Troxler is a renowned Swiss graphic designer and an amateur jazz musician and fan. Since 1975 he has organized the annual European Willisau Jazz Festival. He has designed the posters for his own concerts since 1966 and also makes posters for the festival, working from a studio in his attic. “Everything that fascinates me about jazz music is also what interests me in design: rhythm, sound, contrast, interaction, experiment, improvisation, composition, individuality. I have been organizing jazz concerts for as long as I have been designing,” he has said.
In Troxler’s posters, color, line, and typeface re-create the restlessness of jazz music, its movement and invention. He begins each work by searching for metaphors for the music, then translates them into illustrations or typography, avoiding photography, which he considers cliched. Troxler often creates new typefaces or writes words by hand.
Gallery label from Rough Cut: Design Takes a Sharp Edge, November 26, 2008–October 12, 2009.
