Werkbundarbeit 1938 | Gewerbemuseum Basel

Original Swiss Exhibition poster by Hermann Eidenbenz advertising a show of the Basel section of the Swiss Werkbund 1938 at the Gewerbemuseum, using the so-called iris printing in which multiple colors are printed in a single pass, with the colors running seamless into each other. In this way, a multicolored poster could be realized in two printing passes only (black and color). This should highlight the close linking and interdependence of graphic artists, architects, carpenters, photographers, fabricants, vendors, users…
The Swiss Werkbund was founded 1913 in the tradition of a counter-movement originating in the 1890s in England to industrialization, through which a decline in crafts had become apparent. Loveless, industrial mass production was to be combated by (still industrially manufactured!) products of refined design that expressed uniqueness and inherent beauty – by resisting (excessive) decoration. And: The representatives were convinced that good craftsmanship consists of an apprenticeship that emphasizes artistic training (or, in short: even Le Corbusier or the Bauhaus did not come out of nowhere).
To finish: “Eidenbenz” is not always (just) Hermann as there were also two brothers, Willi and Reinhold, who founded in 1933 the Atelier Eidenbenz as one of the first advertising agencies in Basel that combined graphic design and photography. While Hermann and Willi worked as graphic designers and photographers, Reinhold primarily took over the commercial management of the studio (dissolved in 1972).