Piet Zwart, Herausgeber, Fridolin Müller

Dokumente visueller Gestaltung
herausgegeben von Fridolin Müller
Diese Buchreihe befasst sich mit den Möglichkeiten visueller Gestaltung, die bereits der neuesten Kunst- und Geistesgeschichte angehören und zugleich historisches Dokument sind.
Ziel dieser Reihe ist, jenes Vorurteil abzubauen, das unterscheidet zwischen einer hohen, zweckfreien und einer angewandten, weniger wertvollen Kunst.
Die Buchreihe enthält Monographien einzelner Klassiker der Moderne, aber auch Beispiele von Bewegungen und Stilepochen, welche die angewandte Kunst - Kunsthandwerk, Grafik, Typografie, Fotografie und Architektur- angeregt haben.
Wir stellen die in dieser Reihe dargestellten schöpferischen Leistungen unter den Begriff «Gestaltung», um die unfruchtbare Frage «Kunst oder nicht Kunst?» zum vorneherein auszu-schalten.

Preface

Born in 1885 the Dutchman Piet Zwart first worked as an architect with Jan Wils and Hendrik P. Berlage and his introduction to typography was more or less accidental. Yet, with no previous knowledge or preconceived notions, he was destined to do pioneer work in this field. In 1921 he designed the first press advertisements for Vickers House, flooring manufacturers, and later, through the offices of H. P.

Berlage, for the Nederlandsche Kabel-fabriek in Delft.

Prior to 1920 typography had declined into a monotonous lay-out arranged round a central axis. It occurred to no one that typography might be adapted to meet the requirements of each particular problem awaiting solution.

Futurism and Dada petered out after toppling over existing conventions, but De Stijl gave typography a new lease of life by making legibility its criterion.

The typographer was left with only verticals and horizontals with which to form his designs.

Piet Zwart is one of the pioneers in the field of typography. Inspired by Dada, confirmed in his ideas by De Stijl, he created his own work; and when he met the constructivist Lissitzky in 1923, the two men found that their views coincided exactly although they had never seen each other before.

Piet Zwart's personal assistance has enabled me to publish his typographical work in book form. Mr. Emil Ruder has given me permission to reproduce documents from his collec-tion. Dr. Willem Sandberg has been generous with his advice and information. To them all, and particularly to Mr. Peter F. Althaus, who wrote the introduction, I owe a debt of gratitude

Fridolin Müller