Josef Müller-Brockmann

Müller-Brockmann is associated with the Museum of Modern Art New York artists records from 2000 onward.¹ ULAN links his name to MoMA artist records and to the Harald Szeemann papers finding aid.¹ Müller-Brockmann's papers are held in the Harald Szeemann papers at the Getty Research Institute Special Collections.¹

Müller-Brockmann's name appears in the Bénézit Dictionary of Artists, Grove Art Online, and Library of Congress Authorities.¹ According to Eye Magazine, “Müller-Brockmann was founder and, from 1958 to 1965, co-editor of the trilingual journal Neue Grafik (New Graphic Design) which spread the principles of Swiss Design internationally”.² According to hls-dhs-dss.ch, Josef Müller-Brockmann was born on 9 May 1914 in Rapperswil, St. Gallen.³

According to hls-dhs-dss.ch, Müller-Brockmann died on 30 August 1996 in Unterengstringen, Switzerland.³ According to hls-dhs-dss.ch, he died on 30 August 1996 in Unterengstringen.³ According to hls-dhs-dss.ch, he was without religious confession and a citizen of Eschenbach (St. Gallen) and Zurich.³

According to hls-dhs-dss.ch, he married Verena Brockmann in 1943.³ According to hls-dhs-dss.ch, Müller-Brockmann was married to Verena Brockmann in 1943.³ According to hls-dhs-dss.ch, he married Shizuko Yoshikawa in 1967.³

According to hls-dhs-dss.ch, Müller-Brockmann's second wife, Shizuko Yoshikawa, was the daughter of a Japanese naval engineer and merchant from Omuta.³ According to hls-dhs-dss.ch, from 1932 he took courses at Zurich’s art school, university, and ETH, including with Carl Gustav Jung, after an interrupted graphic apprenticeship.³ According to hls-dhs-dss.ch, he worked as an independent graphic designer and illustrator from 1934.³ According to hls-dhs-dss.ch, Müller-Brockmann was a graphic designer and illustrator working independently from 1934.³

According to a paper in a 2020 paper, he is widely known for his poster designs, including the road-safety poster 'schutzt das Kind!' (protect the child).⁴ His Zurich-based practice served both corporate and nonprofit clients.⁴ He taught at Zurich's Kunstgewerbeschule (school of applied arts).⁴

Müller-Brockmann initiated Neue Grafik and served on its editorial group with other designers.^2,5 Neue Grafik was published in Zurich from 1958 to 1965.⁵ The journal was his initiative and was led by an editorial group that included him and fellow designers.⁵ According to a 2000 paper in L. Müller eBooks, he is the subject of the monograph 'Josef Müller-Brockmann: Pioneer of Swiss Graphic Design'.⁶

According to Josef Müller-Brockmann, he advised young people to view what they encounter critically and to remain self-critical.² According to Eye magazine, Neue Grafik spread the principles of Swiss Design internationally.² According to Josef Müller-Brockmann, Müller-Brockmann described unconscious experience as contributing to his design process.²

Müller-Brockmann said self-criticism led him to reconsider his earlier illustrative work despite its apparent success.² He said apparent success in illustration led him to conclude he had no essential artistic talent beyond the ordinary.² He said he had to teach himself to distinguish creative work from imitative or merely calculating work.²

Müller-Brockmann said he conceived a periodical devoted to rational, constructive graphic design in 1955.² According to Josef Müller-Brockmann, Müller-Brockmann described the periodical as a response to advertising he considered excessively irrational and pseudo-artistic.² According to a paper in a 2020 paper, “Josef-Müller-Brockmann (1914–96) was one of a group of graphic designers who defined a “Swiss” or “International Typographic Style” after World War II”.⁴

According to a paper in a 2020 paper, a scholarly article frames Swiss Design as having a mythology, using his child-safety poster 'schützt das Kind!' as a case study.⁴ According to a paper in a 2020 paper, a scholarly study examines Müller-Brockmann’s work in relation to the mythology surrounding Swiss Design.⁴ According to a paper in a 2020 paper, scholarship describes a 'mythology' around Swiss Design, suggesting his canonical status is partly a constructed narrative rather than pure fact.⁴

According to Author of 'Josef Müller-Brockmann: pioneer of Swiss graphic design', a catalogue description places his sudden turn to constructive graphic design in the early 1950s, when he was almost 40.⁶ According to a 2000 paper in L. Müller eBooks, Müller-Brockmann's appearance in constructive graphic design in the early 1950s, at almost age 40, is described as impassioned and sudden.^2,6 The same description says that in the 1930s his path and Swiss graphic design were still separate.⁶