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Josef Muller-Brockmann was a pioneer of Swiss graphic design in the 1950s. He is known as the leading practitioner of the Swiss Style, which used grid-based designs without unnecessary illustrations. In 1951, he designed a series of concert posters for Zurich Town Hall, most notably his 1955 Beethoven poster which portrayed the music's concentric curves. The poster used the grid clearly in its layout and Akzidenz Grotesk typeface without detracting from the geometric forms representing the musical structure. During this time, architects helped translate grid systems from architecture to graphic design through systems like "The Modular." Grids provided structure but allowed for personal style, requiring practice to properly utilize.

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290 views2 pages

Cop 3-4

Josef Muller-Brockmann was a pioneer of Swiss graphic design in the 1950s. He is known as the leading practitioner of the Swiss Style, which used grid-based designs without unnecessary illustrations. In 1951, he designed a series of concert posters for Zurich Town Hall, most notably his 1955 Beethoven poster which portrayed the music's concentric curves. The poster used the grid clearly in its layout and Akzidenz Grotesk typeface without detracting from the geometric forms representing the musical structure. During this time, architects helped translate grid systems from architecture to graphic design through systems like "The Modular." Grids provided structure but allowed for personal style, requiring practice to properly utilize.

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hp101862
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© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Josef MullerBrockmann

Josef Muller-Brockmann was established as the leading practitioner and theorist of the Swiss Style, which sought a universal graphic expression through a grid-based design purged of extraneous illustration and subjective feeling. Born 1914 in Rapperswill, he studied architecture, design and history of art at both the University and Kunstgewerbeschule in Zurich. He was a pioneer in Swiss design, writing what most say is the definitive book on grid systems; Grid Systems in Graphic Design In 1951 he designed a series of concert posters for the Zurich town hall. Most notably his 1955 poster, Beethoven.

Swiss Design
A Brief History of 1950 -1960 Part 1

Josef Muller-Brockmann

Zurich Town Hall


Muller-Brockmann portrayed Beethovens music through a series of concentric curves to create this poster. He drew on the language of Constructivism to create a visual correlative to the structural harmonies of the music The use of the grid is easy to see in this poster with the layout of the type, the main body copy is left ragged right and the headers right ragged left, both aligned around a central axis. The use of Akzidenz Grotesk means the type doesnt detract from the geometric curves that visually represent the musical structure.

The Grid
Jan Tschichold had stressed the relationship between painting, architecture and typography and this became apparent in the development of the grid in Switzerland. During the early 50s architects played a major role translating grids from architecture to the page with The Modular, a system of arithmetical ratios. The grid system is an aid, not a guarantee. It permits a number of possible uses and each designer can look for a solution appropriate to his personal style. But one must learn how to use the grid; it is an art that requires practice.
Josef Muller-Brockmann

Geigy
Chemical and pharmaceutical companies were a significant part of the Swiss economy. They expected objective advertising, clear information on products, and distinctive packaging and labeling. Their products do not suggest graphic design but they created a graphic style of their own, the Geigy style; images were either photographs or styllised drawings with single thickness of line or silhouettes which identified the area in which the treatment is directed. The Geigy style was the earliest large-scale application of the methods of the recognisably Swiss style.

Swiss Design
A Brief History of 1950 -1960 Part 1

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