Josef Müller-Brockmann (1914-1996) is the most internationally recognized representative of Swiss graphic art. In his work, he was a committed advocate of constructive graphic art, the principles of which also served as a guideline for his teaching at the Zurich School of Arts and Crafts (1957-1960). Here he fundamentally reformed the training program of his predecessor Ernst Keller.

The declared aim of the project, which was jointly tendered by the Museum für Gestaltung and the Master of Arts in Design at the ZHdK, was to analyze the works from Müller-Brockmann's teaching in relation to his teaching methods and his own work. Master's student Lena Koop, who also focused on the connection between personality and teaching, based her research on the teaching material that the designer's wife, Shizuko Yoshikawa, had donated to the Museum für Gestaltung in 2014: student work, personal notes, correspondence and assignments. She also consulted the documents and publications in the university documentation and library and interviewed experts. She succeeded in compiling a complete list of Josef Müller-Brockmann's students, five of whom she was able to interview in detail. She also analyzed Müller-Brockmann's teaching didactics as well as his position within the School of Arts and Crafts and his cultural environment.

Lena Koop's research work, which was supported by Sarah Owens and Jonas Vögeli on the teaching side and Barbara Junod on the museum side, is divided into a scientific part (research thesis) and an anthology conceived from a design perspective. The two parts unite two different approaches to the subject and combine design-historical research with contemporary design. Lena Koop received an award from the ZHdK for her Master's thesis.