In late 2021, Ramone Muñoz, professor of design and design history at ArtCenter College of Design, contacted us to gauge our interest in acquiring posters from his longtime friend, renowned poster designer Bruno Monguzzi. Thus began an adventure in poster-collecting across Switzerland in late April this year, on behalf of HMCT Archive.
The ties between Swiss design, the College, Southern California, and HMCT are deep. Many faculty members, including our Creative Director Simon Johnston, studied at Kunstgewerbeschule in Basel with Armin Hofmann and Wolfgang Weingart; Leah Hoffmitz Milken, educator, and designer (and namesake of HMCT), pursued graduate studies there as well. April Greiman, another acclaimed designer whose work resides in our Archive, is known for helping bring Swiss design to the U.S. In addition, ArtCenter had a satellite campus in Vevey, Switzerland, from 1986 to 1996. So, of course, we are always eager to expand the Archive collection of the work of esteemed Swiss designers.
Ramone not only began a conversation regarding donation with Bruno in Meride, but also set up meetings between HMCT and two other legendary designers: Pierre Neumann in Vevey, and Werner Jeker in Lausanne. We were fortunate to arrive in time to attend the premiere of a documentary on Werner’s life work and legacy as a poster designer at the Lausanne University of Art and Design (ECAL), where his vast personal archives now reside.
In addition, we met with master printer Dafi Kühne, who offers popular letterpress workshops that explore alternative techniques and unusual materials for creating posters at his impressive printing facility in the Alps. The HMCT Dafi Kühne Collection is updated regularly and contains a sample of every poster that Dafi has produced since 2009. He has also served as artist-in-residence at HMCT Archetype Press twice; his next Pasadena-based workshops are slated for January 2023.
In the two weeks spent traveling throughout Switzerland meeting the designers, their families, and studio assistants, we established donor relationships, collaborations, and friendships. We also discovered that the art of poster design and display is alive and well throughout Switzerland—perhaps owing to urban spaces designed to be conducive to foot travel. In fact, the Swiss consider posters to be such an essential means of communication that their Federal Department of Home Affairs has been conferring a “Best Poster Award” (based on artistic value, effective advertising techniques, and quality of printing) every year since 1941. Several of these award-winning works will now be represented in the HMCT Archive.
As of this writing, we are still documenting and accessioning the generous donation of the designers: over 300 posters, numerous books, plus 24 hours’ worth of video-recorded interviews with them in their studios. This material, while intrinsically valuable, includes rare and out-of-print works that we would not otherwise be able to add to our Archive. We are grateful to the designers, their studios, and Ramone for making this happen, and we look forward to exhibiting the work in 2023.
