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book (design) story #646

rudolf hostettler:
tm / typographische monatsblätter / 1953, 1-12

st. gallen, 1953
printer: zollikofer st. gallen
size: 31 x 23 cm
designer: robert büchler, emil ruder

here we have the year 1953 issues of "tm", short for "typographische monatsblätter", a swiss periodical for typographers and printers, founded in 1933 (see also story 567). in 1952 "tm" had merged with two other swiss periodicals, "sgm" (schweizer graphische mitteilungen, see story 530), and the french-language "rsi" (revue suisse de l'imprimerie). the new magazine was printed at zollikofer's in st. gallen, with rudolf hostettler (1919-1981) as editor-in-chief.

as stated in issue 1 of that year, a new typographic design based on sansserif was developed by basel school typographer robert büchler (*1914).

as explained in issue 3, büchler's cover art concept – similar geometric variations for all 1953 issues – was not accepted by the editorial board, so they appear only on isssues 1 and 2.

issues 4 and 6 sport covers designed by büchler's basel colleague emil ruder (1914-1970). especially issue 4 with its minimalist red rectangle caused some disputes, as ruder states in issue 6/7. his cover for the latter was printed from brass rules.

issue 8/9 features the winners of the 1952 swiss posters award, with works by bühler, hofmann, heiniger, kurtz, lohse, müller-brockmann, and vivarelli, among others.

issue 12 shows "graphic designs for a swiss city" (zürich), an article which was later made into this) book.

... followed by the winners of "the most beautiful swiss books 1952" award,

... including the book of story 3 (center right).