The studio of J.R. Geigy AG was the starting point of a golden era for Swiss graphic design in the 1950s and 60s. The open corporate culture of the Basel chemical company allowed for an exemplary connection between product and corporate advertising. The works exhibit a modernist visual language without being bound to a formulaic style. Both pictorial symbolism and learning from abstract art, which some of the involved graphic designers were close to, found their place in this context. Under the long-term leadership of Max Schmid, notable contributors included Roland Aeschlimann, Karl Gerstner, Jörg Hamburger, Steff Geissbühler, Andreas His, Toshihiro Katayama, and Nelly Rudin. Freelance designers such as Michael Engelmann, Gottfried Honegger, Armin Hofmann, Herbert Leupin, Warja Lavater, Numa Rick, and Niklaus Stoecklin were also commissioned. In the 1960s, the orientation shifted.