Poster Collection: Paradise Switzerland

A visual dialogue of exemplary Swiss advertisements from 1900 to the present

Whatever became of the myth of Switzerland? Is Switzerland really a beatific island, or does this “paradise on Earth” betray fault lines? What is connoted by the name “Switzerland”? As displayed in tourism posters, chocolate wrappers, milk cartons, wristwatches, and banknotes, the Swiss image-world reflects the Zeitgeist, disclosing projections and yearnings found throughout society. This publication brings together exemplary advertisements dating from 1900 to the present to form a stimulating visual dialogue. Explored first are the ways in which Switzerland has appeared in advertising, and secondly, how this land has been transformed into a cohesive image. Illuminated in the context of image strategies and advertising texts are a range of iconographic types. Coming to light are clichés, images of native life and of foreignness, as well as contradictions and fractures. Readers will encounter the multifaceted spectrum of “Swissness” through approximately 90 posters by important designers and ad agencies including Aebi und Partner, Otto Baumberger, Emil Cardiaux, Hans Falk, Walter Herdeg, Herbert Leupin, Burkhard Mangold, Herbert Matter, Martin Peikert, Emil Schulthess, Stalder und Suter, Niklaus Stoecklin, Ruf Lanz, Carlo Vivarelli, Weber, Hodel, Schmid, and others.

Museum of Design Zurich was founded as a museum of applied arts in 1875. Its principal foci are design, visual communication, and architecture. With more than sixty thousand visitors every year, it is one of Zurich's most heavily visited museums.