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Graphic Design History from Design Reviewed
Wim Crouwel

De zee aquarellen en tekeningen van Jean Bazaine, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1969

Details

  • Format Exhibition Catalogue
  • Designer/s Wim Crouwel (Total Design)
  • Year 1969
  • Client/Publisher Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
  • Size 185mm x 275mm
Wim Crouwel (Total Design)
Willem Hendrik Crouwel was born in 1928 in Groningen, Netherlands. He studied at the Academy of Arts and Crafts in Groningen and took evening classes at the Institute of Arts and Crafts, now the Rietveld Academy. His teacher, Charles Jongejans, was trained by notable Dutch designers Paul Schuitema and Gerard Kiljan. In 1952, Crouwel began his design career at Enderberg, designing exhibitions and trade stands, gaining valuable experience. After leaving Enderberg in 1956, he founded a studio with industrial designer Kho Liang Ie, working on various projects across design disciplines, including graphic and exhibition design. Influenced by mid-century Swiss typography, Crouwel explored letterforms and graphic systems, using fonts like Helvetica and Univers. His early clients included the Van Abbe Museum, where he designed catalogues and posters. In 1963, he co-founded the influential design agency Total Design and also started working for the Stedelijk Museum, collaborating with Edy de Wilde until 1986. Explore the Design Reviewed archive to discover artefacts connected to Wim Crouwel. The Dutch Modernism movement collection showcases the visual culture he helped define, while the Netherlands archive reflects the broader design scene he worked within. Browse the 1960s and 1970s decade pages to see the period in which his most influential work was produced, or explore the poster format collection to find work that shares his commitment to grid-based typographic clarity.

Linked Information

De zee aquarellen en tekeningen van Jean Bazaine, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1969 designed by Wim Crouwel
De zee aquarellen en tekeningen van Jean Bazaine, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1969 designed by Wim Crouwel
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