Armin Hofmann was born in 1920 in Winterthur, Switzerland. He was a student at School of Arts and Crafts in Zurich and later began working as a lithographer in Basel and Bern. Soon afterwards he set up his own studio in Basel. A pivotal point in his career was in 1947 when he met Emil Ruder on a train, and he told him about an open teaching position at the Allgemeine Gewerbeschule Basel School of Art and Crafts. He taught there for 40 years and even replaced Ruder as the head of the school not too long after he started teaching.
He is undoubtedly one of the most influential teachers of graphic design, and that is proven through the passion and loyalty of his former students—some of them including Kenneth Hiebert, April
Greiman, Robert Probst, Steff Geissbuhler, Hans-Ulrich Allemann, Inge Druckrey and the late Dan Friedman—who later became notable designers and educators as well.
His work as a designer is also exceptional. Hofmann's design style strives for communication above all else. He believed that the poster was one of the best and most effective forms of communication. This explains why a significant amount of his career was spent designing posters, particularly for the Basel Stadt Theater. He utilized new techniques of photo-typesetting, photo-montage, experimental composition in general and sans-serif typography. His work, especially his posters, highlight a practical and efficient use of typefaces and color, and they have been exhibited as artworks in well-known galleries all over the world, including the New York Museum of Modern Art.
Hofmann retired in 1987 and has not been able to produce many work in his later years. However, his legacy and international influence on graphic designers will live on forever through his formidable body of work, including his book, Graphic Design Manual, indicating his design practices and philosophies.