Wolfgang Weingart (born 1941 in the Salem Valley, Germany, near the Swiss border) is an internationally known graphic designer and typographer. His work is categorized as Swiss typography and he is credited as "the father" of New Wave or Swiss Punk typography.
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Weingart was born in 1941 in the Salem Valley, where he spent his childhood. In 1954 he moved to Lisbon with his family and developed an interest in the local museums and for the arts.
In April 1958 he began his studies at the Merz Academy in Stuttgart, where he attended a two year program in applied graphic arts. He learned typesetting, linocut and woodblock printing.
Between 1960 and 1963 he completed his training as typesetter in a small printing shop in Stuttgart, where he worked primarily doing hand composing. It was here that he first became familiar with Swiss typography and was soon an avid enthusiast.
In 1963 he presented his work to Emil Ruder and Armin Hofmann, founders of the Schule für Gestaltung Basel (Basel School of Design). Shortly after gaining acceptance into the school, Hofmann offered the 22 year old typesetter a position to teach typography. From 1974-1996 he also became an instructor at the Yale University Summer Graphic Design Program in Brissago. For over forty years he has lectured and taught extensively in Europe, North and South America, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. He retired in 2004, but continues to teach a summer program in Basel, Basics in Design and Typography.
According to Weingart, "I took 'Swiss Typography' as my starting point, but then I blew it apart, never forcing any style upon my students. I never intended to create a 'style'. It just happened that the students picked up — and misinterpreted — a so-called 'Weingart style' and spread it around."[1]
His work has been awarded a mark of excellence by the Swiss Federal Minister of the Interior in Berne. In May 2005 he was awarded the honorary title of Doctor of Fine Arts. He was a member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI) from 1978 to 1999, and was on the editorial board of the Swiss typographic magazine Typographische Monatsblätter from 1970 to 1988.