This lecture we looked at the legacy of the Swiss International Style and adaptations of it. This is a period of design that I find visually inspiring – the cleanliness of the designs as a reaction to the chaos of war.

Looking at Josef Mueller’s work there is a strong focus on structure through the use of grid – clear, observational and unified. Mueller always used a strict mathematical approach to his work using mainly geometric forms to create a balanced design. In 1958 he founded the magazine Neue Grafik – The International Review of Graphic Design and Related Subjects, and soon joined by Richard Paul Lohse, Hans Neuburg and Carlo Vivarelli, where they wrote about their revolutionary theories on design, ultimately influencing the Swiss style.

Spreads from Neue Grafik – Source.

From the designers I have studied so far, I see two kinds; those that focus on function and those that focus on expression. There are a number of arguments on which is most important but I feel that we should recognise them as equally important – separate tools that can both be useful in different ways. For example, looking at informational posters and comparing them to posters that promote an art exhibit. Informational posters need to focus on form as they will present key information and figures, and therefore need to be easily understandable. An exhibition poster would need to focus on expression to best communicate the content that it is representing.

The tutorial started with a discussion on using illustration to communicate a task or steps. We talked about how complicated or simple a design can be to still be able to communicate the required steps effectively without words and we did this through designing an instructional process for boiling an egg. The tasked forced us to consider how we can use icons or symbols to communicate the information and process to the audience. We began by illustrating our own independently, then comparing with our group and iterating a new process based on the best aspects of each.

I tried to make use of colour to indicate the temperature needing to be hot enough to boil the water, as well as for colouring the correct section of the clock to indicate exactly how much time you would need to make a perfectly soft boiled egg.

During the discussion on the reading that covered the Isotype Method we established how it has been used to close the gap between language barriers, illiteracy and culture with the use of simple and easily recognisable images and symbols. We also discussed how its legacy continues today in almost all of our signage and information with a balance between creativity, simplicity and practicality. The Isotype Method allows information to be accessible to the everyday person while not jeopardizing the quality and integrity of information.

The combination of these two aspects, Swiss International style and the Isotype Method, can be seen in the instructional design for IKEA furniture assembly and the simple and clean design of the furniture itself.