Karl Gerstner (1930–2017) was one of the most important exponents of Swiss typography and is known for his work as a graphic designer and artist.
Karl Gerstner was born in Basel in 1930. He completed a graphic design apprenticeship before taking photography lessons at the Kunstgewerbeschule (School of Arts and Crafts) in Zurich. He set up his own graphic design studio in 1949 and was soon being commissioned to produce work for Ciba-Geigy. There, he met Markus Kutter with whom he went on to establish the advertising agency Gerstner + Kutter in 1959. They were joined by Paul Gredinger in 1962 and the agency was renamed GGK (Gerstner, Gredinger, Kutter). Over the next few years, GGK became one of the most successful advertising agencies in Switzerland, with offices in other European countries and in the US. Besides the many commissions he worked on for GGK, Karl Gerstner also designed typefaces and worked as an artist. From 1970 he stepped back from the operational business of GGK to focus on his art.
In 2006, Gerstner donated his private archive to the Swiss National Library’s Prints and Drawings Department, where all the archive holdings on his work as a designer have since been held. The extensive documentation on individual projects allows us to comprehend the entire process from the initial design stage to the definitive design solution.
Content and scope
- Advertising campaigns, including designs and preliminary work for various GGK clients, such as Swissair, IBM, Shell, VW, Ringier, Capital, etc.
- Designs for the typefaces Gerstner Programm and Gerstner Original
- GGK annual reports, manuals and magazines
- A small selection of paper artworks and a large number of preparatory digital prints for artworks and artists’ books
- An extensive collection of colour charts (colour organs) which Karl Gerstner used as a basis for his artworks
- Various publications, as well as preparatory materials, annotated test prints and layout documents
- Presentations and texts by Karl Gerstner
- Correspondence, personal documents, patents and awards
- A specialist library
- Photo documentation of his oeuvre
Research and access
- The Karl Gerstner archive is described and catalogued in detail in the HelveticArchives database.
- Further information on the Karl Gerstner archive is available on request.
- Originals can be consulted on site (by appointment).
Last modification 25.06.2024
Contact
Swiss National Library
Prints and Drawings Department
Hallwylstrasse 15
3003
Bern
Switzerland
Phone
+41 58 462 89 71