‘hi visuelle gestaltung’ typopassage at museums quartier wien, vienna, austria may 13th, 2011 – october 2011

self-portrait of swiss studio hi visuelle gestaltung (megi zumstein and claudio barandun), whose work is on exhibition at typopassage image courtesy of bauer konzept & gestaltung

the work of swiss design studio hi visuelle gestaltung (megi zumstein and claudio barandun) comprises the fourth exhibition of typopassage, a ‘micro museum for typography’ curated by design studio bauer konzept & gestaltung and housed in vienna’s museums quartier wien.

each year, typopassage features the work of a small set of typographers and designers. each exhibition is documented with a catalogue, featuring a newly designed font and purchasable for 2 euro at an on-site vending machine.

originally trained as graphic designers, hi visual design approaches typeface creation in the context of individual projects. ‘if a font is convincing,’ they explain, ‘most of the designing process is done already. for lack of finding the typeface of our very dreams, we started making it ourselves.’ the studio’s bold designs include posters and book and magazine covers, including 24 issues of gaswerk magazine.

in addition to prints of the studio’s work, the commemorative catalogue also features an extensive interview with the designers, who share their thoughts on collaborative work, design trends, and their production practice.

describing their process, the studio states:‘first, we we look what are the things already existing, what given conditions we are meeting. then we start working on the project and develop the appropriate design solution. […] there is always a theme we can react to and find an own visual language for, [although] of course you won’t be able to detect the inspiration 1 : 1, that would be very one-dimensional.’

quotations taken from ‘typopassage #4: hi – megi zumstein, claudio barandun’, ed.: erwin k. bauer, printed by schlebrugge editor

hi visual design at typopassage - 2 ‘countdown’ typeface, created by hi image courtesy of bauer konzept & gestaltung

hi visual design at typopassage - 3 january 2009 (left) and october 2007 (right) covers of gaswerk magazine, designed by hi

hi visual design at typopassage - 4

poster design by hi

hi visual design at typopassage - 5 the typopassage gallery image courtesy of bauer konzept & gestaltung

hi visual design at typopassage - 6 an on-site vending machine offers a commemorative exhibition catalogue for 2 euro image courtesy of bauer konzept & gestaltung