Ad design by Michael Engelmann

Members Content

Advertising the Beetle. Volkswagen Advertising in the 1950s

Volkswagen commissioned a fantastic range of graphic designers, including Wolf Zimmermann, Hans Looser and Michael Engelmann. The designers amplified the brand image of Volkswagen with strikingly modern designs.
Ad design by Michael Engelmann

Members Content

This is a members-only article, gain access and support the archive for £1.99 a month.
Memberships help grow the design collection and share research on the history of graphic design.

You can sign up here.

Already a member?

Sign in below

Related Items from the Archive
From the design archive:
More graphic design history articles

Members Content

Crouwel was the predecessor to Willem Sandberg who used an avant-garde approach in his work, utilising torn-paper montage, mixing of sans serif and old Egyptian typefaces and often off-center positioning. Crouwel steered away from this artistic approach and implemented a cohesive design system and a strong identity that emulated the corporate identity boom of the 1950s and 60s. 
I came across two sample books containing printed examples of the work executed by the students in the Composing and Machine Departments of the Polytechnic School of Printing, between 1907 and 1910. I couldn't resist adding these to the archive.

Members Content

These one-colour forms have a playful but structured aesthetic through their geometric forms, they remind me of the abstract line drawings of Picasso blended with Jan Tschichold and the New Typography.
The transformation of Radio Free Berlin's publicity from dark and provincial to striking and imaginative. Cultural announcements and radio programs designed by Hans Förtsch, Sigrid von Baumgarten, and Reinhart Braun