Hermann Eidenbenz

The series "Visual Archives" is the result of research projects initiated and conducted by ECAL/Ecole cantonale d’art de Lausanne. It examines unexplored legacies of designers, authors, and brands. Documents and visual materials from archives are accompanied by critical essays that provide context. The first volume of the series is dedicated to the teaching work of Swiss graphic designer Hermann Eidenbenz (1902–1993). Hermann Eidenbenz was one of the first to identify himself as a graphic designer in Switzerland. From the 1910s to the 1950s, he was familiar with graphic education at trade schools in Zurich, Magdeburg, Basel, and Braunschweig, first as a student and later as a teacher. The didactic materials published here from Eidenbenz's time as a graphic teacher shed light on this design discipline during a period just before graphic creation in Switzerland gained international recognition. Contributions by Roland Früh and François Rappo.