Willi kunz biography

Philip B. Meggs
Willi Kunz

Swiss-born Willi Kunz played a role in introducing the new typography developed at Basel into the United States. After apprenticing as a typesetter, Kunz completed his postgraduate studies at the Kunstgewerbeschule Zurich (School of Arts and Crafts).

Kunz moved to New York in 1970 and worked there as a graphic designer until 1973, when he accepted an appointment to teach typography at the Basel School of Design as Wolfgang Weingart’s sabbatical-leave replacement.

Willi kunz biography

Inspired by the research of Weingart and his students, and with the type shop at his disposal, Kunz began a series of typographic interpretations of writings by Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan. These were hand printed and published under the title 12 Typographical Interpretations.

McLuhan’s thoughts on communications and printing were visualized and intensified by contrasting type weights, sometimes within the same word; geometric stair-step forms; unorthodox letter-, word-, and line spaci