Impact Type: Manufacturing Type for Typewriters in Switzerland, 1941–1997

By Sophie Wietlisbach, with Roland Früh and Davide Fornari Three Swiss companies manufactured type for typewriters between the 1940s and 1990s: Caractères SA, Setag, and Novatype. For over fifty years, they supplied leading office machine manufacturers in Europe and around the world, including Remington, IBM, Olivetti, Paillard-Hermes, and Triumph-Adler. These three companies, which held a major position on the world market, were instrumental in the creation, development and manufacture of type components and typefaces for typewriters, and indeed for impact printers in general. This volume, with its detailed portraits of the three companies, explores the history behind these typefaces and the historical context in which they were produced. When all three factories closed in the 1990s, most of their archives were destroyed. As a result, this research quickly turned into a very detailed investigation aiming to document this period of history through primary sources. Published by Triest Verlag, 2025 Softcover, 240 pages, color and b&w images, 6.25 × 9.45 inches ISBN: 978-3-03-863088-3