New Year’s card, Lithographie & Cartonnage AG – Führe Sie in allen Teilen – zum erfolgreichen Ganzen!,

1956

Around the mid-1950s, photography became an integral component of Josef Müller-Brockmann’s graphic work. This was also true for Nelly Rudin, who worked from 1954 to 1957 in the studio that Müller-Brockmann ran together with the photographer Ernst A. Heiniger (1909–1993). When Heiniger moved to the United States in 1953, his replacement until early 1956 was Serge Libiszewski (b. 1930). Together with Libiszewski, Nelly Rudin developed part of the package advertising for Lithographie und Cartonnage AG. The fact that she received the commission for the promotional materials was not surprising, as she had already gained experience in industrial advertising working for J.R. Geigy AG. Rudin’s design for the package inserts and the promotional gift—a New Year’s card in the form of a three-dimensional puzzle—was so playful that, despite the requirements of a consistent visual identity—layout grid, logo, sans-serif font, ragged margin, black-and-white or primary colors—, they were anything but boring. The layout grid simplified the cooperation between the graphic artist and the photographer: he was able to integrate the grid into the shot, which then allowed Rudin to fit the image into the layout. When the components are combined correctly, the three-dimensional puzzle forms a purely graphic front side containing the company logo and advertising slogan and a purely photographic reverse side presenting two variations of images from the world of circus acrobats. The puzzle—visualized in photography plus graphics—embodies the promise that L+C made its clients in its 1956 slogan: “We bring all of your elements together to form a successful whole!” (Barbara Junod)