Müller-Brockmann
“Grid systems is an aid, not a guarantee”
Müller-Brockmann
Josef Müller-Brockmann was born on the 9th of May 1914 in Rapperswil, Switzerland. He is one of the most celebrated graphic designers and is the pioneer of the Swiss style — a graphic method utilizing a grid-system design that eliminates needless artistic expression.
He studied at both Zürich University of the Arts and the University of Zürich, then later in his life he became a teacher at a Kunstgewerbeschule (the Zürich School of Arts and Crafts). His career began as an apprentice to the designer and advertising consultant Walter Diggelman.
In 1936, he opened his studio in Zürich, specialising in photography, graphics, and exhibition design. Over two decades he established himself as the country’s leading practitioner and theorist of the Swiss Style. After 1945, Müller-Brockmann concentrated his work on illustration and exhibition design and in 1950, he designed his first poster for the Tonhalle concert hall in Z ü rich. One of his most celebrated works from his Tonhalle concert hall designs is his Beethoven Poster. It uses his grid system and the arcs in the poster are placed by doubling the diameter of each arc, this creates a clean and clinical design which is an element of the swiss international style.
Müller-Brockmann also did contract work for IBM in 1967 and Swiss Federal Railways in 1980, which is still in use today. He published several books, including The Graphic Artist and Grid Systems in Graphic Design. These books provide an in-depth analysis of his work practices. He spent most of his life working and teaching, even into the early 1990s when he toured the US and Canada speaking about his work. Müller-Brockmann died on the 30th of August 1996 aged 82 in Unterengstringen, Switzerland.
Introduction
Müller-Brockmann
9thofMay1914in Rapperswil, Switzerland
Müller-Brockmann was bornonthe
Müller-Brockmannopenedhisownstudioin Zurich,Switzerlandspecializingin graphicdesign,exhibitiondesignandphotography.
Müller-Brockmann
TonhalleinZurich-1950
ThisisaprogramforaFestival attheTonhalleinZurich,Switzerland
Bevthoven1955
Müller-Brockmann’s Beethoven posteris oneof his most celebrated designs.It wasa poster fora performanceof Beethovenin 1955 at the Tonhalle concert hall in Zürich, Switzerland.
1914 1936 1996
M ü ller-Brockmann
30th
dead on the
of August 1996 in Unterengstringen, Switzerland
TheFatherofSwissGraphicDesign
By Josef M ü ller-Brockmann
for Grapheine
Weniger Lärm (Less Noise)
Article
https://www.grapheine.com/en/graphicdesign-en/graphic-designer-mullerbrockmann-swiss-style Work
Müller-Brockmann is probably one of the most influential graphic designers in the history of our profession. His work is always taught, studied and published. It is certainly the figurehead of Swiss graphic design (which also takes the name of international style). His work is influenced by Bauhaus and constructivism. Typography and geometry are predominant. His compositions are based on very “rigid” grids which will be his trademark. An economical and rational style! Not much is known about MüllerBrockmann. The publisher Lars Müller published the only complete monograph shortly before his death. This book is introduced by Paul Rand “himself” (the class!). Lars Müller tries to explain what caused the sudden change in Brockmann’s career, when he moved from illustration to “constructivist” graphics. At the time,
Brockmann was influenced by the work of Hungarian photographer Moholy-Nagy and Jan Tschichold’s manifesto Die neue Typographie. This modernist manifesto proclaims the supremacy of bar typefaces (called grotesk in German). Brockmann was strongly influenced by these rules which he observed throughout his career. These rules can be summarized by the use of very strict composition grids, objective photographs to avoid emotions, the importance of rhythm, harmony, mathematical and geometric compositions. For example, at that time Brockmann saw music as an abstract art, so he considered his concert posters in an abstract way. The publisher Lars Müller described Beethoven’s poster (1955) as the ultimate example of “musicality in design”.
Brockmann explains his style very effectively: “In my poster, advertising, brochure and exhibition creations, subjectivity is removed in favour of a geometric grid that determines the arrangement of words and images. The grid is an organizational system that makes the message easier to read, this allows you to get an effective result at a minimum cost. With an arbitrary organization, the problem is solved more easily, faster and better. It also allows
uniformity that goes beyond national borders (hence the international style!), a boon for advertising that IBM, for example, has benefited from. Information presented as objectively as possible is communicated without superlatives, without emotional subjectivity.”
From the 1960s to the 1970s, the “Swiss style” began to lose its influence. The political climate has changed, the war in Vietnam has gone through it, the Swiss aesthetic is considered cold and authoritarian. The time is at flower-power... Müller Brockmann probably did not live long enough to see the great return of the “Swiss style” in the 2000s.
Left: Zunich Tonhalle, Musica Viva Poster, 1969
Right: Zunich Tonhalle, Musica Viva Poster, 1972
Full Eye Magazine Interview with Mϋller-Brockamnn
https://www.eyemagazine.com/feature/article/reputationsjosef-muller-brockmann
Article for Grapheine https://www.grapheine.com/en/graphic-design-en/graphicdesigner-muller-brockmann-swiss-style
Müller-Brockmann
flexibleUndesignrigide,maisunhomme BehindthisSwissrigour,obviouslyhidesaman,all thosewhoknewhimagreetopresenttheportraitInofahumblemanwithmuchhumour. questiona1996interviewinEyemagazine,heansweredthe “whatisyourbestwork”:“ThewhitebackofAgain,myposters!”.whentheinterviewerasks“Whatdoes“order” wish”,meantoyou?”Brockmannhumblyanswers“apious thenfinallydeclaresthatitis“knowledgeofthe wellrulesthatgovernlegibility”.Thisstatementillustrates thepowerofhisconvictions.
Graphicdesignerbyaccident“Ibecameagraphicdesignerbyaccident,”Brockmann drawing.says.“Atschool,Ididn’tlikewritingmuchsoIstarted Myteacherwasimpressed,soIrealizedIhad talent.HesuggestedthatIshouldpursueanartistic printingcareer.SoIbecameanapprenticeretoucherina house.Itonlylastedonedaybecauseitwasn’t architects.artisticenough.Afterthat,Iwasapprenticedtotwoold Withthem,itlastedfourweeks.ThenIwent findtoallthegraphicdesignersIfoundinthephonebookto outwhattheyhadstudied.SoIenrolledattheZurich SchoolofArtsandCrafts.”
A good example of Müller-Brockmann’s Grid System is his work for the Swiss Federal Railways, the national railway company of Switzerland
References
Cover Page Image
https://www.eguide.ch/en/objekt/ tonhalle-beethoven/
Intro
https://www.graphis.com/bio/1/josefmc3bcller-brockman-1/
https://www.famousgraphicdesigners. org/josef-muller-brockmann
http://www.designishistory. com/1940/joseph-muellerbrockmann/#:~:text=The%20 above%20poster%20for%20 the,advertisements%20for%20 its%20theater%20productions.
(Image) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Josef_M%C3%BCller-Brockmann#/ media/File:Jmb_kleiner.png
The Father of Swiss Graphic Design
https://www.grapheine.com/en/ graphic-design-e n/graphic-designermuller-brockmann-swiss-style
Weniger Lärm (Less Noise) Poster
https://www.moma.org/collection/ works/7339
Musica Viva Posters
https://www.grapheine.com/en/ graphic-design-e n/graphic-designermuller-brockmann-swiss-style
Swiss Federal Railways Logo (Edited)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_ Federal_Railways#/media/File:SBB_ CFF_FFS_logo.svg
Swiss Federal Railway Logo with grid
https://www.eguide.ch/en/objekt/sbb/
Images of Swiss Federal Railway
Pictograms (Edited)
https://segd.org/design-manual-swissfederal-railways
