Earlier this Fall, Eye Magazine, a premiere journal providing an international review of graphic design, featured the life and work of Fritz Gottschalk. Gottschalk was born in Zürich in 1937, studying and working in Europe before he emigrated to Canada in the early 1960s, where he later co-founded Gottschalk+Ash with Stuart Ash. Entro merged with Gottschalk+Ash Toronto in 2011.
The article, Fritz Gottschalk and the Swiss-Canadian Connection, was written by Simon Esterson and John L Waters, who travelled to Zürich to interview Fritz about his early inspirations and his journey from emerging designer to the co-founder of an internally renowned firm, credited for bringing the International style of design to Canada.
Fritz also speaks about the forming of this firm, Gottschalk+Ash, and their many successes. In recounting how his partnership with Stuart Ash came to be Fritz explains; “I thought, ‘If I am going to get together with somebody, she or he has to be Canadian’. Stuart came along, and it was perfect.” Their potential was evident early on, as Fritz remembers “the studio was founded in Montréal by Stu and me, and I tell you, we had nothing but blue chip clients. We had from the Royal Bank of Canada to Syntex Pharmaceuticals to Hoffman-La Roche to Canadian National to the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts”, says Gottschalk.
With words from the Design Canada film producer Greg Durell and Ken Carbone of Carbone Smolan Agency among others, this article features Fritz’s design philosophy and work in well-deserved celebration.
Managing Partner Sascha Lötscher is also interviewed about Gottschalk+Ash International and speaks about today’s practice, their priorities with clients, to the type of work the office primarily engages in now. Lötscher underscores their mission of ensuring design remains important within business and industry; “That’s what graphic design is for – to make things understandable in a business environment.”
To find out more about the article see here.
You can also find out more about Gottschalk+Ash Toronto in our book, Cultivating a Design Legacy.