Jan Tschichold

Jan Tschichold is a German typographer who made his mark on the design word in the 1920s with the refashioning of the classic Penguin paperback novels. He also made an impact with his work Die neue Typographie, which gave a strict outline of what modern design, should and should not consist of, including non-centered designs and sans serif as the only appropriate text. Tschichold designed several typefaces including Transit, Saskia, Zeus, and Sabon and also introduced the Tschichold grid. This grid was more abstract than the former and included diagonal and non-centered layouts.

Tschichold's father was a sign writer, so he naturally gravitated to the arts and worked as calligrapher for advertisements. Surrounded by the world of print in his hometown of Leipzig, Tschichold was influenced by the growing print and design movements of the time and joined the Bauhaus exhibition where he gained fame and importance. He found himself at the center of the European avant-garde movement and was able to publish his first major work, The New Typography or, as mention above, Die Neue Typographie. This book planned out a rigid structure for good design, which included the use of sans-serif fonts, standardized paper sizes, photographs rather than illustrations, and asymmetrical rather than centered layouts. This was a new abstract form of typography due of Tschichold's use of multiple colors, hand drawn text, diagonal grids, and photographs cut into obscure shapes and silhouettes.

The Nazi party, though, did not tolerate these progressive ideas, and Tschichold was taken into custody and only able to leave on account of a compassionate prison guard. Despite political backlash, Tschichold is an important figure in design because he set new standards for modern design and created the classic English penguin logo that can be recognized anywhere. What inspired me most about Tschichold's life was his use of hand drawn typeset, multiple colors, and small photographs cut into interesting forms. This is such a common occurrence in logos and design today that its genius and importance goes unnoticed. Tschichold's bold and abstract design instincts truly transformed the world of design and gave it a new life and importance in society.