Everything is Design

It’s practically a masterplan already. So much so that a few years back I based a garden on this very image, with curving COR-TEN beds radiating in staggered arcs from a central patio.

Josef Müller-Brockmann’s iconic 1955 poster shows the master of masses and voids at work. As is so often the case with perfect simplicity, it comes from a place of almost fanatical observation, attention to detail and an innate understanding of people and, of course, design.

Influenced by Constructivism, De Stijl, Suprematism and the Bauhaus, Müller-Brockmann’s mastery of visual communication culminated in the 1968 work Grid Systems in Graphic Design. Sure it sounds like something to read if you’re having trouble sleeping (even as a complete design nerd I go slightly cross eyed at the thought), but this detailed visual study arguably holds the secrets to great design, in all its forms.

Written as a manual for graphic designers, typographers and 3D designers, Müller-Brockmann’s principles of structure, proportion, visual hierarchy, consistency, adaptability, balance and harmony could easily have been written about landscape, garden or planting design.

When it comes to manipulating a space, grids can be hugely important, creating the backbone of the landscape or garden which follows. Whether guided by buildings, structures, sight lines or topography, grids give us the logic to subsequently play against. They give us the tools to perfectly balance asymmetry, a delicate execution to successfully master. And as with all design, once you know the rules you can gently tug and squeeze these messages to unsettle, delight, surprise or shock.

“The eye has to travel” said the revered Diane Vreeland and whether it’s Hogarth’s serpentine line of beauty, Mrs Vreeland’s critical eye or Müller-Brockmann’s graphic clarity, through all walks of design and visual communication the ones that sit head and shoulders above the rest allow our wondering eyes and busy brains to travel, rest, travel and rest again at pleasing intervals.

When I designed for brands we would use eye tracker technology to closely monitor a customer’s gaze as they scanned a shelf layout, pack design or piece of print. This detailed tracking would allow us to see whether all our tricks were taking the brain on the journey we’d orchestrated, lingering just where we needed them to. Subtle changes in minute detail, every curve, line and colour meant we could manipulate exactly how the eye would read the visual and invisibly lead the viewer through the brand’s unique messages.

Of course it’s not just where to go but how you get there and the messages along the way that add to the total experience. This manipulation of the viewer is exactly why Müller-Brockmann pronounced “Great design is powerful.”

The art world is full of inspiration when it comes to designing with nature, from Seurat’s pointellist seas, Monet’s impressionist vistas and Turner’s romantic skies, but when it comes to clarity of communication and navigation you can’t beat the iconic Swiss graphic designers, lead by the humble brilliance of Josef Müller-Brockmann.

After all as he said himself, “Everything is design.”

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