Is it fated that two great masters were born on the same date or it is purely coincidence? Rudolf Hostettler was born in Zollikofen, Switzerland on June 8 1919 and Jost Hochuli was born in St.Gallen, on June 8 1933. Rudolf started his career as a compositor at the Hell printing. In 1941, Rudolf became an overseer at Feldegg AG printing company, Zurich. In 1943, He joined the Zollikofer & Co printing company, St Gallen where he worked for 37 years and after that, he formed his own company focusing on publication. One of his most profound books, The Printer’s Terms, was published in 1949.
Jost hochuli studied at Kunstgewerbeschule in St.Gallen at 1952-1955. After he graduated, he had his practical training for three years at the Zollikofer & Co where he met Rudolf Hostettler. Rudolf became Jost’s friend and a mentor as well. in 1958, Jost studied at Ecole Estienne and he established his company a year later and became a part time teacher at the Kunstgewerbeschule in St.Gallen.
Hostettler’s abilities to see, listen, evaluate and understand various point of view, were the strength of his editorial activities. His generosity to help and give opportunity young typographer can be seen in Typografische Monatsblätter; one of the most prolific graphic design magazine.
On 1981, Hostettler passed away following a serious illness and on 1983, Typotron published a booklet, in memory of Rudolf Hostettler, designed and edited by Jost Hochulli.
“To keep up the memory of Rudolf Hostettler, and to make his work and his personality known to the younger generation of typographers and interested laymen, is the aim of this booklet.” Jost Hochulli
I will keep post Jost’s works till the 16th of June when Jost and his former student, Roland Stieger, would give a lecture at AIGA. I wish him happy birthday and may today be filled with sunshine and smiles, laughter and love. See you soon Jost Hochulli !!!
Jost’s books are phenomenal and Jost Hochuli: Printed Matter, Mainly Books
Designing books: practice and theory and Book design in Switzerland are out of print. It sold in Amazon with very expensive price.
7 comments
Book Design in St. Gallen – Rhombus says:
Jun 14, 2011
[...] renowned designer and master teacher Jost Hochuli, the groundbreaking typographic work of Rudolf Hostettler, and examples from a young, experiment-oriented generation of book designers rooted in St. Gallen, [...]
swissmiss | Definition of Work | work says:
Jun 17, 2011
[...] a doubt we asked iconic Swiss Designer Jost Hochuli during final night’s AIGA event: Me: “What’s your clarification of work?” Jost Hochuli: [...]
Work definition | Roberto Simões says:
Jun 17, 2011
[...] a question Tina Roth asked iconic Swiss Designer Jost Hochuli at last night’s AIGA [...]
“Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work.” — Chuck Close « Ilaya Ilaya says:
Jun 25, 2011
[...] a question I asked iconic Swiss Designer Jost Hochuli at last night’s AIGA event: Me: “What’s your definition of work?” Jost Hochuli: “70% [...]
Sixty Years of Book Design at St. Gallen, Switzerland — Imprint-The Online Community for Graphic Designers says:
Jun 27, 2011
[...] paid homage to Hostettler, his friend as well as mentor, in the first Typotron book, Epitaph für Rudolf Hostettler (1983), a book not on display in the AIGA exhibition and. Instead, Zeichen by Adrian Frutiger [...]
Thinking Schriften, in holz geschnitten voon Jost Hochuli | THINKINGFORM says:
Oct 28, 2011
[...] size package. I could see the custom form stick on the package and I read that the package was from Jost Hochuli. My heart was pumping with excitement and curiosity. Jost mentioned that he would send woodcut type [...]
Thinking Robert Büchler. 04 23 1914 | THINKINGFORM says:
Apr 23, 2012
[...] Rudolf Hostettler the editor of Typographische Monatsblatter describe Büchler’s work “Büchler always regarded the deliberate design of even the munutes typographical work as professional matter of course. He rigorously selects from a vast array of typographical means. He achieves unpretentious, generously plain, almost ascetic solutions through omission. That is how he has managed to develop his own personal style.” [...]