International Typographic Style

After this week’s lecture on the Swiss style I did some research on Josef Müller Brockmann, one of the most important figures of the International Typographic Style, originating in Switzerland, which took influence from earlier central European minimalist styles, such as the Bauhaus style of Germany, and de Stijl of the Netherlands.

He made a series of posters for the Zürich Concert Hall, which brings the building blocks of design, the point, line and plane down to their most basic form, creating the illusion of depth through line thicknesses, and using gestalt principles such as common fate and figure and ground to allow the viewer to fill in what is hidden in their minds, exemplifying the complexity of work which can be created using minimalist styles, techniques and forms. He evokes a sense of musical rhythm in these pieces, due to their uniformity and abstraction of form, as found in music.

I find it fascinating how the tenets of this design style have influenced design across the entire globe, such as the uniformity, grid layout and left alignment, but also in the typefaces we see in our daily lives, influenced by their use of sans-serif typography, Helvetica being the foremost of these, for its professional and sleek appearance, which allows it to work well in almost any situation, from street signs, to government documentation, corporate branding and posters.