The Graphic Designer and His Design Problems

by Josef Muller-Brockmann

English, French, German

Genres: Design, Nonfiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1961

Reviews

[Ott · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is basically a long manifesto of constructivism in design. A manifesto in the sense of Ayer's "Language, Truth and Logic" being a manifesto of logical positivism in philosophy. And this comparison is not superficial. Both of the movements started in the beginning of the XX century and set as a central theme the ordering and structuring of their field and to move away from subjectivity towards objectivity with the means of natural sciences. Now the success of those projects is another matter. Logical positivism is known to be a failure, and rightly so, but that does not mean that everything they did was nonsense. The same applies to constructivism in design and arts. It was a failure in the sense of authority, meaning that it is not true that all design or arts in general should be reduced to their methods and rules (no movement in art should have a "divine" authority). But it is great if your aim is structured design, clear messages etc. In that sense this book is a must for any graphic designer, even if you read it only to know your enemy :)

PS: one more thing popped up in my mind. It is an interesting parallel that almost around the same time when art found it's most objective (objective in the sense of reducing the subjective desires of the designer to a minimum and letting the message prevail. Also doing design with rules and means laid out for all to grasp, not with solipsistic intuition of a genius) stance in constructivist design it did so in the opposite (subjectivist) direction as well. This being the abstract expressionist movement (Pollock, Rothko and others). And, as Hegel would be happy to point out, contemporary design has accepted both extremes and is eagerly synthesizing both. Thank you post-modernism for that!

[Barnaby Sheeran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joyous and timeless.