wiedler.ch

book (design) story #56

adolf portmann, richard arioli:
gärten, menschen, spiele

pharos-verlag, basel, 1960
printer: hutter & co. ag, basel
size: 26 x 25 cm
photographer: paul + esther merkle
designer: emil ruder, armin hofmann

this book was published at the occasion of the 100th anniversary of stadtgärtnerei basel (municipal garden department of basel). it is basically a picture book: the black and white photos by paul and esther merkle show people playing in the municipal gardens, and there are essays by adolf portmann (1897-1982), professor of zoology in basel, and richard arioli (1905-1994), basel's garden director.

the book's design is by emil ruder (1914-1970) and armin hofmann (*1920) – the two great graphic designers who constituted the "basel school" of swiss modern typography. this is a classic example of grid-based placement of text and photos.

the grid consists of nine squares. the text is sans-serif, akzidenz-grotesk for titles. the film-like photo sequence below reminds of an early book in this style – see story 38.