Information Conduit
London, 10.2008
MA Dissertation (excerpt)
Taken from an MA dissertation discussing the extent to which narratives within graphic design history are simplified, and the effect that this has on emergent design practice. The excerpt below is taken from the second chapter and comments on the frequent citation of the 'socially engaged' aspects of Swiss typography in graphic design history overviews.
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Information Conduit
There is an image of Zurich Railway Station in Richard Hollis’ Swiss Graphic Design: The Origins and Growth of an International Style which shows an advertisement, designed by Josef Muller-Brockmann in 1958, that displays trademark Swiss typography touches: an uncluttered layout employing san-serif type and 'objective' photography. Nothing out of the ordinary so far then, however the surprise comes when we notice that the advertisement features images of lots of smiling faces with cigarettes in their mouths. Aside from the Zurich Tonhalle poster series, anyone familiar with graphic design history titles such as Meggs’ A history of Graphic Design, Aynsley’s A Century of Graphic Design or Hollis’ own A Concise History of Graphic Design will recognise Muller-Brockmann’s name mostly for the work that he did for the Swiss Automobile Club: a series of road safety posters that he designed in the early 1950’s, celebrated for their clarity of message. Similarly, an image of Muller Brockmann’s ‘Accident Gauge’, a public signage system that warned of the dangers of driving is also included in Stephen Eskilson's Graphic Design: A New History. In all these cases, the examples are used to demonstrate the socially conscious aspect of Swiss typography, whereby ‘More important than the visual appearance of this work is the attitude developed by it’s early pioneers about their profession. These trailblazers defined design as a socially useful and important activity.’ (Meggs, 1998, p320) This Turmac advertisement then sits rather uncomfortably with this understanding of the kind of work that Swiss typographers were involved with, or at least, with what the majority of historical texts present them as having been involved with. A designer who had been defined as an ‘objective conduit for spreading important information between components of society’ (Meggs’ 1998, p320) involved in the promotion of smoking? Uncertainty is further created by looking at Muller-Brockmann’s work for Nestle during the 1950’s, a controversial period for the company during which they were accused of causing disease in developing nations by promoting powder replacement breast milk in areas lacking a clean water supply. To his credit, he stopped producing work for Turmac when suspicions emerged that smoking could cause illness, and also in 1960, cancelled his Nestle contract, perhaps in light of the allegations that were being made against them. (Purcell, 2006, pp122-125) Despite this however, one can’t help but feel that were these images to be included in graphic design history books along with the others, the socially beneficial aspect of Swiss typography would not be so clearly defined.
In The Interpretation of Cultures, anthropologist Clifford Geertz writes that ‘Nothing has done more [...] to discredit cultural analysis than the construction of impeccable depictions of formal order in whose actual existence nobody can quite believe.’ (Geertz, 1973, p18) In assembling accounts of design history, historians are faced with the problem of how to present the work of different designers in a context that can be absorbed by the reader as a logical, coherent whole. In attempting to do so, they often run the risk of generalizing. As Hayden White writes: ‘Narrativity only becomes a problem when we wish to give real events the form of a story’ (White in Margolin, 2002, p189) In the case of the Muller-Brockmann example; so as to be able to characterize the movement of Swiss typography with a specific theme and situate it in the ‘story’ of design history, the accounts given choose to focus on the instances where Muller Brockmann’s work best demonstrates some generally held facts about Swiss typography as a whole: namely that designers involved with it implemented systems and clarity into their work in the hope that design could play a role in the creation of a better society. Though it is clear from the writings of designers such as Max Bill, Emil Ruder and Muller-Brockmann that this was high on the agenda, these examples demonstrate how the ‘story’ of Swiss typography has been simplified to point a where it is no longer an accurate reflection of events. This is particularly significant in the case of Muller-Brockmann, who is widely regarded as the most influential Swiss designer of the period. The point is not to criticize him – if anything, he ought to be commended for withdrawing from both contracts as soon as he found that they conflicted with his own ethical views – but rather to question how much the meaning of the style of Swiss typography, as understood today, is rooted in an understanding which stems largely from its discussion in history books.
The continuous citation of the ‘socially engaged’ aspect of Swiss typography in design texts perpetuates the idea that the only work produced there was thus, which is untrue. The cigarette advertisements are equally valid to use in showcasing the style of Swiss typography, but in hindsight they now happen to contradict what the style was supposed to have meant. With constant reference to this socially conscious aspect, the style of Swiss typography becomes synonymous with connotations of ‘social engagement’ and ‘objectivity’, and subsequently assumes these meanings in the minds of those reading. When Futurist typography appears in history books beside quotes from Marinetti, saying that war is a ‘hygienic purge’ (Marinetti in Spencer, 1969, p17) the style of the typography says ‘radical’. When Swiss typography is illustrated in books with road safety adverts; the style says ‘responsible’. This is not to say that the forms would have no meaning without the associations, but it shows how, when printed enough times, associations inevitably become reinforced, and after a while these styles no longer ‘invoke’ certain qualities — they become completely equated with them. It is unlikely that a designer would often find themselves with the task of communicating Futurist attitudes for a business corporation, but it is probable that ‘objectivity’, ‘responsibility’ and ‘honesty’ are qualities that they are likely to be called upon to convey for clients. When scouting for reference points, it is not hard to guess where they might look. But what meaning would be attributed to the style of Swiss typography if history books included its cigarette advertisements instead of its road safety signage?
In 1963, Karl Gerstner wrote that while the dream aspired to by modernist designers in the 1930’s had been fulfilled, ‘the envisaged paradise remained as far away as ever.’ (Gerstner in Purcell, 2006, p231) He was referring to the fact that by then modernism had established itself as an influential force in graphic design (in the form of Swiss inspired typography) by becoming the face of corporate design and western capitalism, and in the process, had lost sight of the socialist roots from which it originated. Gerstner’s observation is telling because it voices dissatisfaction from inside Switzerland, where constraints on ‘corporate liberties’ with regards self-promotion were much stricter than elsewhere, about the way that ‘modernist’ approaches to design were beginning to be used. (Kinross, 1992, p146) It foreshadows a theme that has recently gained prominence in discussions on design, whereby designers have begun to be more conscious of ‘the ethical dimensions of their power to shape people’s perceptions.’ (Eskilson, 2007, p333) Muller-Brockmann’s work for Turmac and Nestle offers an early example of the use of modernist ideas, originally based on socially engaged principles, being used in the promotion of global business practices whose ethics might be questioned.
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Books referenced in the above excerpt:
Aynsley, J (2001). A Century of Graphic Design: Graphic Design Pioneers of the 20th Century, Mitchell Beazley, London
Eskilson, S. J (2007). Graphic Design: A New History, Laurence King, London
Geertz, C (1973). The Interpretation of Cultures, 1973, Basic Books, New York (2000 edition)
Hollis, R (1994). Graphic Design: A Concise History, Thames & Hudson, London
Hollis, R (2006). Swiss Graphic Design, Laurence King, London
Kinross, R (1992). Modern Typography: An Essay in Critical History, Hyphen Press, London (2002 edition)
Margolin, V (2002). The Politics of the Artificial: Essays on Design & Design Studies, University of Chicago Press, Chicago
Meggs, P (1998). A History of Graphic Design, 3rd Edition, 1998, John Wiley and Sons, New York
Purcell, K.W (2006). Josef Muller-Brockmann, Phaidon. London
Spencer, H (1969). Pioneers of Modern Typography: Revised Edition, Lund Humphries, London (2004 edition)