Otto Baumberger – Advertising Pioneer

until sunday february 01 2009
Museum of Design Zürich, Plakatraum
Plakatsammlung
T : +41 (0)43 446 44 66
Limmatstrasse 55
CH-8005 Zurich
Switzerland

Poster Collection
Bettina Richter
T : +41 (0)43 446 66 06
bettina.richter@zhdk.ch
www.museum-gestaltung.ch

Head of exhibitions
Angeli Sachs
T : +41 (0)43 446 67 01
angeli.sachs@zhdk.ch

Otto Baumberger (1889 – 1961) was one of the first Swiss who can be correctly described as a "poster designer," even though his personal desire for artistic recognition would remain unfulfilled.


Otto Baumberger, Wer rechnet kauft im Globus (Educated shoppers go to Globus), Poster design, 1934 © 2008 ProLitteris

As an employee of Wolfensberger AG in Zurich he acquired a sound knowledge of lithography techniques, and used this knowledge to advance and renew the medium, designing over 200 posters.
Baumberger was ahead of his time in recognizing important aspects of consumer advertising. Without creating a style of his own, he sought the most appropriate way of conveying a message. His original, inventive images led to a reduction that reached towards abstraction, as image and lettering elements gradually formed an increasingly striking synthesis. The diversity of Baumberger’s work exemplarily embodies the history of Swiss poster art in the first half of the twentieth century, showing the development from the painterly artist’s poster to corporate design shaped by graphic art.