Today marks the 97th anniversary of the birth of Emil Ruder; a teacher, a philosopher and a typographer. Born in Zurich, Switzerland, Ruder found The Basel School of Design alongside Armin Hofmann. His most notable work is his book Typographie: A Manual of Design, a timeless typographic book.
A designer that I admire and respect. His work is peaceful, simple, fresh and highly imaginative. Stressing on legibility and reproducibility makes texts more readable and understandable. Unfortunately, I only have several works of Emil Ruder. On March 2009, Idea magazine had a special issue for Emil Ruder. It was designed by a student of his, Helmut Schmid. Thank you Idea magazine and Helmut Schmid for creating this issue. For all of Ruder’s fans, this issue is still available. (click here)
Cover of Typografische Monatsblätter Univers issue, TM 12.1961
Cover of Schriften des Gewerbemuseums Basel ( Documents of the Gewerbemuseum) no:6. Pharos Verlag, Basel published 10 series from 1965-1971. 10 Titles with range of pages from 36 to 80 pages. Jacket in venetian red paper stock. Size 210 x 120 mm / 8.2 x 4.7 inch
For more information about this book. Please click here.
Wonderful handwritten letter by Emil Ruder to the Department of Education, Basel. June 4, 1964.
A great calligraphy skilled by Emil Ruder.
An example of letterhead, invoice, business card and envelope designed by Emil Ruder.
Invitations and birth announcement designed by Emil Ruder.
Exhibition catalog for Basel Gerwerbemuseum designed by Emil Ruder.
A famous poster designed by Emil Ruder. Poster for the exhibition with the images cut in linoleum and printed in letterpress.
An example of great book design designed by Emil Ruder and Armin Hofmann.
Another great example of poster design for the reunification of Basel City and Basel Land. Designed with Akzidenz Grotesk in ryhthmic information flow.
Another great sample of lay out design.
I can’t resist not showing a great gift from Helmut Scmid. It shows a quote from Emil Ruder in three different languages: German, French, and English. “The creative worker spares little thought for contemporary style. For he realizes that style is not something that can be deliberately created; it comes all unawares!” Emil Ruder.
Due to my respect for Emil Ruder, I designed a memorial card for him. I included a great quote from Emil Ruder: “Typography has one plain duty before it and that is to convey information in writing. No argument or consideration can absolve typography from this duty.”
3 comments
Thinking Garten Menschen Spiele by Emil Ruder and Armin Hofmann | THINKINGFORM says:
Jul 14, 2011
[...] found out that the book was designed not only by Emil Ruder but also Armin Hofmann. My curiosity arose and I was eager to see the book in my hand. I would like [...]
garten menschen spiele | THINKINGFORM says:
Jul 14, 2011
[...] found out that the book was designed not only by Emil Ruder but also Armin Hofmann. My curiosity arose and I was eager to see the book in my hand. I would like [...]
Thinking Emil Ruder. 03 20 1914 | THINKINGFORM says:
Mar 20, 2012
[...] that I respect and influence me on my design. You may have seen there are so many changes to the first post. I was thinking to design a birthday card for the designer that I post but I only manage to design [...]