Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
To illustrate the successful implementation of dynamic composition, we are going
to look at a piece of design work by the Swiss designer Josef Müller-Brockmann
(1914-1996). Müller-Brockmann studied the history of art, architecture and design at
the University of Zurich. He worked as an apprentice for the designer and advertising
consultant Walter Diggelman before setting up his own studio in 1936, specializing in
graphics, exhibition design and photography. He is considered to be one of the lead-
ing practitioners of the Swiss Style (sometimes called the International Typographic
Style). This style is associated with minimalism and a strict grid structure, and fea-
tures sans serif type and asymmetry to create dynamic, organized compositions. It
employs simple methods to create order, variation, impact and surprise.
Müller-Brockmann began designing posters for Zurich Town Hall in 1950 and con-
tinued for more than 25 years. We use his
Beethoven
poster from 1955 to demonstrate
the application of dynamic composition. Look at the poster, and consider the tools the
designer is using to attract our attention and move our eye around the piece. Where
do you look first?
He attracts us with his bold composition, his use of contrast and strong graphic ab-
stract shape. The type is in two sizes; 'beethoven' sits alone as the title or headline,
while the details (date, time, location, etc.) follow. Is the first piece of information
the designer presents to us the title, 'beethoven'? It is the first thing that we read, but
it isn't the first thing that we see. The asymmetric arrangement of the curves, their
scale, repetition and position on the poster capture our attention first and provide a
focal point. It is these curves that sit at the top of the hierarchy; they attract and guide
us to the information we need to see and read. They also evoke a feeling and mood;
they are strong and powerful, there is movement and volume suggested, and they re-
flect something of the content - the music of Beethoven.
The arrangement of type is simple but well considered, with order created by using
space and alignment effectively.
'Order was always wishful thinking for me. For 60 years I have produced disorder
in files, correspondence and topics. In my work, however, I have always aspired to a
distinct arrangement of typographic and pictorial elements, the clear identification of
priorities. The formal organization of the surface by means of a grid, a knowledge of
the rules that govern legibility (line lengths, word and letter spacing and so on) and
the meaningful use of colour are among the tools a designer must master in order to
complete his or her task in a rational and economic manner.'
