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Jan Tschichold. Neue Kunst in der Schweiz. Basel: Kunsthalle Basel, 1938
“Motifs and themes in architecture and music are known to be passed down, picked up again and varied. In the lower arts, this process is immediately labeled as imitation or plagiarism, even though the principle of 'theft' can be fruitful here as well. Bill designed three catalogues whose jackets are variations on a typographical theme -and which have one precursor and at least one successor. The line of designers runs from Jan Tschichold through Max Bill to Richard Paul Lohse (...) The typography of these catalogue covers followed the same motif or pattern: alternating horizontal and vertical lines and groups of text. All three designers have taken care to organize the surface in a rectangular fashion, to create proportions- as if they were obliged to Mondrian!.”
Max Bill: Typografie, Reklame, Buchgestaltung. Zürich: Niggli, 1999 (p. 84)