After recently highlighting the global influence of designer Margaret Calvert, we’ve chosen another who had a similar impact – Otl Aicher.
Otl ‘Otto’ Aicher (1922-1991) was a German designer and educator who made an indelible mark on post-war pictography and mass communication.
In 1953, Aicher co-founded Ulm School of Design (Hochschule für Gestaltung Ulm) with Swiss designer, Max Bill. In 1962, with assistance from the Ulm student development team – Entwicklungsgruppe 5 (E5) – Aicher updated the Lufthansa corporate identity, introducing a brighter yellow colour and sans serif Helvetica font to the branding.
Aicher was responsible for designing the ground-breaking, memorable branding used in the 1972 Olympics held in Munich; iconic pictograms and designs that were used in the signage, programmes, posters, tickets… and Waldi, the Olympic mascot.
In the late 1970s, he was commissioned to create an identity concept for the small southern German town of Isny Im Allgäu with the aim of boosting tourism to the area. He created 120 monochrome pictograms of local buildings and landmarks.
He created the Rotis typeface in 1988 which was later used in collaboration with architect, Norman Foster on the signage for the Bilbao metro system.
If you have a look on Etsy or eBay, you’ll find original 1976 Munich Olympics posters, memorabilia and ephemera (programmes, match boxes, beer mats etc.).
To date, there’s only a single published monograph on this important designer, written by Markus Rathgeb.
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