Page 27 - Graphic Design and Print Production Fundamentals

Graphic Design 15
without persuading influences of any kind. A strong focus on order and clarity was desirable as design
was seen to be a “socially useful and important activity … the designers define their roles not as artists
but as objective conduits for spreading important information between components of society” (Meggs
& Purvis, 2011, p. 355).

Josef Müller-Brockmann, another one of its pioneers, “sought an absolute and universal form of graphic
expression through objective and impersonal presentation, communicating to the audience without the
interference of the designer’s subjective feelings or propagandistic techniques of persuasion” (Schneider,
2011). Mϋller-Brockmann’s posters and design works feature large photographs as objective symbols
meant to convey his ideas in particularly clear and powerful ways.

After World War II, international trade began to increase and relations between countries grew steadily
stronger. Typography and design were crucial to helping these relationships progress — multiple
languages had to be factored into a design. While clarity, objectivity, region-less glyphs, and symbols
were essential to communication between international partners, ITS found its niche in this
communicative climate and expanded beyond Switzerland, to America.

ITS is still very popular and commonly used for its clarity and functionality. However, there is a fine line
between clean and simple, and simply boring. As the style became universal, its visual language became
less innovative and was perceived to be too restrictive. Designers wanted the freedom to be expressive,
and the culture itself was moving from cultural idealism to celebratory consumerism. ITS can be a very
successful design strategy to adopt if there is a strong concept binding all of the design components
together, or when there is a vast amount of complexity in the content and a visual hierarchy is needed to
calm the design to make it accessible.