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“All that is good in art is the expression of one soul talking to
another; and is precious according to the greatness of the soul
that utters it.”
John Ruskin (1819–1900), English, Art Critic, Artist, Poet
expression
16
Expression is a design
principle fully dependent
on the graphic designer’s
individual ideas, personal
moods, sole emotional outlook on the world, and place within it.
It is perceived visually, as well as psychologically, in any visual
message. It is also a completely subjective principle and reflects
ex·pres·sion \ik-'spre-sh n\ n
2 a: a mode, means, or use of
significant representation or symbolism;
esp: felicitous or vivid indication
or depiction of mood or sentiment
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19 89
Les Noces
Lugano, Italy
Bruno Monguzzi (b. 1941) was born
in the small town of Ticino in the south-
ern lake district of Switzerland. He stud-
ied graphic design at the Ecole des Arts
Decoratifs in Geneva, and then in London.
During this time, he was influenced
by the work of modernist designers such
as Carlo Vivarelli, Josef Müller-Brock-
mann, Herbert Bayer, Jan Tschichold,
and Piet Zwart. Monguzzi began his ca-
reer in 1961 as a designer with Antonio
Boggeri at Studio Boggeri in Milan, Italy,
and remained there until its closing in the
early 1980s.
Now residing in the secluded town of
Meride, in northern Italy, Monguzzi is also a
renowned teacher of graphic design, first
in Lugano and later throughout the world.
In 1981, Monguzzi was the sole curator
and designer of the Studio Boggeri retro-
spective at the Milan Trienalle. In 1983, in
collaboration with Jean Widmer’s Visuel
Design studio, he won the international
competition for Paris’s Musee d’Orsay’s
identity and sign system.
Monguzzi is known as a thoughtful and
thought-provoking designer and educator.
His professional work, as well as his teach-
ing, has always focused on the enrichment
and betterment of the human experience
through visual expression in graphic de-
sign. He has consistently created modern
and timeless work that is as visually rich
as it is diverse in design, content, and ul-
timate meaning. It is also devoid of any
specific style.
Monguzzi’s work and has been admired
by many of his colleagues and described as
“street communication at its most impres-
sive. Informational, elegant, bombastic,
and magnetic. Always a great light on any
city thoroughfare . . . . It takes hold of your
directly on the time and experiences in which
the designer has lived. Expression cannot be
taught; it is learned by each and every
graphic designer. It is also a reflection of the
designer’s inner thoughts, dreams, fears,
and passions. As a result, an inherent bias
completely depends upon our separate
experiences or realities. Dreams, fantasies,
and imagination also influence a designer’s
creative process and choices.
In everyday occurrences and interac-
tions, we hear someone say that they have
“expressed their opinion.” However, visual
expression is something more concrete, more
specific, and more intentional. Meaningful
and memorable visual expression occurs
when the fundamental elements and prin-
ciples of graphic design are used selectively
and collectively by a graphic designer to
create a “visual experience” for the viewer.
Since the beginning of human develop-
ment, we have had the desire, as well as the
basic need, to express ourselves. While
graphic design as a discipline has had a rela-
tively short history, with the name graphic
design first coined by William Addison
Dwiggins in 1922, visual communication and
visual expression has always been an integral
(continued on page 164)
Art ChAntry Design Co.
Tacoma, Washington, USA
gAil AnDerson
New York, New York, USA
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