The International Gutenberg Society in Mainz mourns the death of Jost Hochuli, who passed away on 18 October 2026 at the age of 93. With him, the world of typography and book design has lost one of its most formative figures.
Born in St. Gallen on 8 June 1933, Hochuli attended the city's School of Arts and Crafts, trained under the typographer Rudolf Hostettler and completed an apprenticeship as a compositor. In 1959 he opened his own studio in his home town. For almost three decades he passed on his knowledge as a teacher, first at the School of Arts and Crafts in Zurich and later at the School of Design in St. Gallen. In 1979 he co-founded the VGS Verlagsgemeinschaft St. Gallen, chaired it until 2004 and, as editor and designer of the series Typotron-Hefte and Edition Ostschweiz, gave the publisher its distinctive character.
Among his best-known works are the design of the Thomas Mann edition published by S. Fischer Verlag and his book Das Detail in der Typografie (1987; English edition: Detail in Typography), a standard work in the field. He received numerous awards, including the Gutenberg Prize of the City of Leipzig in 1999 and the Jan Tschichold Prize in 2004.
Hochuli approached design from the content: the form of a book, he was convinced, contributes substantially to its understanding. His work combined respect for craft tradition with openness to the new – an attitude that also reflects the mission of our Society.
Jost Hochuli was closely connected with our Society. Between 2003 and 2005 he designed our logo as well as the corporate design of our printed matter. Our letterhead still bears his hallmark today. In 2005 the General Assembly appointed him Senator. As early as 1998, the Gutenberg Museum had shown the complete Typotron-Hefte in an exhibition.
We will honour the memory of Jost Hochuli with respect and gratitude. Our sympathy goes to his family and to all who were close to him.
The VGS Verlagsgenossenschaft St. Gallen has published a detailed obituary (in German): Jost Hochuli – ein Leben für das Buch