{"id":33460,"date":"2014-02-24T17:23:15","date_gmt":"2014-02-24T15:23:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grapheine.com?p=33460"},"modified":"2018-05-30T17:41:24","modified_gmt":"2018-05-30T15:41:24","slug":"herb-leupin-a-great-swissman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grapheine.com\/en\/history-of-graphic-design\/herb-leupin-a-great-swissman","title":{"rendered":"Herb Leupin \u201cA great swissman\u201c"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"herbert_leupin-portrait\"<\/a><\/p>\n

To continue our series of articles on the great names in graphic design<\/a>, after having taken a look at Great Britain with Edward Bawden<\/a> a few weeks ago, we are going back to Switzerland to rediscover Herb Leupin's work.<\/p>\n

Moreover, we had already presented a Baloise in this section, Rolf Rappaz<\/a>... to believe that this city is a mine of talented graphic designers!<\/p>\n

The swiss period<\/h2>\n

Herbert Leupin was born in Beinwil (Switzerland) in 1916. He spent most of his childhood in Augst, a village near Basel. His passion for drawing began very early, and following the advice of his teacher, he entered the Gewerbeschule (vocational school) in Basel in 1931. His talent is recognized and encouraged by Paul Kamm\u00fcller (poster artist) and\u00a0Theo Eble<\/a> (the founding artist of Gruppe 33, a group of artists from Basel). The young man's talent was also recognised by\u00a0Hermann Eidenbenz<\/a>, in whose studio he began working as a graphic designer. There he gained valuable experience in advertising and photography.<\/p>\n

Between 1935 and 1936, Leupin continued his studies in France, taking courses with the famous poster designer\u00a0Paul Colin<\/a>. Despite this French influence, Leupin remained faithful to the Swiss style.<\/p>\n

In 1937, Herbert Leupin returned to Switzerland and worked briefly for\u00a0Donald Brun<\/a> - whose graphic studio was one of the best known of its time. At the end of 1937, he became independent.<\/p>\n

\"Charcuterie,<\/a>
\nIn 1939, Leupin received his first major order from the Basel butcher Bell<\/em>. The brief of the time was in two lines, the brand name had to be combined with a charcuterie image. Leupin proposes to put the Bell<\/em> logo on a deli board, thus simplistically illustrating the \"advice and choice\" of Bell<\/em> butcher shops. The success is resounding. The butchers are tearing up the poster and all want a cutting board signed Bell<\/em>. Leupin's career is launched.<\/p>\n

The new objectivity<\/h2>\n

In this pre-war period, Leupin was strongly influenced by the artistic current prevailing in Germany at the time, the \"Neue Sachlichkeit<\/a>\" (New Objectivity). This current follows the expressionism from which it derives in many ways.<\/p>\n

Objectivity developed in several large German cities and brought together many great artists and intellectuals who, often from the Dada movement, had become strongly aware of their political responsibility and of their \"dissenting duty\".<\/p>\n

The New Objectivity has neither program nor manifest, contrary to the surrealism which develops at the same time in France. It is characterized by a will to represent reality without shadow.\" Between judgment and observation\", she depicts the unhealthy and corrupt society of the time, it is a cold mirror. This current ignites all fields of art and design, passing through architecture. The best known names are\u00a0Otto Dix<\/a> and\u00a0George Grosz<\/a>. In architecture Walter Gropius (founder of the Bauhaus) can also be associated with this movement.<\/p>\n

Herb Leupin's work, presenting oversized products in an almost photographic manner, is more particularly in keeping with a subcurrent of the new objectivity, the \"Magischer Realismus<\/a>\" style (Magic Realism). A style that met with enormous success in the Basel advertising agencies of the time.<\/p>\n

\"steinfels-soap-leupin-poster-graphic\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"steinfels-soap-leupin-poster\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Emblematic examples of this style are advertisements for Steinfels soap or Pant\u00e8ne shampoo. No colour photography, but a hyper-realistic work of illustration! The background is often black or white. No fuss. It's swiss!
\n\"pantene-la-premiere-lotion-capillaire-leupin-poster\"<\/a>
\n\"globus-poster-leupin\"<\/a>
\n\"opal-leupin-poster-1945\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Long live the children<\/h2>\n

In 1945, Herbert Leupin married Elsa Schaumberger. They will soon have two children.
\nLeupin's style then takes a turn, it will then be more playful and colorful!
\nHe will also recognize the influence that his children will have on his work, this desire for life and colour.<\/p>\n

Indeed, at the end of the 1940s, Herbert Leupin began to detach himself from \"Magic Realism\" and sought new forms of expression. This is a time of artistic crisis. He sought to work more freely, and began to use photographs, collages or typographic compositions. After the war, in the spring.<\/p>\n

\"leupin-herb-water-eptinger-poster\"<\/a>
\n\"leupin-coca-poster\"<\/a>
\n\"pepita-typographic-poster-leupin\"<\/a>
\n\"bata-leupin-poster\"<\/a>
\n\"circus-poster-herb-leupin\"<\/a>
\n\"poster-zephyr-pelican-poster\"<\/a>
\n\"rossli-cigar-poster\"<\/a>
\nAnimals will be an inexhaustible source of inspiration. He will also have some problems with the animal protection league when he smokes a horse for R\u00f6ssli<\/em> cigars. It is actually a pun on \"R\u00f6ssli\", which means \"little horse\" in German Switzerland.<\/p>\n

\"Leupin-animals-poster\"<\/a>
\n\"bata-leupin-font-poster\"<\/a>
\n\"agfa-girafe-poster-herb-leupin\"<\/a>
\n\"renault-dauphine-poster-leupin\"<\/a>
\n\"bata-swiss-made-pluie-averses-froid-neige-boue-verglas-leupin\"<\/a>
\n\"bata-poster-herb-leupin\"<\/a>
\n\"cigarette-poster-leupin\"<\/a>
\n\"paper-mate-poster-leupin\"<\/a>
\n\"die-tat-newspaper-poster-leupin\"<\/a>
\n\"tat-leupin-poster_111066_z\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The inventor of the Milka cow<\/h2>\n

\"milka-packaging-evolution\"<\/a>
\nHerb invented the first lilac coloured cow for Milka<\/em> chocolate. The wrapping paper has been purple for over a century, and the cow is reproduced in black and white. By transforming this purple packaging into a cow, he will certainly influence\u00a0Young & Rubicam<\/a>'s creatives who in 1972 will use a real lilac cow in their advertising.<\/p>\n