Walter Ballmer was born in 1923 in Liestal, Switzerland and studied at the School of Applied Arts in Basle. In 1956 he joined the department of development and advertising of Olivetti. In 1970 Ballmer designed the logo for this company. For Olivetti he also created posters, equipment and promotional campaigns. Famous were his designs for the exhibitions called Olivetti Style, Olivetti Innovates and Olivetti Image. He opened his own studio Unidesign in Milan in 1971 and worked for major companies including Weber from the Fiat group, Wertheim department stores in Spain, the graphic firm Nava, the fashion designer Valentino, the Sestriere Tourist Office, Pirelli, La Roche and Colmar. From 1977 on he taught at Milano Polytechnic.