Emil Ruder

Emil Ruder was born in Switzerland in 1914 and he was a typographer and graphic designer, he also helped Armin Hofmann form the Basel School of Design and establish the style of design known as Swiss Design which later on wolfgang wiengart studied and thought there. Emil taught that, above all, typography's purpose was to communicate ideas through writing. He took the importance on sans-serif typefaces and placed them into his work.

 

Hans Arp, Emil Ruder and Armin Hofmann at the Basel School of Design in 1961

Like most designers he is associated as part of the Swiss Design movement which he favored asymmetrical compositions, placing a high importance on the counters of characters and the negative space of compositions. A friend and associate of Hofmann, Frutiger and Müller Brockmann, Ruder was the major key role in the development of graphic design in the 1940s and 50s. His style has been adopted by many designers, and his use of grids in design has influenced also the development of web design on different levels.