Born in the Engelberg, Switzerland in 1907, Herbert Matter began his life in a small town, but from an early age felt the need to reach beyond these horizons. At the age of 17, he left Engelberg to pursue art at the prestigious Ecole des Beaux Arts in Geneva.

He then moved to Paris, and began working under famed poster designer AM Cassandre, before being deported from France for lack of proper papers. He then traveled to Zurich, where he began work on posters for the Swiss National Tourist Office.

He moved to New York in 1935, where he worked for a slew of high profile clients includ-ing dance troupe Trudi Schoop, Harper’s Bazaar, Swiss National Pavilion, and Container Corporation of America (CCA).

He married fellow artist Mercedes Carles in 1941, and their son Alex Matter was born the following year. The family moved to California in 1943, where Herbert worked with Charles and Ray Eames and Arts & Architecture Magazine. California was not to the couple’s liking, and they moved back to New York just three years later.

Once returned, Matter began work with Knoll Furniture, a long-lasting and fruitful rela-tionship, and Condé Nast Publications. He was also created his first film, a documentary on the work of his friend Alexander Calder. Matter began teaching at the newly instated School of Art and Architecture at Yale University in 1951. In 1954, Matter participated in the widely publicized revamp of the New Haven Railroad system, and was then appointed design consultant to the Guggenheim Museum.

Later in his life, he focused on teaching and his more personal work, especially a pet project of the documentation of work of his friend Alberto Giacometti. He passed away quietly in 1984, leaving behind a lifetime's work and a fascinating legacy.

"To understand design you need a sense

of space and scale. In Switzerland, we

have both."Herbert Matter

Travel Poster for Swiss National Tourist Office, 1934

Travel Poster for Swiss National Tourist Office,

1933

FORMALISMAll the posters Matter produced for the Swiss National Tourist Office utilized techniques of extreme camera angles, a d iagonal implied grid s tructure, and a pictorial sense of photography. These posters use extreme scale variation in the representation of the faces and faraway shots of the skiers to create tension in the composition and force a sense o f perspective onto the viewer. T he d iagonal structure of the composition, with slightly offset images and text create a sense of tension within the design, and implies movement.

SEMIOTICSThese are some of Matter’s first purely commercial works, and they convey the mentality of the audience: the adventurous youth who longs for movement and freedom i n the mountains. The strong i nfluence o f the Bauhaus s tyle on Matter’s works resulted in a very clear, communicative style that lasted through-out his long career. These posters have simple, strong structure, imagery, and color schemes. They work beyond Matter’s influence, and have a clear visual message that is universally understandable.

MARXISMThese posters exemplify the growing need for modernism and excitement in the minds of Swiss youths. As small mountain villages were becoming more and more c ommercially r un b ecause o f the increasing s ki t ourism industry, t he youths of these areas were becoming exposed to the culture of tourism. They began to yearn for modernism and adventure outside their limited existence. These posters reflect that mentality of idealism in the tourist industry and the rising importance of a sense of movement and strong, bold colors. The rising concern o f the machine age i nfluencing modernist design i s apparent in t he powerful geometric typographic treatments.

SWISS TOURISM

Arts & Architecture January Cover, 1945

Arts & Architecture December Cover, 1946

A&AFORMALISMThe designs Herbert Matter created for the Arts & Architecture magazine covers are h ighly formalist, a s are most of h is works. The distinct v isual hierarchy is aided by t he extremely simplistic a nd symmetrical c ompositions. His use of extremely vertical typefaces with all lowercase type is very modernist, and accen-tuates the vertical composition of the covers. Both covers utilize central imagery with extended vertical form, which creates a more dynamic and engaging view to an e ntirely simplistic d esign. His subtle i ntegration of p hotography i nto each composition creates immense visual appeal where an illustration would not.

SEMIOTICSMatter’s highly s tructured designs compliment t he architectural s tyle t hey are meant to reflect. The magazine focused on forward-thinking, progressive design which Matter’s highly modernist style complimented. H is p recision in design served well as a representation of 1940’s architecture and modern art. The bold, elongated t ypefaces w ith n o weight c ontrast e mphasized t he i mportance of balance, reflecting the modernist ideals of equality. As u sual, his design t ran-scends artistic expression, reaching a level of distinct stylistic influence while still managing to create mass communication and appeal.

MARXISMThe ideals of the machine age were highly prevalent during this time period, influenced by the World Wars. Between the idealization of industrial innova-tion, geometry, a nd c ommercialism, d esign b ecame a professional corporate field. Matter prized the communicative and commercial aspect to design, but ever sought to narrow the gap between fine and applied arts by integrating his own personal artistic style into his professional work. The hand in the Decem-ber cover is highly stylized and geometrical, and the moonscape within it creates a sense of separation between the viewer and the work. This elongated distor-tion of a human hand becomes simplified and geometric, enveloping an image that isn’t even of our earth. This image reflects the ever-evolving technological pursuits o f man and his increasing fascination with i deas and technologies beyond his current reach.

New Haven Railroad Trademark, 1954

New Haven Railroad Design Program, 1954

FORMALISMThis 1954 design program by New Haven Railroad was an effort to rebrand the railroad and modernize it i n the eyes of t he public. This design epitomizes a sense of balance in composition. The wideness of the letterforms echo the hori-zontal nature of the boxcars, and evoke a sense power and speed while watching the trains go by. Each letter stands wide and strong, implying a similar strength in the railroad system itself. The colors, likewise evoke a sense of power; the highest contrasting color system that exists: b lack, white, and red is used to assert the authority and efficiency of the trains.

SEMIOTICSThe New Haven Railroad designs were wholly integrated into the imagery of the railroad itself, and branded the company beyond even its existence. The brand is instantly recognizable as that o f the New Haven Railroad, even today. The railroad seeks a powerful, masculine air that will demand the attention of any viewer, and indeed it did. The dominant new branding brought revenue into the railroad, giving it new vibrancy in not only the boxcars, but the tickets, brochures, and signage material as well.

MARXISMThe simplistic tricolor scheme and apparent grid structure emphasize the mod-ernist machinist aesthetic o f the railroad. T he u se o f red, black, and white together is a c lean a nd c lassic way to d isplay efficiency a nd dominance i n a design. The emphasis in the design on precision and rectilinear forms reflected the railroad’s desire t o display innovation and a contemporary edge over its competitors. The simplicity of the design reflects Bauhaus ideals of functionality and hierarchical emphasis.

NEW HAVEN

Womb Chair Advertisement for Knoll Furniture, 1955

Tulip Chair Advertisement for Knoll Furniture, 1966

FORMALISMEach of these ads for Knoll Furniture has a strong, centralized design that tran-scends the outdated form of the product it advertises. The Womb Chair Adver-tisement was Knoll Furniture’s longest running ad, lasting for thirteen years, and for obvious reasons. The Knoll logo that Matter designed became synonymous with mid-century modern design, and the company utilizes his design aesthetic in their advertisements to this day. Though each design has a central f igure and composition, neither are entirely symmetrical. Both simple designs are remark-able i n their dynamic composition, creating tension through unusual camera angles and textual treatment.

SEMIOTICSMatter’s distinctive and highly successful integration of color copy and photogra-phy is especially well represented in his work for Knoll. The universal appeal ofthis d esign i s fresh, modern, and provocative, e ven b y today’s standards, l et alone the 1950’s and 60’s. The design displays clearly not just the product, but the sense of the product that the company would like you to feel. At the time, this was the most modern style of furniture on the market, and you can tell. The futuristic d isplay o f the chairs was universally appealing, u rging consumers to purchase this new and exciting product. The minimal use of textual information emphasizes the large, highly visible figures in the center of the composition.

MARXISMThis was the age of consumerism; whole design movements were based off the emerging high brow, corporate view of artistic expression. This is clear in both designs. There is very minimal use of text, and the text is very small. The large “K” marks the ad as that of Knoll Furniture, but Matter doesn’t even write out the entire word because the corporate logo is so recognizable in society. The minimal use of text serves to emphasize the overpowering, centralized figures of the chairs, showing us the importance of the product in the modern market. He doesn’t have to sell it to people with quality assurances; product is about class and aesthetic.

KNOLL

INFLUENCEHerbert Matter’s work transcends the time in which it was made. Says documentarian Reto Caduff, “He looked at how things could be and used a futuristic language in his work. So to this day, Matter’s perspec-tive comes across as modern.” Because of the influence of Bauhaus and Constructivism on his work, Matter was always conscious of the developing technical world around him and its effects on graphic design. Like the prominent artists of the Bauhaus, Matter sought in all of his works to eliminate the distinc-tion between fine and applied arts.

Feeding also from the works of El Lissitzky and Man Ray, Matter integrated the progressive collage tech-niques into much of his work throughout his career, though his style was clearly more formalist than that of the earlier Dada artists. He combined the ideas of collage with the photomontage developed by Con-structivist designers. Constructivism emphasized industrial stylization, along with angular and geometric works. It is clear in Matter’s works how these ideas of modernization influenced his own pieces. While Matter drew from the artistic world he had immersed himself in, he also never fully detached himself from the Swiss impact in his design, even after living in the United States for many years. This Swiss aesthetic drove his utter precision in design and photography.

“Matter synthesized art and commerce in wonderful ways. He pioneered the use of artistic semantics in advertising. Itʼs something very common today but back in those days he really was avant-garde and a pioneer”

Martin Hess

Herbert Matter was a fortunate member of an unofficial design elite throughout Europe and the United States who communicated and fed off each other. He maintained close relationships with many influential artists, and though these artists all maintained definitive personal styles, they also heavily influenced each other’s works. Among these great minds were Paul Rand, Jackson Pollock, Alexander Calder, AM Cassan-dre, Alberto Giacometti, and many others. These artists truly were inspired by each other and their art, sharing ideas and collaborating often.

Photography during this time was used fairly exclusively as a tool of documentation; Matter rejected this straightforward treatment of a form of media that he felt had almost infinite possibilities. The role that photography played in visual communications changed because of Matter’s highly experimental treatment of his work. Matter drew from Surrealist treatments of photography; he sought to extend the form beyond purely objective applications. Matter lead the charge toward personal expression in advertising design through his unique blend of progressive photography, editing and design techniques.

INFLUENCEHerbert Matter’s work transcends the time in which it was made. Says documentarian Reto Caduff, “He looked at how things could be and used a futuristic language in his work. So to this day, Matter’s perspec-tive comes across as modern.” Because of the influence of Bauhaus and Constructivism on his work, Matter was always conscious of the developing technical world around him and its effects on graphic design. Like the prominent artists of the Bauhaus, Matter sought in all of his works to eliminate the distinc-tion between fine and applied arts.

Feeding also from the works of El Lissitzky and Man Ray, Matter integrated the progressive collage tech-niques into much of his work throughout his career, though his style was clearly more formalist than that of the earlier Dada artists. He combined the ideas of collage with the photomontage developed by Con-structivist designers. Constructivism emphasized industrial stylization, along with angular and geometric works. It is clear in Matter’s works how these ideas of modernization influenced his own pieces. While Matter drew from the artistic world he had immersed himself in, he also never fully detached himself from the Swiss impact in his design, even after living in the United States for many years. This Swiss aesthetic drove his utter precision in design and photography.

“Matter synthesized art and commerce in wonderful ways. He pioneered the use of artistic semantics in advertising. Itʼs something very common today but back in those days he really was avant-garde and a pioneer”

Martin Hess

Herbert Matter was a fortunate member of an unofficial design elite throughout Europe and the United States who communicated and fed off each other. He maintained close relationships with many influential artists, and though these artists all maintained definitive personal styles, they also heavily influenced each other’s works. Among these great minds were Paul Rand, Jackson Pollock, Alexander Calder, AM Cassan-dre, Alberto Giacometti, and many others. These artists truly were inspired by each other and their art, sharing ideas and collaborating often.

Photography during this time was used fairly exclusively as a tool of documentation; Matter rejected this straightforward treatment of a form of media that he felt had almost infinite possibilities. The role that photography played in visual communications changed because of Matter’s highly experimental treatment of his work. Matter drew from Surrealist treatments of photography; he sought to extend the form beyond purely objective applications. Matter lead the charge toward personal expression in advertising design through his unique blend of progressive photography, editing and design techniques.

Herbert Matter is a magician. To satisfy the needs of industry, that's what you have to be.

Industry is a tough taskmaster.Art is tougher.

Industry plus Art, almost impossible. Some artists have done the impossible.

Herbert Matter, for example. His work of '32 could have been done in '72 or even '82.

It has that timeless, unerring quality one recognizes instinctively.It speaks to all tongues, with one tongue.

It is uncomplicated, to the point, familiar, and yet unexpected. Something brought to light, an image, a surprise, an analogy.

It is believable, as it is unbelievable. It always has an idea, the one you almost thought of.

It may be formal or anecdotal, full of sentiment, but not sentimental.It is commercial; it is contemplative.

It enhances the quality of life.

It is ArtPaul Rand