Overview

You will be reading and annotating three texts written by Karl Gerstner, Joseph Muller-Brockman, and Margaret Rhodes. The focus of these texts is the evolution of the International Style/Swiss Typography from the New Typography movement and the Bauhaus.

Read Karl Gerstner, Designing Programmes pg55-61, Joseph Muller-Brockman, “Grid and Design Philosophy” pg62-63 found in our main text Graphic Design Theory: Readings From the Field by Helen Armstrong; and Margaret Rhodes, The Swiss Designers Breaking Tradition. To give a perspective on the influence of this style, the third reading is a review of a 2016 exhibition featuring young Swiss designers.

Key Themes and Takeaways

Karl Gerstner, “Designing Programmes” 1964

Karl Gerstner’s approach to design embodies the International Typographic Style, aka the Swiss Style, in its systematic methods and formal rigidity. In Designing Programmes, Gerstner describes the quasi-scientific technique of establishing a programme to address design problems. 

  • There is no ‘absolute solution’ for design problems, only “programmes for solutions”
  • ‘The creative process is to be reduced to an act of selection.’
  • Systematic tools such as the ‘morphological box of the typogram’ provide the necessary components for the selection process
  • The grid can be a ‘proportional regulator’ but is not a programme onto itself

Joseph Muller-Brockman, “Grid and Design Philosophy” 1981

Grid Systems is a practical manual for grid-based design solutions, a theoretical treatise, and a brilliant example of the grid system at work. Müller-Brockmann’s strict rule-based methodology anticipates the digital workspaces that would come to dominate design in subsequent years. The short excerpt defines this philosophy.

  • The grid is ‘an expression of a certain mental attitude’
  • The designer’s work should be a ‘contribution to general culture’
  • Design should be ‘objective, committed to the common weal… the basis of democratic behavior’
  • The grid represents a ‘will to systematize, to clarify’

Instructions

Following the instructions below, read and annotate the text with your classmates in our Hypothesis group. After reading and annotating the text, create a rough draft of your response in your Research Journal. Your response should be about 200 words and checked for spelling and grammar errors. Lastly, create a new post and publish your response.

1. Open the readings

In a new tab open the text Armstrong, Helen. Graphic Design Theory: Readings From the Field, Princeton Architectural Press, 2009. Navigate to pages 55-63. In another tab open Margaret Rhodes, The Swiss Designers Breaking Tradition

2. Enable Hypothesis

Enable the Hypothesis extension in Chrome or paste “https://via.hypothes.is/” in front of each URL. Login to your account and select our group (IMPORTANT!) from the dropdown to make sure your annotations and highlights will be recorded in the group. See Using Hypothesis for details.

3. Consider these questions.

Here are the questions to which you should respond in your reading response:

  • How do each of these designers/authors think you should approach design?
  • Include an example of contemporary typography/layout that embodies the two design systems or philosophies described by Karl Gerstner and Joseph Muller-Brockman. And explain why!
  • How do the contemporary Swiss designers described in the Margaret Rhodes’ essay “flirt with breaking the rules of the International Typographic Style“?

4. Read & Annotate.

Consider the questions/prompts listed above. Start to formulate the answers to these prompts while you practice close reading with annotations. Share at least 3 annotations in the Hypothesis group, including your questions, definitions, and ideas with your classmates. Add the tags: International Style and Reading Response 4 to your annotations.

5. Draft your Reading Response.

In your Research Journal or wherever works for you, write a draft of your 200-word response. Check for grammar and spelling errors. Use the word count tool. Use the Grammarly app or something similar to improve the clarity of your writing. Use visual examples to supplement your reading response. Consider looking back at the Learning Graphic Design History videos or the Course Resources to see if there are historical examples that will help support your ideas.

6. Post your Reading Response.

When ready, create a new post titled “Reading Response 4 – YourInitials.”

At the top of the post copy and paste the following: Karl Gerstner, Designing Programmes pg55-61, Joseph Muller-Brockman, “Grid and Design Philosophy” pg62-63 Graphic Design Theory: Readings From the Field by Helen Armstrong; and Margaret Rhodes, The Swiss Designers Breaking Tradition. 

Summarize or paste the questions/prompts listed above. Paste your spell/grammar-checked reading response. Add links to your annotations in the Hypothesis group at the bottom of your post. Always add links and attribution for any images that you use in your post. Adjust any formatting issues that may have occurred while pasting. Use the Reading Response (Example) post as a guide.

Please be sure to add the following title, category, and tags to your posts. For help with adding Categories and Tags, see OpenLab Help.

  • TITLE: Reading Response 4 – Your Initials
  • CATEGORY: Reading Responses
  • TAG: Reading Response #4
  • TAG: Your Name or Alias

Due Date(s)

Your reading response is due the day before the next session to allow time for review.

Resources

More info

Texts

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