Josef Müller-Brockmann (1914–1996) was a leading figure in Swiss graphic design starting the 1950s, helping to pioneer the Swiss Style that would shape graphic design worldwide for decades. After an early career doing illustrations, he did a radical about-face in 1950, henceforth developing an uncompromisingly rational formal language. His posters are legendary, and the magazine he founded, “New Graphic Design” (1958–1965), spread the doctrine of sober design based on constructive principles across the continents. Large corporations and public institutions were soon adopting this objective approach as a model for design concepts that still remain valid today. As a teacher in Japan and at the design schools in Zurich and Ulm, as well as a lecturer and consultant (e.g. for IBM Europe), Müller-Brockmann was a distinctive voice in the design world. He was married to the Japanese-Swiss artist Shizuko Yoshikawa.