Join the Mailing List

Membership

Graphic Design History from Design Reviewed
Wim Crouwel - Dutch Graphic Designer

Peter Stuyvesant Collectie, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1962

Information

Details

  • Format: Exhibition Catalogue
  • Designer/s: Wim Crouwel
  • Year: 1962
  • Client/Publisher: Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
  • Size: 185mm x 275mm
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

Peter Stuyvesant Collectie, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1962 designed by Wim Crouwel
Peter Stuyvesant Collectie, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1962 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
Typografia, ročník 56, 09, 1953. Cover design by Oldřich Hlavsa
From the design archive:

Typografia, ročník 56, 09, 1953

  • Format: Magazine
  • Designer/s: Oldřich Hlavsa
  • Year: 1953
View Artefact
Der Druckspiegel, 10, October 1968
From the design archive:

Der Druckspiegel, 10, October 1968

  • Format: Magazine
  • Designer/s: Dieter Kani
  • Year: 1968
View Artefact
Gebrauchsgraphik, 05, 1954
From the design archive:

Gebrauchsgraphik, 05, 1954

  • Format: Magazine
  • Year: 1954
View Artefact
70s Magazine Advertisment in Japan, Pie Books, 2007
From the design archive:

70s Magazine Advertisement in Japan, Pie Books, 2007

  • Format: Book
  • Year: 2007
View Artefact

view more of the graphic design archive

More graphic design history articles
Untitled-1_0002_Screenshot 2022-02-17 at 14.57.52
  • Design Books

Visual identity and branding at Olivetti published by Triest Verlag

I have always loved the design work created for Olivetti. The colourful midcentury designs by Italian designer Giovanni Pintori, the minimal typographic poster by Swiss designer Walter Ballmer and my personal favourite the 1959 poster for Olivetti designed by Herbert Bayer. I recently found out Triest Verlag released a new book, Visual identity and branding at Olivetti which contains further work by Xanti Schawinsky, Renato Zveteremich, Ettore Sottsass, Hans von Klier, Egidio Bonfante and Walter Ballmer.

Members Content

Ikko Tanaka Posters 1980-2002, DNP Graphic Design Archive Exhibition IV, 2012 C
  • Design Archive Feature, Members Only Content

Ikko Tanaka. Japanese Graphic Designer | 1930 – 2002 

Ikko Tanaka (田中一光, 1930–2002) was a celebrated Japanese graphic designer. His client list included Mazda, Hanae Mori and Issey Miyake, Expo '85 in Tsukuba, World City Expo Tokyo '96, and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Members Content

Bundesministerium für Post und Telekommunikation, Poster, 1956 designed by Hans Schweiss. Scanned from Gebrauchsgraphik 06, 1956
  • Design Archive Feature, Members Only Content

Posters from the 1956 Best German Posters Awards (Die besten Plakate des Jahres)

Gebrauchsgraphik 06, 1956 features a selection of the posters entered into the 1956 awards. It is unknown how many entries were submitted to the 1956 awards but a total of 21 posters were awarded.

Members Content

Jazz Journal, 8, 1966. Cover design by Cal Swann
  • Design Archive Feature, Members Only Content

Jazz Journal. Britain’s longest enduring jazz magazine.

Jazz Journal was first published in 1946 by Sinclair Traill, who also had some of his photographs used on the covers. The magazine is now online but remained in print for several decades, as Britain's longest enduring jazz magazine.