Wim Crouwel - Dutch Graphic Designer

Fodor 4, 1972 – Cor Jaring and Theo Kley

Information

Details

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.

Linked Information

Fodor 4, 1972 - Cor Jaring
Fodor 4, 1972 – Cor Jaring. Designed by Wim Crouwel.

 

Fodor 4, 1972 - Theo Kley
Fodor 4, 1972 – Theo Kley. Designed by Wim Crouwel.
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.
More graphic design artefacts
From the design archive:
From the design archive:
From the design archive:
From the design archive:
More graphic design history articles

Members Content

Little is known about the talented designer Günther Glückert. Born during the 1930s, a period that proved less than conducive to nurturing youthful artistic endeavours, did not halt Glückert's path of becoming a talented designer.
A country is never dead so long as it has an art. Austria is a proof of this maxim. Its liveliness since the war is liveliness which has displayed itself in the arts to a remarkable extent : it deserves the world's admiration and respect.

Members Content

Both the And So To Embroider & And So to Sew bulletins were published by the Needlework Development Scheme. Established in 1934 and operating until 1961, the scheme was a partnership between educational establishments (Scottish art schools, Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow) and industry.
Armin Hofmann's publicity for the Stadttheater Basel. The client, in this case, the Municipal Theater of Basel, refused to listen to narrow-minded critics, in spite of the fact that as a state-subsidized enterprise it is accountable to public opinion.