Das Freundliche Handzeichen (The Friendly Hand Signal)

This poster was made in 1954 in Switzerland, this poster was part of a broader public safety campaign during a period of rapid motorization in post-war Europe. Josef Müller-Brockmann got a five-year job with the Automobile Club after winning a competition in 1953. He was one of the top people in the Zurich graphic design scene after the war. For this series of safety posters and brochures, he used his own style. He mixed photomontage techniques with ideas from constructivism and kept his usual clean look. 

The poster shows how design can help society by communicating ideas clearly. The design is bold, with a strong diagonal line - a hand cutting through traffic - that leads your eye across the image. He used simple shapes and strong black and white contrast to make a symbol everyone could understand in a universally recognizable symbol, no matter what language they spoke. The centered circular composition with the white triangular gesture creates a clear visual message, which was part of Müller-Brockmann’s style that worked so well he got further commissions. The goal was to make cyclists and drivers behave more safely on the road.