Niklaus Troxler Explained

Niklaus Troxler (born May 1, 1947) is a Swiss graphic designer. He was the organizer of the Willisau Jazz Festival from 1975 to 2009.

Biography

Troxler studied graphic design at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. He worked as an art director in Paris in 1972 and subsequently founded his own design practice in Willisau, Switzerland. He started organizing jazz concerts in Willisau in 1966 and initiated the Willisau Jazz Festival in 1975.^[1] He organized this internationally renowned yearly Festival until 2009 before passing the baton over to his nephew, Arno Troxler.^[2] Troxler's graphic works (particularly his concert posters^[3] and record cover designs) won him several relevant international awards: the Toulouse-Lautrec Medal in Gold (1987^[4] and 1994^[5]), design awards in Lahti (1993), Helsinki (1997),^[6] Hong Kong (2000), Hangzhou (2003),^[7] Ningbo (2006),^[8] Taiwan (2005),^[9] and Colorado (2006).^[10] He won the Innerschweizer Kulturpreis (Cultural award of Central Switzerland) in 1982.^[11] Troxler is a member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale.^[12] His posters are represented in the most renowned design collections worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York City,^[13] the Museum of Modern Art in Toyama, Hamburg's Museum for Art and Industry, the German Poster Museum in Essen, and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.

Troxler was professor for communication design at the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart from 1998 to 2013.^[14]

Publications by Troxler

• Niklaus Troxler: "Jazz Blvd. – Niklaus Troxler Posters." Müller, Baden/Switzerland 1999, .
• Niklaus Troxler and Olivier Senn: "Willisau and All That Jazz." Till Schaap Edition, Berne 2013, .

Publications on Troxler

• Manfred Buholzer: "Jazz in Willisau – Wie Niklaus Troxler den Free Jazz nach Willisau brachte." Comenius Verlag, Lucerne 2004, .
• Jianping He (Ed.): "The Master of Design - Niklaus Troxler." Page One, Singapore 2006, .
• Roxane Jubert (Ed.): "Niklaus Troxler – Designer & Design." Pyramyd, Paris 2007, .
• Ginza Graphic Gallery (Ed.): "Niklaus Troxler." GGG Books, Tokyo 2007, .

Filmography

• Angelo A. Lüdin and Barbara Zürcher: "Niklaus Troxler - Jazz in Willisau - Ein Leben mit Jazz und Grafikdesign." (Documentary, point de vue, Basel 2011, 75 minutes).

External links

• Niklaus Troxler’s webpage
• The Willisau Jazz Archive
• Jazz Festival Willisau
• German Wikipedia article on Niklaus Troxler

Notes and References

1. Web site: Jazz Festival Willisau . Jazzfestivalwillisau.ch . 1943-01-03 . 2014-05-20.
2. Niklaus Troxler and Olivier Senn: "Willisau and All That Jazz". Till Schaap Edition, Berne 2013, . Ueli Bernays: "Ein Troxler geht, ein Troxler kommt", in: Neue Zürcher Zeitung: Nr. 201, 2009. p. 39.
3. Web site: Posters - Willisau Jazz Archive . Willisaujazzarchive.ch . 2014-05-20.
4. Uwe Loesch (Ed.): "5. Triennale im Deutschen Plakatmuseum Essen." Essen 1987 [exh. cat.], .
5. Deutsches Plakat-Forum e.V. (Ed): "7. Triennale – Die besten Plakate 1990-1993." Schmidt, Mainz 1994 [exh. cat.], .
6. Kari Castrén (Ed.): "Helsingin julistebiennale 97, Grafia." Helsinki 1997 [exh. cat.], .
7. Chen Zhengda (Ed.): "China International Poster Biennial 2003." Hangzhou 2003 [exh. cat.].
8. Ningbo Graphic Designers Association (Ed.): "The 4th International Poster Biennial 2006." Ningbo 2006 [exh. cat.].
9. Hung-Hsiang Chiu, Ling-Ling Fan (Ed.): "2005 Taiwan International Poster Design Award." Taipei 2005 [exh. cat.].
10. Colorado State University (Ed.): "14th Colorado International Invitational Poster Exhibition." Fort Collins 2006 [exh. cat.].
11. Erziehungsdepartement des Kantons Luzern (Ed.): "Innerschweizer Kulturpreise 1982". Innerschweizer Kulturstiftung, Luzern 1982.
12. Ben Bos, Elly Bos (Ed.): "AGI – Graphic Design since 1950." Thames & Hudson, London 2007, .
13. Stuart Wrede: "The Modern Poster." Museum of Modern Art, New York 1988, .
14. Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Stuttgart (Ed.): "Das allgemeine Nachschlagewerk der Fachgruppe Design." Stuttgart 2010, .