Files

Abstract

In the early 1970s, the Swiss packaging company Bobst S.A. began to wonder whether it would be ready for the future with only one product type. The Lausanne-based company, already far advanced in terms of packaging manufacturing technology, decided to launch phototypesetting machines. The company sought to combine this new technology with the high-tech capabilities of computing to revolutionize typography quality. The result has been a whole series of novel phototypesetting machines for which Bobst Graphic, a trademark of Bobst S.A., has secured the patents of Hugonnet and Moyroud – the French inventors of photomontage. Thanks to the participation of some of the best font designers in the country, e.g. Team 77, different font families were developed for the new technique. Five years after its inception, however, Bobst Graphic was in financial difficulties and was forced to divest all its operations and personnel to the US company Autologic. Within two years all the business was fully relocated to the United States. The history of Bobst Graphic – a pioneering feat in the development of the phototypesetting at the time – has never been included in the rich history of Swiss graphic and font design. The author Giliane Cachin decided to document and share this fascinating story from the inside based on personal interviews. Bruno De Kalbermatten, Jean-Daniel Nicoud, Robert Flach, Roland Jan and Christian Mengelt all give their side of the story.

Details

Actions