Between 1937–38, Hofmann attended the foundation course at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Zürich, after which he completed apprenticeships in both draughtsmanship and lithography printing in Winterthur. He worked as a lithographer and designer at Frobenius AG and in the studio of Fritz Bühler, Basel. Hofmann started his teaching career in 1947 at the Allgemeine Gewerbeschule (AGS) in Basel. Two books on his teaching and design work have been published: Graphic Design Manual (1965), and Work, Quest and Philosophy (1989). Together with Emil Ruder, Hofmann established an advanced class for graphic design at the AGS that brought students from all over the world to study in Basel, and ignited his international reputation as both a designer and educator. He retired in 1986. Hofmann has received an honorary doctorate from the Philadelphia University of the Arts in 1987, honorary membership of the Royal Society of Arts, London in 1988, and the City of Basel Culture Prize in 1997.