DUTCH  DESIGN

MANUAL

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Before we start the basics on Dutch Design, a good base of knowledge is needed to

fully understand what has inspired Dutch designers over the past centuries.

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THE CONTEMPORARY DUTCH TYPOGRAPHYDECEMBER 1995 PETER BILAK========================================================================

The Netherlands is a small country with some 15 million inhabitants. It is !at, and has no geographical particularities. It is situated on the western border of Germany, the north of France and Belgium, and the east of England across the North Sea. As a comparatively small country, the Dutch people have always felt the in!uence of surrounding countries. If they attempted to be a part of international styles, they risked dissolving the national characteristics of the small nation. On the other hand, if they tried to stay untouched by foreign in!uence and keep to themselves, they could easily fall into provincialism. However, they have succeeded to create one of the most remarkable and outstanding

cultures. The homeland of Piet Mondriaan, Theo van Doesburg, Gerrit Rietveld and Piet Zwart now produce design of the highest abstraction—design of letters. “Holland today has more type designers per capita than any other country in the world, a remarkable fact considering that there is now not one surviving Dutch type foundry,” says Gerard Unger, one of the most important typographers in Holland. Unger, a very active typeface designer and lecturer, stands somewhere between the classic typeface designers and the experimental ones. Among Unger’s work is the typeface for Metro Amsterdam, Demos, Praxis, ITC Flora designed for Hell company, Amerigo and Oranda for Bitstream, and his latest drawings include the newspaper faces Swift and Gulliver.According to Unger, this has to do with the low-lying land and cool skies of the Netherlands. “Hollander is one of my designs to re!ect the inescapable Dutch horizon.

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The horizontal parts of the curves are stretched, the resultant gentle arches combining with the large serifs to assist the letters in joining visually to make words and lines,” describes Unger the typeface that follows the best traditions of Dutch typography. Is it possible that the physical character of the landscape forms characteristics of graphic design? For the answer to this question we go back to the beginning of the century. While most of Europe accepted “Art Nouveau” as the “last international-spread art movement” that in!uenced architecture, craft, and "ne arts, the Dutch rejected Art Nouveau as frivolous. Dutch artists considered themselves pragmatic and realistic. Thus, they rather turned themselves into conventional realism that later evolved into abstraction. Forty years ago, the Dutch society was still solidly bourgeois, puritanical and strongly in!uenced by religion. It is the change after the second world war from a politically neutral country

to an active member of transatlantic and European alliances that had far-reaching cultural e#ects. It totally changed the Dutch perception of their own nationality, and revised the traditional Dutch values. From a very religious country the Netherlands developed to one of the most liberal societies in the world. Life in the Netherlands became much more open, and hedonistic oriented. The prosperity of the nation in the 60s also helped to create a mood of great expectation; instead of looking abroad for models, the Dutch understood the advantages of being themselves. No, this is not a sudden turn in the history of the nation; the Dutch stayed as they have always been, open towards international developments.It is very

unlike that the countryside (even so particular by its !atness) is the only determinant of art development in the Netherlands, although, it is undoubtedly a source of inspiration for Dutch artists. Holland has always been an unusually tolerant place. It is the place with many political parties, many di#erent views and opinions. The individuality here is a very important element. T It seems that with the world-wide availability of graphic software, the national characteristics of graphic design and typography would disappear. How is it possible that there is such a phenomenon as the “Dutch design” in today’s international style? And, what are the characteristics of Dutch design? Reading the art history books, I can say that realism, sobriety, outspokenness, clarity, moral integrity, and social responsibility were frequently marked as typical Dutch virtues. But these characteristics do not in themselves de"ne style. And if, then the same qualities are related to Modernism (International

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style), another movement that didn’t in!uence Holland very much. Dutch found their own interpretation of Modernism.

Gerard Unger in his piece “Dutch landscape with letters” wrote: The national character is only one of the components needed for a recognizable style of type design . The chief elements of style are the product not merely of the country, region or city in which the designer happens to live, they are also moulded by his own personal qualities and the age in which he works.” Maybe a foreign observer can better describe what is hard to see for the Dutch themselves. Erik Spiekermann, a German typographer, puts it like this: “All the Dutch type designs I know, even the historical ones, have a vertical oval as one of their basic shapes. They are narrow compared with French designs like the types of Exco#on, which are actually broader at the top than they are at the bottom. Clarity

and openness and high contrast are also clearly identi"able characteristics in Dutch types. The clarity and openness are part of the construction and contrast in, say, the alternation of rounded and angular forms. The structure is always clearly visible in the work of Dutch designers. The Dutch are more concerned with the structure, the basic shape. You can follow the syntax of the design process—the design can be understood immediately. At the same time they are also sophisticated.”

There is too much of it. Contemporary Dutch design can be stylish and eclectic, inventive and trains-historical, systematic and non-functional, provocative and conventional, conceptual and random, pragmatic and nonsensical, witty and sti#, anarchic and traditional and it still keeps its characteristics; it is still so Dutch. It !uctuates between rigid logic and total senselessness. In other words, there is no style of Dutch design. Or, in the words of designer Max Kisman, the style of Dutch design “is style of styles. There is pluriformity which is unique to Holland.”

Kisman pioneered the use of computers in 1977, when he was the "rst designer to create stamps for the postal/telecommunications services PTT on Amiga computer. Kisman is also known for his belief that legibility is a code that depends on the

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impressions, rhythm, and expression of symbol which may or may not be letters. Kisman has become increaseble skeptical with designing new type, and since 1992 hasn’t designed any new fonts. “Because my angle is shifted I am less interested in type. There is so much of that stu# and I wonder what I could add which hasn’t been done before. Too much I see now is somehow related to what I did years ago. Of course, I recognize some very good designs but to me the revolution is

over and repetition began a while ago. There is no meaning in type design, all is decoration. Everyone can do what someone else is doing. Type design becomes an average taste to express a general life style. Type is available anywhere at any time. Concepts of type are available anywhere at any time. Like the jersey you wear or the shoe you choose. Nothing more, nothing less. All this fuzz about type becomes a bit irrelevant, I think sometimes. Of course, it’s a big industry, a lot is involved, many typographical magazines appear, lots of students are waiting to bring in something new. This massive run on type is an escape from an essential question. Whether graphic design will survive or not. And

if so, how? More important at this moment is to rede"ne graphic design.” While in 1989 Gerard Unger could say that “Dutchmen are a folk for text types, not headlines,” today he admits that young designers have proved otherwise. One of the most proli"c contemporary type designers is duo Letterror, formed by Erik van Blokland and Just van Rossum. In the age of 24/25, they designed the most revolutionary advancement in typehistory since Gutenberg—Randomfonts. Since then, they have produced many best-selling typefaces. In a short time of 4 years they created 17 typeface families published by FontShop International, excluding their font contributions for Brody’s FUSE project. Beowolf, their "rst randomfont, is the typeface that for the inspiration goes somewhere to pre-gutenberg’s time. Instead of the traditional system of writing, repeating of graphical forms that become visually so unobtrusive that they are virtually invisible.

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The Netherlands has 13 design schools. Erik van Blokland, Just van Rossum, Peter Mertens, Peter Verheul, Martin Majoor, Peter Matthias Noordzij, (Luc)as de Groot, Evert Bloemsma, Fred Smeijers, they all are their recent graduates, and already internationally recognized ones. Most of them emerged from The Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam and Royal Academy of Visual Arts in The Hague (Gerrit Noordzij and Petr van Blokland teach in The Hague, and Gerard Unger in Amsterdam). None of the above mentioned typographers gave me the opportunity to summarize what “The Dutch style” is. I just wish that even in new united Europe, where things are going to get all mixed up, the Dutch personal creativity prevails.

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COMPOSITIONAL SHAPING

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Dutch Design is known for its strong use of composition, keeping the full image appealing while drawing large attention to the main title. While looking at the outlines, try and spot the places where bits of type are aligned. Thanks to these meeting points there is a balance in the text. Don’t be afraid to use some large blots of colour in graphic shapes to help add some power to the over feel of the cover.

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After the six outlines, take a good look at the chosen covers for inspiration and focus on the composition of the artwork These older Dutch designs are a great example for compositional shaping, because it is very important to also focus on the past of Dutch Design to be able to understand the present. The "rst four cover designs (also posters), are made by Wim Crouwel, and the last two are done by Smidswater, two names you can not ignore when researching DD.

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COLOUR

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Color use in Dutch Design can be quite tricky to understand completely. Often the most illogical colors are chosen together for just that reason. Don’t be afraid to make horrid combinations, as this can be quite interesting to look at in the end. In the following pages, look at the choices made and imagine choosing them yourself to get an idea of what might have been going through their crazy minds while designing. Especially Experimental Jetsets paper on Slayer. Now kids, what color would be most ridiculous to use for a thrash metal band? Purple... or maybe even pink? Go for it!

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BOLD SHAPES & TYPOGRAPHY

BOLD SHAPES & TYPOGRAPHY

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MATERIAL USE

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Dutch Designers take great pleasure in experimenting with type. This project is about engraving tombstones with tweets, note how the designers actually carved it out in their own type. This project is by Autobahn, just like the "rst image done with tape and a fence. Always on the look at for exciting new materials to use, this young fairly new graphic design company pushes the boundaries on this speci"c territory. Daniel van der Velden works with interesting paper and collage techniques and Wild Plakken continued the trend of collage "rst seen in the DaDa movement.

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The back of the book is a very important aspect of design. There are many things to think about when making the back of the book. Various binding technique’s can totally change the look, and one must think very carefully about how to translate the contents of the book subtly onto the cover. A classic back just has the title

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and the writer as a main vocal point, but Dutch Design is known for its tongue in cheek humor, and that can’t be missed in such an important place. Remember, a book is mostly stored in a shelf and 99% of the time you will be looking at the back of it. So make it an interesting experience, make people want to look at it!

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Wim CrouwelStedelijk van Abbe museum Eindhoven 1957

Wim CrouwelStedelijk van Abbe museum Eindhoven 1962

SmidswaterKoninklijke Schouwburg

SmidswaterKoninklijke Schouwburg

Wim CrouwelGemeente museum Arnhem 1958

Wim CrouwelStedelijk museum Amsterdam 1976

Total DesignCollection of various items

SmidswaterNationaal Theater Centrum

Wim CrouwelInternational Society Contemporary

Wim CrouwelStedelijk museum

Wim CrouwelStedelijk museum 1965

Crouwel, TotalStedelijk museum, Rijksmuseum

75BRotterdam Film Festival, WAM poster

Experimental JetsetDaniel van der Velden

Daniel van der Heldenvarious

Daniel van der Heldenvarious and Holland Festival 2006

Irma Boom featured in ‘‘Women of Design’’

Experimental Jetset Kesselskramer

Irma BoomElixir book, Beeld and Design theory

Irma Boom, Wim CrouwelPoster , Packaging

Irma Boom, ThonikGallery Anatome, Article

75BCollection of various items

TotalCollection of various logo’s

Irma BoomTelefoonnet 1962, Biography in Books 1986

ThonikSP. NRC, Amsterdam logo

AutobahnOutdoor typography

WildplakkenEdams museum

SmidswaterNoordelijk theater

Daniel van der Helden, AutobahnLecture poster, various fonts

AutobahnStonecarved font

Wild PlakkenCatapult lecture posters

Irma BoomCollection of various covers

Experimental JetsetMMMM Manifesto

SmidswaterPTT Post 1973

KESSELKRAMER2Kilo, A New Kilo

TotalBook design 2010

Before this book could be made, a lot of research needed to be done.

Thank you Jan Willem Stas, Mignonne Meekels, Bjorn Planken, Saïd Lecheb, Beth Frost Bennet, Sunah Lee, Rachel Kim, Lysiane Bollenbach and Sonia Dominguez, for a year that went by much faster than I could ever imagine. Without our joined e#orts we would be nowhere!