VIVA November 2017
JOSEF M ÃœLL E
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JOS MÜLL BROCKMA
Josef Müller-Brockm structured designs an embody elements of bot asymmetry that have p for designers today. H of any subjective feeling illustrations, it’s straigh
His publications and po upon a grid system, t be free of structure bu meticulously organized surface. Müller-Brockma of interests including
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SEF LER ANN
mann’s clean nd typography th simplicity and paved the way His work is void g or extraneous ht to the point.
osters are built that appear to ut are actually d beneath the anns wide range photography,
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I still reserve the right, at any time, to doubt the solutions furnished by the Modular, keeping intact my freedom, which must depend on my feelings rather than my reason. psychology, and music enables him to approach his work from several points of view, perspectives and ideas, and one can see this particularly in his earlier works and experimentations. His use of colour, shape, and clean lines represent a type of style known as Swiss design and he has since become a representative of the movement which is still wildly in use today. Müller-Brockmann’s work ranges from projects such as posters for the Swiss Automobile Club and Zürich Police to
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more popular projects like his work for IBM. His extensive body of work, created as graphic design gained importance during the twentieth century, serves as a reference for the study of design history and a acted as a signal for what was to come. Josef Müller Brockmann died in Zurich in 1996, after having created a countless quantity of designs which he considered “barometers of social economic, political, and cultural events, as well as mirrors of intellectual and practical activities.”
JOSEF + THE GRID As one of the twentieth century’s most influential graphic designers, Josef Müller-Brockmann still remains an influential figure for generations around the world. He is best known for his music posters produced between the 1950s through to the 1970s, Müller-Brockmann adopted a modern constructivist approach with a heavy integration of the grid system and the use of geometrical form to provide a core structure to his work. Several books were published under his name providing an in-depth analysis of his work practices and philosophies.