane's fuselage. lohse used a bodoni roman for the asymmetrically arranged title and autor's name.

the sky-blue colour of the jacket is repeated on the cloth cover which features a squadron of silver-coloured aircraft silhouettes. progressively growing distances or sizes are a pattern which often appears in lohse's paintings.

the spine title features a plane, too. the bodoni type of the jacket appears again on the title page.

this aviation history was compiled by ernst wetter, a pilot who was to become a high-ranking officer in the swiss air force.