Avant-Garde—Graphic Design on the Rise

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Avant-Garde—Graphic Design on the Rise

17 August 2026

What happens when a society is undergoing radical change whilst design is also seeking new forms of expression? This question is explored in an exhibition at the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, which showcases the development of modern graphic design in the 1920s and early 1930s.

A century has passed since graphic design emerged as a profession in its own right. Typography, photography, and graphic abstraction became new forms of visual expression through which designers helped shape the social and political upheavals of their time. The Museum für Gestaltung Zürich's exhibition, 'Avant-Garde—Graphic Design on the Rise', running from 3 September 2026 to 21 February 2027, showcases these developments while exploring the mutual influence of design and the spirit of the times.

The years following the First World War and the Russian Revolution were characterised by social tensions, but also by optimism and hope for fundamental change. Consequently, artists working within international networks developed new approaches to graphic design, photography, typography and visual communication. Women increasingly established themselves as designers, photographers and cultural mediators too.

Ėl’ Lisickij, Pelican Drawing Ink., 1925© public domain

Francis Bernard, Cunard Line, 1930© unknown

Adolphe Mouron Cassandre, Pakjes Koffie Van Nelle, 1931 © A.M. Cassandre / ADAGP, Paris / 2026, ProLitteris, Zurich

Radically Designed

This exhibition showcases the artistic developments of the 1920s and early 1930s through a variety of media, including posters, photographs, graphic works, and films. Works by El Lissitzky, Valentina Kulagina, Adolphe Mouron Cassandre, Jan Tschichold, Lucia Moholy and Binia Bill are on display, amongst others.

Over 150 posters, alongside numerous exhibits of everyday visual culture from the museum's collections, engage in dialogue with international loans and works from private collections. The exhibition is also complemented by examples of packaging, films, a replica of El Lissitzky’s ‘Prounenraum’ and Hannes Meyer’s ‘Co-op’ interior design.

The rise of totalitarian regimes in Europe brought this phase of experimental, socially engaged design to a temporary end in the mid-1930s. However, its ideas continue to have an impact to this day. The exhibition showcases an era when design was not only a form of aesthetic expression, but also a catalyst for social change.

The exhibition is accompanied by the publication ‘Avant-Garde Poster Collection 38’, edited by Bettina Richter.