Niklaus
Troxler - 'A Tribute to the Music of Thelonious Monk'
Jazz Concert Poster 1986
Poster
© www.troxlerart.ch
Niklaus
Troxler's jazz poster, 'A Tribute to the Music of Thelonious
Monk' elegantly combines typography and colour to create
a portrait of the great jazz pianist and his music. The
typography outlines the recognisable silhouette of Monk's
head in text of red, yellow and blue. The rhythm that
is created by the changing colour of the words as they
move around the profile evokes the tempo of his playing,
while the deep blue background suggests the roots of his
music.
Niklaus
Troxler is an internationally renowned Swiss graphic designer
who specializes in poster design, corporate design, illustration
and architectural murals.
Since 1975, Troxler has organised the Willisau Jazz Festival,
an international event that features the best in contemporary
jazz. He also produces the festival posters which are
all the exactly the same size due to Swiss bill posting
restrictions.
The Willisau Jazz Festival offers Troxler the perfect
opportunity to merge his two passions of graphic design
and jazz music into one unique concept. "Everything
that fascinates me about jazz music, is also what interests
me in design: rhythm, sound, contrast, interaction, experiment,
improvisation, composition, individuality. I have been
organising jazz concerts for as long as I have been designing.
Both activities have inspired me since the mid-1960s,
and still have lost none of their fascination."
Troxler’s posters are layered with visual puns and
musical metaphors, executed in hand crafted illustration
and typography. He tries to avoid the use of photography
which he considers to be clichéd.
Silkscreen
and lithographic prints are the main techniques that Troxler
uses to communicate both figurative and abstract ideas
created from paper cut-outs, collage, stencils and brush
and line drawings.
The styles that Troxler uses in his poster designs fall
into three main categories: Abstract, Typographic and
Figurative.
Abstract
Designs
Niklaus
Troxler - 'Underkarl'
Jazz
Concert Poster 2004
Poster
© www.troxlerart.ch
Troxler's abstract designs show the 1960’s influence
of Geometric Abstraction and Op Art styles, as well as
that of the Swiss graphic designer Josef Müller-Brockmann,
whose formal designs are based on grid structures. Troxler's
poster for the 'Underkarl' concert uses an optical illusion
known as 'the scintillating grid' whose dots effectively
blink like light emitting diodes, an apt metaphor for
Underkarl's electronic music.
Typographic
Designs
Niklaus
Troxler - 'McCoy Tyner Sextet'
Jazz Concert Poster 1980
Poster
© www.troxlerart.ch
Troxler's typographic designs demonstrate experimental
and ground breaking ideas. His apprenticeship as a typesetter
established an interest in typography that has had a lasting
effect on his designs: “Even today, it’s
always a ‘Must’ for me to design one or two
‘pure’ Typography Posters!”
Troxler's
hand crafted poster for the 'McCoy Tyner Sextet' works
on two different levels. It is a modern design classic
that stylistically forecasts the creative explosion of
computer generated typographic design in the 1980's. On
another level, the dynamic interaction between the positive
and negative forms of the typography recalls the strong
colour and pattern of African textiles. These bold abstract
elements echo the African sounds and rhythms to be found
in McCoy Tyner's music at this time.
Figurative
Designs
Niklaus
Troxler - 'Willisau Jazz Festival, 78'
Jazz Concert Poster 1978
Poster
© www.troxlerart.ch
Troxler's
eclectic figurative designs show diverse influences that
range from the 1960’s pop influence of Pushpin
Graphics to artists as different in outlook as the
Fauve painter Henri
Matisse and the Surrealist René Magritte. They
also rejoice in his love of drawing which he expresses
through a range of styles and techniques.
Niklaus
Troxler's 1978 poster for the Willisau Jazz Festival draws
on the surreal fusion of images that is found in the art
of Magritte but it is executed in a comic book Pushpin
style. The illustration is of a baritone sax whose mouthpiece
has transformed into a serpent. The hypnotic swaying of
this venomous creature, augmented by its acid colours
and cool blue background, suggests the kind of music and
ambience to expect at the festival.
Troxler
creates a diverse range of designs in a variety of styles
and techniques but all are indelibly stamped with his
visual identity and are immediately recognisable as his
work. He explains his approach, ‘The secret
is to concentrate, and to rely on my curiosity, to let
myself be carried away by improvisation, trusting that
my taste, or sensibilities, won't allow banalities. The
message has priority over form, creativeness over aesthetics,
and expression over perfect design.’
Niklaus
Troxler Notes
