Supergraphics vs Swiss
スーパーグラフィックス / スイス・スタイル
Supergraphics comes from Signage and Display and Swiss from Functionalism. Both are read here as style. They are reached for with different intent, which is the fastest way to tell them apart.
Supergraphics
Environmental graphics at a scale that overruns the wall, bending geometry and letters around architecture to alter spatial perception itself. Solomon fused Swiss typography with Californian boldness at Sea Ranch.
Swiss
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Puts order front and center and makes the information itself the protagonist.
| Supergraphics | Swiss | |
|---|---|---|
| Era | 1966–1970s | 1950s– |
| Family | Signage and Display | Functionalism |
| Kind | Style | Style |
| Cues | Shapes crossing the architecture / Letters turning corners / Large fields of primary color / Perception manipulated | Strict grid / Sans-serif type / Asymmetry / Objective photography |
| Best used for | Changing the character and orientation of a large plain space cheaply · Making circulation across several floors read as one continuous move | Making complex information fast to read · Giving an organization rationality and transparency |
| Type | Size letters from the architecture and let them fill the floor height | Neutral sans-serif; be bold with size contrast |
| Composition | Wrap shapes from wall onto floor and ceiling, continuing through corners | 12-column grid, left-aligned, asymmetric |
| Material | Large fields of primary paint that override differences in substrate | White space and objective photographs; almost no ornament |
| Caution | When the shapes fail to reckon with doors and services, the continuity of the surface breaks and the work drops to paint applied at scale. | Too much tidiness turns anonymous. Keep one strong jump in scale. |