Typographie: A Manual of Design

This seminal work of Ruder’s was a book published first in 1967 that encompassed his career in design over the course of 25 years. The publication was translated into many different languages including German, English, and French, and largely contributed to the spread of the Swiss Style of design across international borders. The book goes into great detail about Ruder’s teaching methodology, design approach, and inspirations. Ruder also turns a critical eye upon himself in this work, and comments on his own graphic design in order to better illustrate the process for his readers. Typographie acts as an extension of a previous series of articles Ruder authored for the Typographic Monthly in which he establishes four fundamental elements of design. The individual articles are titled Fundamentals: The Plane, The Line, The Word, and Rhythm. In this way, the larger book, Typographie, acts as a textbook for graphic design and typography students who wish to learn the practice, or adapt their own process to follow Ruder’s. 

The book itself features Ruder’s own work, illustrations of the process, variation exercises, and commentary on design philosophy. Typographie provides clear practical examples on elements such as on proportions, contrast, typographical shades, colour, rhythm and other related techniques. Ruder was known for his holistic approach to design, and this book embodies the principles of design that he regarded as fundamental. The book is now in its 6th version of printing, and holds a very prominent place in the minds and bookshelves and teachers and designers everywhere. 

Bibliography

TypeRoom. (2020, March 13). In grid WE Trust: Emil Ruder aka the ICONIC pioneer of Swiss style. Retrieved April 15, 2021, from https://www.typeroom.eu/in-grid-we-trust-emil-ruder-aka-the-iconic-pioneer-of-swiss-style