After his apprenticeship as a painter, he studied at the Folkwangschule in Essen (1927). At 21, he belonged to the pioneers of a new way of seeing, creating factual and functional montages of typography and photography. In 1929 he moved to Zürich and worked for Max Dalang. He formed a cultural circle with his friends Richard P. Lohse, Max Bill, Heiri Steiner, Hans Neuburg, Herbert Matter and others. In the 1960s, Stankowski designed the ‘Berlin Layout’, the city’s visual identity, and trademarks for Iduna and Viessmann. After Karl Duschek joined his studio, he made logos for Deutsche Bank, REWE and the Olympic Congress Baden-Baden. In the mid-70s he started painting again. He established the Stankowski foundation (1983). In 1998 he received the Harry Graf Kessler lifetime award. In 2006 a comprehensive tribute was published to mark the 100th anniversary of Stankowski’s birth, Stankowski 06: Aspects of his Oeuvre, edited by Ulrike Gauss (German and English).