The set was designed by F. Lanier Graham who was a modern art expert and a chess aficionado. Lanier Graham Set was a famous design of interlocking chessmen wherein the pieces can be nested together into a simple rectangular space.

Each piece is shaped in a way that suggests not only their relative importance, but also the ways in which the various pieces move. Knights show smooth L shapes, Bishops slope diagonally and Rooks stand as rectangles (for the way they move on the board). Pieces whittle down the rank in scale to show power and relative importance. All 32 figures interlock neatly into a rectangular, puzzle formation to heighten the concept of simplicity and reason.