In a world of constant change, everything rigid will break. We need to unlearn static approaches and learn to envision flexible systems. At FVS we are focusing on the paradigm shift in visual design education, from static to flexible.
Flexible Visual Systems
Flexible Visual Systems sums up 10 years of research by Dr. Martin Lorenz at the University of Barcelona, 16 years of developing systems at TwoPoints.Net, and 20 years of teaching systems at over 10 design universities throughout Europe.
“Contemporary visual identities need to adapt and function consistently in a wide range of interactive, in motion, and static formats. The current landscape of design education, for the most part, still relies on concepts from the Bauhaus and Swiss “International” style; while significant historically, they can be pretty deficient when applied to design that is evolving with new technologies. Thanks to Martin, we now have a book to help us think and design ‘flexibly!’ This book will undoubtedly help educators like myself bring these new processes and ways of thinking into the classroom.”
Mitch Paone, Dia Studio
“Martin Lorenz’s typographic systems are gorgeous and inspiring. The seemingly infinite possibilities for typographic construction and customization are astounding. I’m sure they will turn up in my work. Many thanks, Martin!”
Paula Scher, Pentagram, New York
“Después de años de investigación y práctica con sistemas flexibles, Martin Lorenz nos deja este libro. Ya tiene un lugar destacado en mi biblioteca.”
Mario Eskenazi
“Este libro es fundamental para entender y explicar las identidades visuales flexibles.”
Verònica Fuerte, Hey Studio
“Dear Martin, I’ve long believed that sameness tends to be overvalued in design and branding so I am very happy about your contribution to the world of flexible visual systems, a wonderful primer for people interested in elastic identities.”
Stefan Sagmeister
“Grid systems may be produced by the left side of the brain and art creation by the right side of the brain: Martin’s book proves that there’s a field for playing around with both sides: real creativity is all about embracing both sides and that’s what is marvelous about his work.”
Genevieve Gauckler
“This is a wonderful book for both design students and practitioners who want to explore a more rule-based and dynamic approach to graphic design. I think the most interesting work today are done by designers who, rather than make one-off visual identities, manage to create flexible design systems, and this book is a great reference for those kinds of projects.”
Rune Madsen, Co-founder of Design Systems International
“This book hasn’t left my desk since I got it. It’s all initially so simple but the amount of space and variability that Martin covers is really profound. The insights and experiments are nested inside each other, one after another. I’ll be stealing from this for a long time.”
Kiel Mutschenknaus
FVS — Teaching
Flexible Visual Systems has transcended its origins as a mere book; it has evolved into a comprehensive school of thought. With the English version now in its fifth edition and the Spanish version in its inaugural edition, designers and creative coders worldwide have adopted and taught the system-centered approach.
Our website, along with our Discord server, serves as the platform where theory seamlessly transitions into practice, facilitating the evolution and application of these principles.
In just over 1 year, I’ve developed 6 courses comprising 58 lessons, with plans for many more to be rolled out this year.
FREE
€ 0 / month
If you sign up for the FREE Patreon Membership, you’ll receive a weekly update on what’s new on flexiblevisualsystems.info every Monday at 9 a.m. CET. If you read the newsletter on Patreon you can leave me and the community comments. It’s a good way to keep connected and have an influence on what I am developing next for you.
Supporter
€ 5 / month
Become my Supporter and get access to the Foundation Course — Essential Lessons in Identity Design, most of the articles, most of the interviews, and most of the weekly Patreon Newsletters. You will also get access to our lovely Discord Community to share and ask anything you like.
- 1 Course
- Most of the Articles & Interviews
- Most Weekly Patreon Newsletters
- Access to Discord Community
Super Supporter
€ 15 / month
Become my Super Supporter and get access to ALL courses, ALL articles, ALL interviews, and ALL my weekly Patreon Newsletters. You will also get access to our lovely Discord Community server to share and ask anything you like. <3
- ALL Courses
- ALL Articles & Interviews
- ALL Weekly Patreon Newsletters
- Access to Discord Community
In the ‘Resources’ section, I publish critical articles and interviews that serve as supplements to the courses, and often even are the foundation for new course development.
Who is “I”?
Dr. Martin Lorenz (1977, Hanover, Germany) is the grandson, son, and nephew of teachers. His escape plan from this family tradition was to become a graphic designer.
He graduated from the Graphic Design department at the Royal Academy of Art (KABK) of The Hague, Netherlands, after studying communication design at the University of Applied Sciences in Darmstadt, Germany. While founding the design Studio TwoPoints.Net with Lupi Asensio and raising two boys, he enrolled first in a Master’s Degree and later in a Ph.D. Degree at the University of Barcelona, Spain, writing a doctoral dissertation about flexible visual systems in communication design.
Martin became a teacher in 2003. He hasus European Universities since then. He currently teaches at the Bachelor’s and Masters Degree of Graphic Design of Elisava, Barcelona, and the Film Academy of Ludwigsburg. He is also the Conversational Design Lead at the Not-For-Profit organization Dark Matter Labs, a taught at vario partner of TwoPoints.Net and Coding Systems.
Get in contact with Martin through Patreon or
www.instagram.com/flexiblevisualsystems/
www.instagram.com/martinlorenz
www.es.linkedin.com/in/martinattwopointsnet
