Born in the Netherlands in 1928, Wim Crouwel trained at the Art Academy Minerva (1946–49) and after completing his military service, started his professional life as an abstract painter. He studied at the Amsterdam Art Academy (1952–53) and during that time joined an exhibition design firm (1952), where he gained his first experience of the possibilities of graphic design. Inspired by Swiss design, in 1954 he stopped painting and sought work as a freelance designer in Amsterdam.
During the 1950s, Crouwel traveled to Switzerland, meeting with other designers and witnessing the emerging International Style. An avid proponent of international debate, he became the first general secretary of the International Council of Graphic Design Associations (Icograda) in 1963. In the same year, Crouwel, product designer Friso Kramer, and architect and graphic designer Benno Wissing, together with Paul and Dick Schwarz, founded Total Design, the Netherlands' first multidisciplinary design studio, which was to become a dominant force in Dutch design. Through their work, Crouwel and his colleagues had significant influence on the national and cultural identity of the Netherlands. Crouwel’s portfolio ranges from postage stamps for the Dutch Post Office (1968) to an extensive body of work for the Stedelijk Museum (1964–85)—all testimony to his achievements in the refinement and application of the grid. Crouwel is also especially recognized for his innovative systematic approach to design thinking. In 1967, as a response to early digital typesetting, he designed the experimental typeface New Alphabet (in the permanent collection of The Museum of Modern Art, New York), devising a matrix within which letterforms were constructed as units on a grid.
In 1972, Crouwel became a part-time professor at Delft Technical University (TU Delft), and in 1980 he left Total Design when he was appointed a full-time professor at TU. In 1985 he was named Director of the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam. He consolidated his longtime commitment to education in assuming the Private Chair at Erasmus University, Rotterdam (1987–93).
Wim Crouwel holds a number of honorary positions, including Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE); Knight of the Order of the Dutch Lion; Honorary Royal Designer for Industry, UK; Honorary Fellow of the Society of Typographic Designers, UK; and Honorary Member of the Deutsche Werkbund. His work, which has received many European design awards, has been exhibited internationally, most recently in the 2011 retrospective “Wim Crouwel: A Graphic Odyssey” at the Design Museum, London and the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.
Crouwel's achievements are the subject of several books, including Wim Crouwel Alphabets by Kees Broos and David Quay (2003) and Wim Crouwel: Mode en Module by Frederike Huygen and Hugues Boekraad (1997). His lectures and essays have been collected in Wim Crouwel: In His Own Words, edited by Toon Lauwen (2010).
Announcements
Louis Kahn: Architecture as Philosophy by John Lobell
Louis Kahn: Architecture as Philosophy
By John Lobell
Publisher: The Monacelli Press
Published: June 2020
Noted Louis I.Kahn expert John Lobell explores how Kahn’s focus on structure, respect for materials, clarity of program, and reverence for details come together to manifest an overall philosophy.
Our Days Are Like Full Years: A Memoir with Letters from Louis Kahn by Harriet Pattison
Our Days Are Like Full Years: A Memoir with Letters from Louis Kahn
By Harriet Pattison
Publisher: Yale University Press
Forthcoming: October 2020
An intimate glimpse into the professional and romantic relationship between Harriet Pattison and the renowned architect Louis Kahn. Harriet Pattison, FASLA, is a distinguished landscape architect. She was Louis Kahn’s romantic partner from 1959 to 1974, and his collaborator on the landscapes of the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, and the F.D.R. Memorial/Four Freedoms Park, New York. She is the mother of their son, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Nathaniel Kahn.
Louis I. Kahn: The Nordic Latitudes
Louis I. Kahn: The Nordic Latitudes
By Per Olaf Fjeld and Emily Randall Fjeld
Publisher: University of Arkansas Press
Published: October 4, 2019
A new and personal reading of the architecture, teachings, and legacy of Louis I. Kahn from Per Olaf Fjeld’s perspective as a former student. The book explores Kahn’s life and work, offering a unique take on one of the twentieth century’s most important architects. Kahn’s Nordic and European ties are emphasized in this study that also covers his early childhood in Estonia, his travels, and his relationships with other architects, including the Norwegian architect Arne Korsmo.
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Reading Graphic Design History: Image, Text, and Context by David Raizman
Reading Graphic Design History: Image, Text, and Context
By David Raizman
Publisher: Bloomsbury Visual Arts
Published: December 2020
An innovative approach to graphic design that uses a series of key artifacts from the history of print culture in light of their specific historical contexts. It encourages the reader to look carefully and critically at print advertising, illustration, posters, magazine art direction, and typography, often addressing issues of class, race, and gender.
David King: Designer, Activist, Visual Historian by Rick Poynor
David King: Designer, Activist, Visual Historian
By Rick Poynor
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: September 2020
A comprehensive overview of the work and legacy of David King (1943–2016), whose fascinating career bridged journalism, graphic design, photography, and collecting. King launched his career at Britain’s Sunday Times Magazine in the 1960s, starting as a designer and later branching out into image-led journalism, blending political activism with his design work.
Teaching Graphic Design History by Steven Heller
Teaching Graphic Design History
By Steven Heller
Publisher: Allworth Press
Published: June 2019
An examination of the concerted efforts, happy accidents, and key influences of the practice throughout the years, Teaching Graphic Design History is an illuminating resource for students, practitioners, and future teachers of the subject.
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