Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Bettina Richter (eds.)

The Magic of Things / Magie der Dinge

Poster Collection 24

The Magic of Things explores a former advertising strategy of Swiss product posters in which banal, everyday objects—butter, a sewing machine, or shoes—are presented as desirable objects enticing us to buy. Free from any further contextualization, the objects acquire a sensual presence and magical aura. The product poster had its heyday in Switzerland in the 1940s with designers such as Niklaus Stoecklin, Peter Birkhäuser, or Otto Baumberger. As consumer society developed, however, the exclusive focus on the product and the brand name was no longer enough—in advertising, the feelings associated with the object as it related to life grew increasingly important. Today it is in the cultural poster that the magical depiction of things is experiencing a kind of renaissance.

The Magic of Things explores a former advertising strategy of Swiss product posters in which banal, everyday objects—butter, a sewing machine, or shoes—are presented as desirable objects enticing us to buy. Free from any further contextualization, the objects acquire a sensual presence and magical aura. The product poster had its heyday in Switzerland in the 1940s with designers such as Niklaus Stoecklin, Peter Birkhäuser, or Otto Baumberger. As consumer society developed, however, the exclusive focus on the product and the brand name was no longer enough—in advertising, the feelings associated with the object as it related to life grew increasingly important. Today it is in the cultural poster that the magical depiction of things is experiencing a kind of renaissance.

This book is part of the Poster Collection series. Get the complete series here

Edited by Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Bettina Richter

With an essay by Gerda Breuer

Design: Integral Lars Müller

16,5 x 24 cm, 6 ½ x 9 ½ in

96 pages, 127 illustrations

paperback

2012, 978-3-03778-258-3, German
English
CHF 35.00
Out of print

Bettina Richter

Bettina Richter studied art history in Heidelberg, Paris and Zurich and obtained her doctorate in 1996 with a thesis on the antiwar graphics of Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen. From 1997 to 2006, she served as a research associate at the Poster Collection of the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, and in 2006 became its curator. Bettina Richter lectures at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste and works as a freelance writer. She is the editor of the publication series "Poster Collection" and has published articles and essays on art history, literature, and the subject of posters.

Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Bettina Richter (eds.)

Niklaus Troxler

CHF 25.00
Poster Collection, vol. 34

Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Bettina Richter (eds.)

En Vogue

CHF 25.00
Poster Collection, vol. 32

Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Bettina Richter (eds.)

Stop Motion

CHF 25.00
Poster Collection, vol. 31

Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Bettina Richter (eds.)

Self-Promotion

CHF 30.00
Poster Collection, vol. 30

Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Bettina Richter (eds.)

Herbert Leupin

CHF 25.00
Poster Collection, vol. 28

Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Bettina Richter (eds.)

The Hand / Die Hand

CHF 25.00
Poster Collection, vol. 27

Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Bettina Richter (eds.)

Japan – Nippon

CHF 35.00
Out of print
Poster Collection, vol. 26

Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Bettina Richter (eds.)

In Series / In Serie

CHF 35.00
Poster Collection, vol. 23

Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Bettina Richter (eds.)

Help!

CHF 34.00
Poster Collection, vol. 20

Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Christian Brändle (eds.)

Head to Head

CHF 40.00
Poster Collection, vol. 19

Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Bettina Richter (eds.)

Otto Baumberger

CHF 34.00
Poster Collection, vol. 18

Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Bettina Richter (eds.)

Photo Graphics

CHF 34.00
Poster Collection, vol. 17

Museum für Gestaltung Zürich (ed.)

Comix!

CHF 34.00
Poster Collection, vol. 16

Museum für Gestaltung Zürich (ed.)

Zürich–Milano

CHF 30.00
Poster Collection, vol. 14

Museum für Gestaltung Zürich (ed.)

Typo China

CHF 26.00
Poster Collection, vol. 13

Museum für Gestaltung Zürich (ed.)

Catherine Zask

CHF 26.00
Poster Collection, vol. 12

Museum für Gestaltung Zürich (ed.)

Handmade

CHF 30.00
Poster Collection, vol. 11

Museum für Gestaltung Zürich (ed.)

Armin Hofmann

CHF 26.00
Poster Collection, vol. 7

Museum für Gestaltung Zürich (ed.)

Donald Brun

CHF 26.00
Poster Collection, vol. 2

Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Felix Studinka (eds.)

Revue 1926

CHF 29.00
Out of print
Poster Collection, vol. 1