Weingart Typography

HKDI Gallery presents the first ever comprehensive typography exhibition in Hong Kong devoted to the work and teaching of Wolfgang Weingart, an internationally renowned graphic designer and typographer, in collaboration with the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich (Museum of Design Zurich). Personal works by Weingart, as well as results from his teaching, reconstruct the essence of the 1970s’ New Wave Typography in the exhibition.

Regarded as the “enfant terrible” of modern Swiss typography, Wolfgang Weingart has revolutionised established typography rules since the mid-1960s, shaping generations of designers as a typography teacher.

This exhibition at d-mart presents the groundbreaking work, creative process and teachings of Weingart and the work of his students.

Graphic design does not only have its artistic value, but it has also been an important medium of visual communication in modern history. In the development of graphic design, typography has played a significant role in design aesthetics. The evolution of typography in the 20th century is demonstrated in the exhibition through the work of Weingart. The “Father of Post-Modern New Wave Typography” has an unparalleled profound influence on the development of typography since the 1970s, inspiring several generations of designers and students worldwide. As early as the1960s, Weingart was already a pioneer in breaking the rules of regular typesetting and the typography grid system, as he was interested in how far he could push the structure of typography while retaining its meaning. As computer technology was still relatively uncommon at that time, his works were certainly a breakthrough. Later, Weingart worked actively in the field of education. From 1968 to 1999 he taught typography at the Basel School of Design, and he lectured throughout the world from 1972 onwards.

The exhibition comprises 13 exhibition areas, including a variety of valuable poster designs, image collages and letter cutout experiments, all produced in over 30 years’ time. The featured works will show the determination of Weingart in breaking the rules of traditional typesetting as well as transforming the hallmark of Swiss typography into a fun and abstract form of expression. He freed letters from the shackles of the design grid by spacing, underlining or reshaping them and reorganising the typesetting.

The exhibition will also display a large-sized letter “M” cube device measuring 1m x 1m, reviving the time when Weingart experimented with the letter “M” in Emil Ruder’s class in 1965. Weingart had himself built a smaller letter “M” cube which he photographed in different positions. He then recorded the distorted images produced in this way on photo prints. These provided him with dynamic “M” shapes for further pictorial compositions.