Today we are going to look at the work of one of the most famous designers, Otl Aicher. I think most people know Otl Aicher for his work on the Munich 1972 Olympics branding, so I wanted to try and research a little more and look at some of the other work he has done as well.
Otl Aicher spent time fighting in the second world war against his beliefs, and in the aftermath he spent most of his design energies attempting to revitalise the public after the devastation.
As mentioned he is most known for his work on the Munich Olympics graphic system, which followed a strict grid and consistency of type, only using the font Univers. Bright colours were used, influenced by the Bavarian countryside, overlaying much of the imagery to offer a vibrant energetic look, contemporary by any standards. He also developed the pictograms for the individual sports which have pretty much influenced every Olympic pictogram since, and are still used in many instances and leisure centres today.
Aicher headed a group which created the identity system of the Deutsche Lufthansa, a simple bold identity with the distinctive black and yellow colours. Even today, it still shapes the look of the company. It has such a striking look, positive and contemporary, yet somehow classy as well.
Aicher was also an accomplished typographer, probably his most prominent creation was the Rotis type family developed in 1988. The typeface consisted of sans-serif, semi-sans, serif and semi-serif iterations, and was named after the property where he worked from 1972 until his death in 1971.
On reading up on Aicher, there was certainly lots I didn’t know he had a hand in, so hopefully you enjoy the work of this true master a much as I have.
