Otto "Otl" Aicher (; 13 May 1922 – 1 September 1991) was a German

graphic designer A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, either within companies or organizations or independently. They are professionals in design and visual communication, with their primary focus on transforming ...

and

typographer Typography is the art and technique of Typesetting, arranging type to make written language legibility, legible, readability, readable and beauty, appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, Point (typogra ...

. Aicher co-founded and taught at the influential Ulm School of Design. He is known for having led the design team of the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, and for overseeing the creation of its prominently used system of

pictogram A pictogram (also pictogramme, pictograph, or simply picto) is a graphical symbol that conveys meaning through its visual resemblance to a physical object. Pictograms are used in systems of writing and visual communication. A pictography is a wri ...

s. Aicher also developed the Rotis

typeface A typeface (or font family) is a design of Letter (alphabet), letters, Numerical digit, numbers and other symbols, to be used in printing or for electronic display. Most typefaces include variations in size (e.g., 24 point), weight (e.g., light, ...

Early life and career

Aicher was born in Ulm, in the south-western state of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

, on 13 May 1922. Aicher was a classmate and friend of Werner Scholl, and through him met Werner's family, including his siblings Hans and

Sophie Scholl Sophia Magdalena Scholl (9 May 1921 – 22 February 1943) was a German student and anti-Nazi political activist, active in the White Rose non-violent German resistance to Nazism, resistance group in Nazi Germany. Raised in a politically engag ...

(both of whom would be executed in 1943 for their membership in the

White Rose The White Rose (, ) was a Nonviolence, non-violent, intellectual German resistance to Nazism, resistance group in Nazi Germany which was led by five students and one professor at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, University of Munich ...

resistance movement in

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

). Like the Scholls, Aicher was strongly opposed to the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

movement. He was arrested in 1937 for refusing to join the

Hitler Youth The Hitler Youth ( , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth wing of the German Nazi Party. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. From 1936 until 1945, it was th ...

, and consequently he was failed on his

abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

(college entrance) examination in 1941. He was subsequently drafted into the German army to fight in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, though he tried to leave at various times. In 1945 he deserted the army, and went into hiding at the Scholls' house in Wutach. In 1946, after the end of the war, Aicher began studying

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich. In 1947, he opened his own studio in Ulm. In 1952 he married Inge Scholl, the older sister of Werner, Hans, and Sophie.

Ulm School of Design

In 1953, along with Inge Scholl and Max Bill, he founded the Ulm School of Design (Hochschule für Gestaltung Ulm), which became one of Germany's leading educational centers for design from its founding until its closure in 1968. Faculty and students included such notable designers as Tomás Maldonado, Peter Seitz, and Anthony Froshaug. Aicher was heavily involved in corporate branding and is considered one of the pioneers of

Corporate design A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

. Among others, he was influential in the corporate identity of the company

Braun Braun is a surname, originating from the German language, German word for the color brown. In German, ''Braun'' is pronounced – except for the "r", equal to the English word "brown". In English, it is often pronounced like "brawn". Notable p ...

, and he designed the logo for the German airline

Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), trading as the Lufthansa Group, is a German aviation group. Its major and founding subsidiary airline Lufthansa German Airlines, branded as Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. It ranks List of largest airlin ...

in 1969.

1972 Munich Olympics

In 1966, Aicher was asked by the organisers of the

to become the Olympic Games' lead designer. He was asked to create a design for the Olympics that complemented the architecture of the newly built stadium in Munich designed by

Günther Behnisch Günther, Guenther, Ginther, Gunther, and the variants Günter, Guenter, Guenther, Ginter, and Gunter, are Germanic names derived from ''Gunthere, Gunthari'', composed of '' *gunþiz'' "battle" (Old Norse '' gunnr'') and ''heri, hari'' "army". Gu ...

. Aicher consulted with Masaru Katsumie, who had designed the previous 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games. Basing his work in part on iconography for the 1964 Games, Aicher created a set of

s meant to provide a visual interpretation of the sport they featured so that athletes and visitors to the Olympic village and stadium could find their way around. He created pictograms using a series of grid systems and a specific bright colour palette that he chose for these Games. These designs were directly influential on the DOT pictograms, developed in 1974 by the

United States Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the president of the United States a ...

, which applied the same principles to standard public signage such as those for toilets and telephones; the DOT pictograms have in turn been used around the world. The series of pictograms he created was not a simple task; the goal of each pictogram was to function as a clear sign of the activity it represented while simultaneously maintaining its universal comprehension. Otl Aicher also helped to design the logo of the Munich Olympics. He went through several stages with his design team before finally finding the successful emblem. One of their first ideas was to use an element of the city's coat of arms or

Münchner Kindl Münchner Kindl, meaning "Munich child" in the Bavarian dialect, is the name of the symbol on the coat of arms of the city of Munich. History This symbol has been the coat-of-arms of Munich since the 13th century. The figure portrayed was origin ...

within the design which showed a monk or child pointing into the distance while clasping a book in his hand. Other ideas were to use the surrounding areas of the city, referencing the sun, mountains and landscape within the design. Finally the "Strahlenkranz" was created, a garland which represented the sun but also the five

Olympic rings The International Olympic Committee (IOC) uses icons, flags, and symbols to represent and enhance the Olympic Games. These symbols include those commonly used during Olympic competitions such as the flame, fanfare, and theme as well as those u ...

merged in a spiral shape. Designer Coordt von Mannstein reworked Aicher's original design through a mathematical calculation to amalgamate the garland and spiral together to get the final design. The colours chosen for the designs of the games were selected to reflect the tones of the Alps. The mountains in blue and white would make up the palette of colours which also included green, orange and silver. The colours were used to identify allocated themes such as media, technical services, celebrity hospitality and public functions and each had a different colour so visitors could differentiate the themes around the stadium and village. Uniforms were colour-coordinated to represent these themes, the Olympic staff could be identified as working for a particular department by the colour they were wearing. Aicher used the typeface

Univers Univers () is a sans-serif typeface family designed by Adrian Frutiger and released by his employer Deberny & Peignot in 1957. Classified as a Grotesque (typeface classification), neo-grotesque sans-serif, one based on the model of nineteenth-cen ...

for the Olympic designs. The design team produced 21 sports posters to advertise the sports at the games, using the official design colours and also including the logo and "München 1972". The design team used a technique called "posterization" for the graphics on the posters, separating the tonal qualities from the images in a manual process and using the official munich colours for these games. The first of these posters was a poster of the Olympic stadium which became the official poster for these games. The posters were displayed all around the city of Munich and around the Olympic sites. Posters were hung in twos alongside posters designed by famous artists chosen to represent this Olympics such as

David Hockney David Hockney (born 9 July 1937) is an English Painting, painter, Drawing, draughtsman, Printmaking, printmaker, Scenic design, stage designer, and photographer. As an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considere ...

R. B. Kitaj Ronald Brooks Kitaj (; October 29, 1932 – October 21, 2007) was an American artist who spent much of his life in England. Life He was born in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, United States. His Hungarian father, Sigmund Benway, left his mother, Jeanne ...

Tom Wesselmann Thomas K. Wesselmann (February 23, 1931 – December 17, 2004) was an American artist associated with the Pop Art movement who worked in painting, collage and sculpture. Early years Wesselmann was born in Cincinnati. From 1949 to 1951 he atten ...

and Allen Jones. He also created the first official Olympic Mascot, a striped

dachshund The dachshund ( or ; German: 'badger dog'), also known as the wiener dog or sausage dog, badger dog, doxen and doxie, is a short-legged, long-bodied, hound-type dog breed. The dog may be smooth-haired, wire-haired, or long-haired, with varie ...

named Waldi. File:Olympic games 1972 basketball 0501.JPG, File:Piktogramm Schwimmer an der Muenchner Olympia Schwimmhalle.JPG, File:Olympic games 1972 pictogramms olympic station 0877 a.jpg, File:Archery pictogram white (1972 Summer Olympics style).svg, File:Olympic parc munich pictogramms ice rink 0651.JPG, File:Olympic games 1972 cycling 0533.JPG, File:Olympic games 1972 gymnastics 0532.JPG,

Later work

In 1980 Otl Aicher became a consultant of the kitchen manufacturer Bulthaup. He created the Rotis font family in 1988, naming it after the location of his domicile and design studio near the rural town of Leutkirch im Allgäu. His typeface is still used by Bulthaup today. Aicher also designed logos for the University of Konstanz and the Munich Airport among others.

Death and after

Aicher died in

Günzburg Günzburg (; Swabian German, Swabian: ''Genzburg'') is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It is a ''Große Kreisstadt'' and the capital of the Swabian Günzburg (district), district Günzburg. This district was constituted in 1972 by combining the city ...

on 1 September 1991, after he was struck by a motorbike while mowing the grass at Rotis.Rathgeb, Markus. Otl Aicher. New York: Phaidon Press Inc., 2008. Aicher was honored by the Munich City Council on 6 May 2010, when a street, Otl-Aicher-Straße, in the City's Borough No. 12 (Schwabing-Freimann) was named after him. The Leutkirch

Realschule Real school (, ) is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola''), F ...

also bears his name.

Publications

Aicher wrote many books on design and other subjects, including: * "The Kitchen is for Cooking" (1982) * "Walking in the Desert" (1982) * "Critique of the Automobile" (1984) * "Inside the War" (1985) * "The World as Design" (Die Welt Als Entwurf) (1991) * "Analog and Digital" (Analog Und Digital) (1991) Publications on Otl Aicher and his work: * Foster, Norman: ''Otl Aicher 1991.'' In: David Jenkins (Hg.): ''On Foster ... Foster On'', München: Prestel, 2000, pp. 592–595, * Rathgeb, Markus: ''Otl Aicher – Design as a method of action''. PhD thesis at The University of Reading, 2001 * Rathgeb, Markus: ''Otl Aicher''. Phaidon Press, 2006, . (Monograph)

References

External links

Biography
at linotype.com
Otl Aicher, Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), New York City

72:Otl Aicher and the Munich Olympiad
– February 2007 museum exhibition

at 72 exhibition
Otl Aicher
otl-aicher.de
München braucht eine Otl-Aicher-Straße
Project to honor the work of Otl Aicher as a communication designer in Munich.

2008 exhibition in San Jose, California
Official repository of Otl Aicher's pictograms
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aicher, Otl 1922 births 1991 deaths White Rose members 20th-century German designers German graphic designers Information graphic designers Design researchers Design educators German architecture writers Logo designers German typographers and type designers Road incident deaths in Germany People from Ulm Academy of Fine Arts, Munich alumni Academic staff of the Ulm School of Design German Army personnel of World War II Deserters