As one of the most important poster designers of our time, Swiss graphic designer Niklaus Troxler (born 1947) has devoted himself primarily to jazz posters. In 1966 Troxler organized the first jazz concert in his hometown Willisau in the canton of Lucerne. In 1975 he founded a jazz festival there that has since brought both established and innovative artists in Swiss and international jazz to the stage every year. Troxler has designed countless posters for the festival as well as for the individual concerts, constantly reinventing himself. If his early jazz posters were still strongly oriented towards an illustrative comprehensibility, he soon emancipated himself from any narration. His virtuoso playing in the plane translates the character of experimental music and takes up its improvisational gestures. Troxler’s posters are synesthetic experiences and make music physically tangible. He is particularly interested in type, which he always designs in new ways and with different means, exploring the limits of legibility.
On the occasion of Niklaus Troxler’s 75th birthday, this publication presents a selection of his jazz posters. They are juxtaposed with his political manifestos in poster form, most of which he initiated himself, and with his commissioned works, including those for the Olma agricultural fair, the Circus Knie, and the Geneva International Motor Show.