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, German and Romance languages and literature in Heidelberg, Paris and Zurich, graduating with a dissertation on the anti-war graphics of Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen in 1996. From 1997 to 2006, Bettina Richter served as a research associate at the Poster Collection of the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich and was appointed its curator in 2006. In this capacity she has realized, among other exhibitions, “The Magic of Things” (2012), “Japanese Poster Artists—Cherry Blossom and Asceticism” (2014), “Protest!” (2018), and “Talking Bodies” (2023). From 2000 to 2005 she taught at the Zurich University of the Arts. She has published and lectured extensively on subjects related to the history of art and literature, as well as on posters. Since 2007 she has served as the editor of the series “Poster Collection”, by the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich.

Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Bettina Richter (eds.)

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Contemporary Iran

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Niklaus Troxler

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En Vogue

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Stop Motion

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Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Bettina Richter (eds.)

Self-Promotion

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Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Bettina Richter (eds.)

Herbert Leupin

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Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Bettina Richter (eds.)

The Hand / Die Hand

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Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Bettina Richter (eds.)

Japan – Nippon

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Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Bettina Richter (eds.)

In Series / In Serie

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Poster Collection, vol. 23

Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Bettina Richter (eds.)

Help!

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Head to Head

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Poster Collection, vol. 19

Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Bettina Richter (eds.)

Otto Baumberger

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Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Bettina Richter (eds.)

Photo Graphics

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Comix!

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Typo China

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Catherine Zask

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Handmade

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Armin Hofmann

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Donald Brun

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Revue 1926

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