Helmut Schmid: Typography

The Austrian typographer and graphic designer Helmut Schmid (1942–2018) was acknowledged globally as a master of his craft. Schmid put his own spin on Emil Ruder’s teachings while remaining faithful to his principles of clarity, simplicity and elegance. Living in Osaka, Vancouver and Germany (where he worked for the German Social Democratic Party and the German chancellors Willy Brandt and Helmut Schmidt), Schmid merged Eastern and Western influences in his editorial design, product packaging, political and corporate visual identity. This bilingual monograph explores the typographer’s oeuvre in its entirety. The book’s generous design allows each image to breathe; accompanying texts narrate Schmid’s life and career in an informative but pleasant manner. Complementing the publications Weingart: Typography and Ruder Typography, Ruder Philosophy, Schmid Typography completes Lars Müller Publishers’ surveys of the Basel school of typographic thought.