FVS References
All References From the Book Flexible Visual Systems on one Page
Flexible Visual Systems
Resources
All the references from the book are now clickable and sometimes even downloadable!
Sources
The FVS approach did not appear out of thin air. It is based on hundreds of Flexible Identity Systems created by brilliant practitioners of our time and many past and present thinkers. Some of the references I learned from are listed here: Sources
Courses
Since the book was published, I developed the book’s ideas further and converted them into online courses. You can see the list of courses I have published so far here: FVS Courses
Inspiration
We are constantly adding new FVS practitioners and teachers from all over the world and are sharing them here: FVS Atlas
Books
You don’t have a copy of the book? There are still some copies left from the fifth edition in English and the first edition en Español. Have a look inside the book and read what other designers said about the book: FVS Book
About
Flexible Visual Systems sums up 10 years of research by Dr Martin Lorenz at the University of Barcelona, 20 years of developing systems at TwoPoints.Net, and 18 years of teaching systems at over ten European design universities on 320 pages.
Learning how to design flexible systems is not just learning another craft; it will change the way you think and work entirely. It is an approach how to design.
If you place system design into a curriculum, it would be the foundation course, putting you in the right mindset. You can apply the systemic approach to any discipline you will later specialize in, from corporate design, communication design, and user experience design to textile design.
Links to Sources
Grab your book and visit the links:
Page 10:
https://buttondown.email/otherworlds/archive/the-branding-of-bodies-by-ruben-pater/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brand
Page 22:
https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/37103/pg37103-images.html
Page 23:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJnEQCMA5Sg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Ching
https://hyphenpress.co.uk/products/books/type_spaces/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldus_Manutius
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldine_Press
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_Griffo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albrecht_Dürer
https://www.riccardolocco.com/img/romain_du_R_Olocco_slide_12.2013.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sébastien_Truchet
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truchet_tiles
Page 24
https://typography.network/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Kindel_TypPp_7_Plaque_Découpée_Universelle.pdf
Page 25
https://www.typografie.info/3/Schriften/fonts.html/din-1451-r214/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert-Jan_Pool
https://www.moma.org/collection/works/139323
https://legacy.lineto.com/The+Fonts/Custom+Typefaces/Simple+Köln-Bonn/
https://www.j-x-albrecht.de/arbeiten/koeln-bonn-airport
Page 26
https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/c0/ef/0d/549894352ad168/US1022384.pdf
https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/froebels-gifts/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Fröbel
Page 27
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soennecken
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futura_(typeface)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Renner
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Albers
https://bauhauskooperation.de/wissen/das-bauhaus/werke/druck-und-reklame/kombinationsschrift
https://monoskop.org/images/7/77/Bauhaus_4-1_1931.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Tschichold
https://designreviewed.com/artefacts/die-neue-typographie-bildungsverband-der-deutschen-buchdrucker-1928/
Page 28
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Ostwald
Page 29
https://karlgerstner.ch
https://t-y-p-o-g-r-a-p-h-y.org/media/pdf/Designing-Programmes.pdf
https://archive.org/details/formsofcolor00gers
http://ulrikefelsing.ch/wp-content/pdf/Felsing_Dynamic_Identities_ENGL_web.pdf
http://indexgrafik.fr/karl-gerstner/
https://www.behance.net/gallery/1464649/NAi
https://rejanedalbello.com/project/ovg-real-estate/
https://movingbrands.com/work/swisscom/
Page 31
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3tkzqaRHh0
Page 46
https://www.tesisenred.net/handle/10803/365565?show=full
Page 53
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_Zwicky
https://medium.com/@digitalonetwo/designing-programmes-excerpt-62bc64e67b8b
Page 67
https://www.g-e-s-t-a-l-t.org/media/pdf/Interaction-of-Color.pdf
https://interactionofcolor.com/?id=-21516
https://www.getty.edu/research/exhibitions_events/exhibitions/bauhaus/new_artist/form_color/color/
Page 69
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suprematism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructivism_(art)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Stijl
https://juerglehni.com/works/hektor
https://studiomoniker.com/projects/conditional-design-workbook
Page 73
https://www.moma.org/collection/works/7233?artist_id=4154&page=1&sov_referrer=artist
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FVS Courses
Read the book? Studied the references? The FVS Courses take the book’s content further and develop it into online courses.
FVS Atlas
Looking for more inspiration? We are working on a FVS Atlas, listing the best FVS Practitioners and Teachers worldwide. You can add your favorites here: FVS Atlas
Make sure to visit our Instagram account too: www.instagram.com/flexiblevisualsystems/
The Book
You don’t have the book? There are still a couple of copies left: In English
En Español
You already have the book and want to make us happy? Take a picture of you and your copy of Flexible Visual Systems and post it with the hashtag: #flexiblevisualsystems
What Designers say About the Book
“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
“I love it!”
Just van Rossum
“Very interesting and useful.”
Petr van Blokland
“As we were starting our redesign of our visual identity, we invited Martin to share his expertise on visual systems with us. His knowledge and this exchange was really inspiring for our design team.”
Nicolas Zimmel, Principal Designer, XING
“I have been following Martin Lorenz’ talks about “Flexible Visual Systems” quite sometime and I am hugely excited about to get his vision and expertise in printed matter. It might be the next graphic design reference book!”
Linus Lohoff
“I don’t like systems. I don’t like grids. With this book I will start loving both.”
Lars Harmsen
“This book is not just about design but an in depth visual language which Martin is so generously putting out in the open. Years of research and practice have gone into the genesis of this book.”
Sarah Boris
“F*ck investing in bitcoins, invest in Martin Lorenz.”
Julien Arts
“Amazing research and book about flexible systems.”
Rejane dal Bello
“I am definitely not religious, but this is going to be my new bible.”
Kimberley Klinkforth
“This is the book that bridges the gap between classic graphic design and coded design.”
Tim Rodenbröker
“Martin Lorenz’s understanding of design has always been very interesting to me and I am glad that I can finally have all that vision in one fantastic book.”
Tilman Solé, Mucho
“Flexible Visual Systems really aligns with how I like to think about design, but it puts it in much more clear terms and examples. So reading it was kind of like coming home.”
Vera van de Seyp
“Es ist ein Basiswerk zu systematischen und flexiblen visuellen Arbeiten. Und gleichzeitig spricht daraus sehr viel praktische Erfahrung.”
TGM-ONLINE.DE, Rudolf Paulus Gorbach
“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
“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
“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
“Este libro es fundamental para entender y explicar las identidades visuales flexibles.”
Verònica Fuerte, Hey Studio
“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
“A wonderful visual textbook that shows how to use a system to develop beautiful visual identities.”
Claudia Gerdes, Page Magazine
“Flexible Visual Systems, the definitive guide on flexible visual systems.”
Cristóbal Páez, Experimenta Magazine
“I have been researching flexible systems & custom typography since the period living in The Netherlands. I am confident that Lorenz’s book and research will be a game changer for tooya to push the envelope in our design projects & products.”
Yomar Augusto
“Martin’s book is, as usually his work is, fresh, contemporary and opening new paths in the graphic culture. We need more characters like him, being always theoretical, speculative and daring. Not following trends but his own intuition. Far from the marketing and the strict commandments that our time tries to impose to designers. A clear personality and the joy of experimentation have been key in his solid career that is somehow summarized in this book. And as usual, the design of the book itself is a visual pleasure.”
Daniel Ayuso, Clase
“Martin Lorenz entwickelt mit seinem Team flexible Systeme und Identitäten. Und es ist für mich beeindruckend, wie sie jeweils kontextbezogen die visuelle Sprache variieren – in der Modulation der Tonart und in der Änderung der Intensität. Dies ermöglicht, dass ihre Arbeiten die intendierte Wirkung erreichen. In ihrem Designprozess brechen sie Altes auf, um Neues zu suchen und zu finden. Ihr Vorgehen und ihre Arbeitsweise ist entsprechend vielfältig – mit Papier und Schere ebenso agil wie mit digitalen Tools. Und diese Vielfalt der Werkzeuge spiegelt sich in der Vielfalt ihrer Resultate wider.”
Jimmy Schmid, hkb.bfh.ch
“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
What the Press Says About the Book
Contact
Get in contact with Martin through Patreon
www.instagram.com/martinlorenz or
www.es.linkedin.com/in/martinattwopointsnet