International Style

Josef-Muller Brockmann

 Uberholem..? Im Zweifel nie! 1957

 The Family of Man 1957-1958

Konrad Wachsmann, Bauen in Unserer Zeit 1958

Brockmann was an illustrator who converted to using the international style in the 1950s. He used Akzidenz Grotestk typography and made excellent use of it throughout his career. It gave a modern look that was excellent and dramatic and worked incredibly well with photos. It fulfilled its role nicely in that it did its function well without it being too dramatic and stylized. Across the three images, you can see the font employed to great effect as well.

Brockmann's designs were based on abstract concepts that allowed him to capture the subject matter and emphasize it, while keeping the designs simplistic. To the average viewer, they're likely to evoke the idea of it being too simple but yet, the designs work due to their simplicity in that it doesn't overload the viewer with too much information. It catches their attention and slowly draws them in with the information and makes them curious about the subject matter and why he chose to use this particular design.


Paul Rand

 ABC Logo 1962

 Season's Greetings ACI 1947

 Eye Bee M Poster 1970

 

Many people have seen his works, but probably never knew it. His name is synonymous with Corporate Identity and the International Style in the United States.  As you can see from above, he has created the 'abc' logo as well as various others. Unlike other designs, logos need a longevity to them to create an identity associated with the company over a long period of time. Designers recognized this and strived to create a design that has lasting appeal and was practical to apply to different formats and situations.

As you can see from the examples above, the designs are shockingly simple but eye catching too. Everyone is familiar with the abc logo which is still being used today. The other two not logos but rather messages. The IBM logo is a play on the letters with using objects for the letters I and B. Much like the iconic "I <3 NY" design, this one has the viewer figure it out and its impact causes it to stick in the person's head.

Jan Tschichold

 Typographische Gestaltung, 1935

 Original prospectus for "Die Neue Typograhie", 1928

 

 Original invitation notice for a lantern lecture, 1927

 

Tschichold was a proponent of New Typography in the 1920s and early 1930s. However, around the 1940s, he took a polarized position and repudiated New Typography due to that it's idea ran parallel to that of the Nazi Regime during WWII. Above, we have examples that were before he objected the New Typography. We can see an adherence to the Grid system as well use of the Akzidenz Grotesk font to create the clean look to the designs. The Die Neue Typogrpahy is incredibly simplistic, using mostly fonts and a yellow background but due to the positioning of the text, it creates an composition that moves it beyond being simply a wall of text. The boldness at the top right pulls the viewer upwards but there is enough text to help draw the viewer downwards, especially with the rectangle two-thirds the way down to help push the viewer's eyes downwards towards the information.