Josef Müller-Brockmann (9 May 1914 – 30 August 1996) was a Swiss graphic designer, author, and educator, he was a Principal at Muller-Brockmann & Co. design firm. He was a pioneer of the

International Typographic Style The International Typographic Style is a systemic approach to graphic design that emerged during the 1930s–1950s but continued to develop internationally. It is considered the basis of the Swiss style. It expanded on and formalized the modern ...

. One of the main masters of Swiss design. Müller-Brockmann is recognized for his simple designs and his clean use of typography, shapes and colors which inspire many graphic designers in the 21st century.

Early life and education

Josef Müller was born May 9, 1914, in

Rapperswil Rapperswil (Swiss German: or ;Andres Kristol, ''Rapperswil SG (See)'' in: ''Dictionnaire toponymique des communes suisses – Lexikon der schweizerischen Gemeindenamen – Dizionario toponomastico dei comuni svizzeri (DTS, LSG)'', Centre de dial ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. He studied

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

design A design is the concept or proposal for an object, process, or system. The word ''design'' refers to something that is or has been intentionally created by a thinking agent, and is sometimes used to refer to the inherent nature of something ...

and

art history Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...

at both the

University of Zurich The University of Zurich (UZH, ) is a public university, public research university in Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of the ...

at Gewerbeschule, and

Zurich University of the Arts Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK, ) has approximately 2,500 students, which makes it the largest arts university in Switzerland. The university was established in 2007, following the merger between Zurich's School of Art and Design (HGKZ) and ...

(also known as Kunstgewerbeschule Zürich), where he studied with Ernst Keller and Alfred Willimann. He apprenticed in design and advertising with Walter Diggelman. In 1936, he opened his Zürich design studio specializing in

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art that involves creating visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdisciplinary branch of ...

, exhibition design, and

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

. In 1937, he joined the Swiss Werkbund (Swiss Association of Artists and Designers). His favorite typeface to use was

Akzidenz-Grotesk Akzidenz-Grotesk is a sans-serif typeface family originally released by the Berthold Type Foundry of Berlin in 1898. ' indicates its intended use as a typeface for commercial print runs such as publicity, tickets and forms, as opposed to fine pr ...

Career

During the 1950s, Müller-Brockmann explored nonrepresentational abstraction, visual metaphor, subjective graphical representation, and constructive graphic design. He used shapes and other geometric elements to express his work, without illustration or embellishments. In 1950, he produced his first of many concert posters for the Tonhalle concert hall in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, which became known as the Tonhalle Series or "Musica Viva". The Tonhalle Series grew increasingly abstract and focused on the feelings of the music. He used a visual form to translate the mathematical system that is found in music, playing with visual scale, rhythm, and repetition, while trying to stay true to each musicians composition who was featured on the poster. In 1952, Müller-Brockmann designed an "accident barometer" which displayed statistics on reckless driving, which was displayed on a large scale sign in Paradeplatz for his client the Automobile Club of Switzerland. In 1957, he began teaching at the

, replacing Ernst Keller as a professor of graphic design. He was professor of graphic design at Zurich University of the Arts from 1957 to 1960, and guest lecturer at the University of Osaka from 1961, and the Ulm School of Design (German: Hochschule für Gestaltung Ulm) from 1963. In 1958, Müller-Brockmann became a founding editor of '' New Graphic Design'' along with Hans Neuburg, Richard Paul Lohse, and Carlo Vivarelli. In 1967, he was appointed as a European design consultant to

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

and formed his design firm Muller-Brockmann & Co. Müller-Brockmann's work is included in many public museum collections including the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

(MoMA), Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, Museum of Design, Zürich (also known as Museum für Gestaltung Zürich), among others.

Personal life

In 1943, he married violinist Verena Brockmann, and together they had one son Andreas (born 1944). At that point he changed his last name to Müller-Brockmann. The first marriage lasted until 1964, when Verena was killed in an accident. In 1967, he married Japanese abstract painter Shizuko Yoshikawa.

Gallery

File:Josef Müller-Brockmann 1957.jpg, Juni-Festwochen Zürich (poster, 1957) File:Musica Viva. Müller-Brockmann.jpg, Musica Viva (poster, 1959) File:Josef Müller-Brockmann der Film.jpg, Der Film (poster, 1960) File:Gestaltungsprobleme des Grafikers 1961.jpg, Gestaltungsprobleme des Grafiker (book, 1961) File:Raster-Systeme-Cover.jpg, Grid systems (book, 1981)

Bibliography

Müller-Brockmann was author of several books on design and visual communication. * * * * * * * *

References

External links

Josef Müller-Brockmann
Site includes articles, bibliography and extensive gallery of his poster designs. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Muller-Brockmann, Josef 1914 births 1996 deaths Swiss graphic designers People from Rapperswil-Jona Swiss typographers and type designers