| Creator | René Bittel |
| Printing year | 1965 |
| Sheet size (cm) | 101.5×64 |
| Printing technique | Offset |
| Printer | Sigg Söhne |
| Condition | A |
| Asking price | 1'700 CHF |
| Categories | in the air, Swissair, Switzerland, Winter Posters |
I don’t know much about fashion styles (if anything at all), but dating this original Swissair poster to 1958 – which is pretty much the case everywhere – seems a bit daring to me. Either way: Given its charming cheerfulness it is a very popular design (not only among Swissair fans) which at the time promoted Swissair – and thus Switzerland itself – especially in North America.
It was created by graphic designer and ad pro René Bittel (1928-1996) from Valais, who worked in New York for Herb Lubalin before setting up his own agency and working from Geneva for an international clientele. The revival of Patek Philippe is considered his masterpiece. It may sound almost unbelievable today, given the prices and waiting lists for their watches, but in the mid-1980s the Geneva brand was close to its downfall. Bittel provided the company an ad concept and an identity – by designing the Calatrava ref. 3919, for example (which became kind of a face of the company), as well as all kinds of commercial art. He died shortly after the collaboration ended in 1996.