Wim
Wim
Wim
Crouwel
Crouwel Crouwel Crouwel
Aisling Barclay
Contents
“It was actually quite difficult to avoid Wim Crouwel’s work. In the 1960s the Netherlands was inundated with posters, catalogues, stamps designed by him, even the telephone book.” - Karel Martins
Biography
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Hiroshima Poster Van Abbe museum 1954
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Vormgevers Stedleijk museum 1968
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New Alphabet 1967
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Foundry Gridnick 1974 De Stijl Van Abbesmueseum 1954 Calender Total Design 1954
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Dutch Stamps Total Design 1954
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Analysis
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Bibliography
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3
Biography
Born in Groningen, Netherlands
Crouwel worked with swiss
the Van Abbemuseum, and later
in 1928, Wim Crouwel began
designers on ambitious projects
Stedelijk Museum in Eindhoven 3.
his career in design as an
funded by the Marshall Plan- a US
He designed a lot of experiemntal
expressionist painter following
scheme to help re-build post war
and influential posters for the
his studies of Fine Art at the
europe2, and It was during this
museum’s exhibitions and started
Academie Minerva. Initially
time that Crouwel was introduced
heavily featuring grid systems in
painting landscapes and then
to ‘AkzidenzGrotesk’, a swiss
his work.
more abstract pieces, it wasn’t
typeface that heavily influenced
In 1963 Crouwel founded the
until he had finished his studies
the young designer and inspired
design group ‘Total Design’ (now
and completed two years of
him to take evening classes in
‘Total Identity’) along with Friso
military service, that Crouwel
typography.
Kramer, Benno Wissing, Paul
distanced himself from painting
Inspired by his modernist teacher,
and Dick Schwarz and their client
and accepted an offer to learn
Crouwel quite his job in 1953 and
base began to grow immediately.
on the job as an exhibition and
two years later started working
In 1967 Crouwel created the
graphic designer. While there
with Edy de Wilde, Director of
‘New Alphabet’ as a response
to cathode ray technology, Together with colleagues Benno wissing, Friso Kramer and Dick & Paul Schwartz, Crouwel started a designstudio named Total Design. Total Design was to be the first bureau that managed to accept large and multidisciplinary designtasks for the government, as well as commercial clients.
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While working at the Van Abbe Museum, Crouwel was tasked to design posters and catalogues for artisits and exhibitions. Following Crouwel’s fundamental belief that a poster should prioritise providing relevant information to the reader over being decorative and cluttered, he avoided creating an interpretation of the artist’s ideas, instead opting to keep his designs clean and minimalistic.
This piece inspired mnay typefaces such as Nate Nabvsco’s piano keyface ‘Shims’ (2011) and Sasha Iacob’s ‘Nagasaki’ (2012)1.
This way of wroking is strongly displayed in Crouwel’s ‘Hirsohima’ poster. deisnged for an exhibition at the Van Abbe Museum in 1954. In classic Crouwel style, he depicts the title as the focal element of the page, using black, condensed letters against a vivd, red background that not only reflects japanese influence but also provides a savage contrast. The design is meant to be bold and ‘harsh’. The grid formatting typical of swiss design at the time also adds to the ‘masculinty’ and ‘severity’ of the piece.
Nagaskai Sasha Lacob 2012
1 Devroye, L . (2013). Wim Crouwel. Available: http:// luc.devroye.org/fonts-24196.html. Last accessed 4th March 2013.
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Arguably his most famous poster, the hand lettered Vormgevers, created for the Stedelijk museum is unique in the sense that Crouwel made visible for the first time in one of his designs the grid that he used to compose the museum catalogue and all the museum’s exhibition posters1. Crouwel had developed the unique grid system whilst at the Stedelijk and used it within all his work for the museum in order to create a visual consistancy, and an identity. The top half of the poster is constructed of 57 vertical lines
Vormgevers Poster Stedelijk museum 1968
and 41 horizontal lines with each one 4mm and 18mm evenly spaced apart2. Drawn by hand, this was a remarkable feat for any designer. When creating the poster, Crouwel desired that the letterforms melt together- using soley type to transmit a message to the viewer. It was typical of Crouwel to keep a consistant typeface throughout his posters, such as Univers for the Stedlijk museum as he preffered to express the feel of the exhibition typographically as opposed to using images of the artist’s work.
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Throughout his career Wim Crouwel was perhaps best known for his typography; he designed many typefaces over the years with the infamous ‘New Alphabet’ undoubtedly being the most famous. Shocked after seeing the produce of the first digital
typesetters at a print exhinition in Germany, Crouwel thought that the recreation of Garamond was especially ugly- when enlarged it was clear to see that the roundings of several sizes of a typeface were different due to the small amount of pixels used.
He decided to design a new typeface for the machine that worked with it’s limitations. The New Alphabet was originally designed as a theory, to illustrate a message about the poor quality of classic lettershapes, instead of for actual use. Devleoped from a dot- matrix system and made entirely out of straight horizontal and vertical lines with 90 degree angles and 45 degree roundings, the letters are simplified to the point of being illegibile. Crouwel wanted the typeface to be compatible with every grid system and for this reason the letters are as high as
they are long. Excessive detailing was omitted and Crouwels new typeface embraced the limited digital possibilities at the time. The lettering for the ‘a’, ‘w’, ‘m’ and ‘x’ and the numerals are particularily interesting with certain omitted lines and can either be seen as revolutionary or confusing depending on the opinion of the viewer. However, due to the massive response the typeface received it has been re-drawn to make it more readable, and eventually digitised. Since it’s creation it has been featured on the New Order album cover and various UK pop magazines.
Garmaond
New Alphabet 1967
The digitally converted Garamond typeface
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Another important typeface designed by Wim Crouwel is the geometrical typeface ‘Foundry Gridnick’. Around 1974, Crouwel was commissioned by typewriter manufacturer Olivetti to design a typeface for their new electric typewriters. Originally called Politene by Olivetti, before Crouwel could finish the design, the interest for electric typewriters declined, so much so that they did not need the type design anymore. As a consequence, the copyrights of
the design went back to Crouwel. The typeface was then given the name Foundry Gridnik, chosen by The Foundry because of the nickname given to Crouwel by his friends, Mr. Gridnik, for his frequent use of grids and systems in his designs. Foundry Gridnick, similar to Crouwel’s New Alphabet, is based on a square grid and features 45 degree corners. All lines are of equal thickness, therfore in keepign with the rational, logical adherence to grid systems that
Crouwel loved in his work. The most notable use of Gridnik was on a series of Number Postage Stamps for the Dutch PTT, designed in the same period as the Olivetti commission1.
1 Quay, D. (). Foundry Gridnick. Available: http:// davidquaydesign.com/foundry-gridnik/. Last accessed 5th March 2013.
Foundry Gridnick 1974
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Along with his mazing typography and poster designs- Wim Crouwel was as versatile as he was systematic. Crouwel also excelled at print publications, and this calendar designed by Wim Crouwel in 1963 is arguably one of his most unique and interesting works. The typography and layout are unique in that they play with the idea of hiding information and allowing the mind to piece together the message for itself. The bold, striking lettering that make up most of the page follow the classic style of Wim Crouwel; who revels in using clear,
harmonious and almost uniform typefaces that avoid unnecessary embellishment and illustrate the point with efficiency. Crouwel’s creative handling of letterforms was most likely influenced by the pre- war Werkmann and postwar Sandberg, an individualistic generation of typographers who dared to juggle with letters. One of the reasons this piece is so fascinating is that Crouwel’s religious use of grid and systems to create perfect clarity for the viewer, is turned on it’s head with his manipulation of the lettering, actually obscuring the letterforms.
Calendar Erven E de Geer 1963
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Dutch for The Style, De Stijl was founded in 1917. The movement is regarded as being one of the most important Dutch contribution to developments in modern art, graphic design and architecture. The artists most recognized with the movement were the painters Theo van Doesburg, who was also a writer and a critic, and Piet Mondrian, along with the architect Gerrit Reitveld.
De Stijl Stedelijk Museum 1983
The movement proposed ultimate simplicity and abstraction through which they could express a Utopian idea of harmony and order.The harmony and order was established through a reduction of elements to pure geometric forms and primary colours1. Another exhibition poster for Stelijk Museum, the striking assymetric visuals of this poster are designed to reflect the De Stijl movement and succeed in creating a striking piece. The inclusion of lines to create an image is fairly unusual in Crouwel’s work but add a new dimension that compliments both the typography and colours used.
1  designishistory. (). Design is History. Available: http:// www.designishistory.com/1920/de-stijl/. Last accessed 6th March 2013.
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Nederland stamps designed by Wim Crouwel for the dutch government. The sqaured, masculine edges and lack of embellishmnet or decoration display true characteristics of Crouwel’s designs. They adhere to function over form yet utlise interesting graphic imagery to create a unique set of designs.
Dutch Stamps 1954
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One of the most interesting aspects of Wim Crouwel’s career and atttiude to design, is how his bakground as an expressionist painter, working with the abstract and uncertain transformed into the rational, logical, systematic designer of his later years. However, Wim Crouwel was as experimental and versatile as he was systematic and ordered- his vast breadth of work covered posters, calendars, telephone books, stamp design, typography
Influence
and exhibitions, among other things. While Crouwel used grid systems to keep a visual consistancy throughout his work, each piece is unique and exciting and showcase his fantastic skill and precision to detail. It is clear that Crouwel designed with thought and consideration, and always with the intention of sharing a message or reflection on the course of design at the time. For example, his New Alphabet was critisised by many,
even being deemed as ‘modern ugliness’ by some who failed to see the critcal reflection on the traditional versus digital debate that Crouwel was expressing with his design. Depsite the typeface not being intended to actually be used as a typeface, many young designers and creatives at the time found his revolutionary and bold design a breathe of fresh air and the typeface was soon being used in pop magazines and album covers such as
Joy Divisions. Whether other designers agreed with Crouwels systematic and ordered approach, it can’t be denied that his work was always revolutionary and pushed the boundaries of current design. Crouwel had become one of the most influential designers of the twentieth century and continues to inspire young typographers, graphic designers and creatives today.
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Bibliography Devroye, L . (2013). Wim Crouwel. Available: http:// luc.devroye.org/fonts-24196.html. Last accessed 4th March 2013. Quay, D. (). Foundry Gridnick. Available: http:// davidquaydesign.com/foundry-gridnik/. Last accessed 5th March 2013. designishistory. (). Design is History. Available: http://www.designishistory.com/1920/de-stijl/. Last accessed 6th March 2013.
“When you're a functionalist you want to make things comprehensible, readable, make your ideas visible. I feel myself being a modernist, a functionalist, but aesthetics always stand in the way.� - Wim Crouwel
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