The Ulm School of Design & Otl Aicher

The Ulm School of Design was founded by three friends. Inge Scholl, Max Bill (former Bauhaus student) and Otl Aicher. 

Aicher first met Inge Scholl through her younger brother, Werner at the University of Munich where they were classmates. Inge's younger brother and sister, Hans and Sophie, were core members of the White Rose student resistance movement against Nazi Germany. They were unfortunately tried, found guilty of treason and killed by guillotine. Inge and other family members were also arrested and interrogated but eventually released without charge.
Max Bill was a huge supporter of the belief that you didn't just need to learn one skill and he lived like this, being a notable graphic designer, product designer and so on. HfG Ulm was built on the ideas below. The belief was that all parts of art and design were connected, there was no specialism and they wanted all students to know about all types of art and design and the whole process of everything, from initial idea to final product or design.

The school initially was set up with financial assistance from America and Europe to help Germany recover from WWII. The school wanted to help design and create products that would work in the 'real world' and therefore worked with specific companies to do this. This also helped to introduce people to the new technology that was being invented, as many people were afraid of newer technology due to the use of it in the War.
However, Max Bill didn't like this integration between art and design and the industry. He didn't share the belief with the other founders that the designer was as equally important to the design process as the other people in that process, the school believed they were all equal and Max Bill eventually resigned in 1957 due to this.
The Ulm idea of design was the design of a system rather than a single object. This was shown through many of the students work, such as Hans Roericht, who not only designed stackable cups, he designed the entire kitchenware range, the likes of which can still be seen in places like IKEA. Very simple designs, yet effective and space saving!

The way both schools, Ulm & Bauhaus taught students was an emphasis on practical work taught by professional practising artists and this is still used in many art schools today.

Otl Aicher himself, was a very well renowned graphic designer and typographer who was most well known for his work with the Munich 1972 Olympics and the very famous pictogram designs, which are still influential to the current day, with the use of his stick figure designs on public signage everywhere. He also famously designed his own font, which is still common today. The 'Rotis' font is still very popular and used across the world to this day.

His friendship with Inge Scholl eventually led to them marrying in 1952. The school eventually closed due to 'family disagreements' and financial issues in 1963.

His work is still so important today, even if most people don't know who he is. Every time people see a road sign, or use his font on their work. 

His work is very distinguishable and timeless, the images he designed for the Olympic Games still look as modern in 2019 as they did the year they were designed.