Dutch Graphic Design: A Century

The extraordinary achievements of Dutch graphic design in the twentieth century have long been recognized, but this book is the first comprehensive account of the development of graphic design in the Netherlands, from 1890 to the present. Richly illustrated with 550 full-color plates, Dutch Graphic Design portrays a remarkable diversity of styles and techniques in a wide range of media and applications: books and typeface design, commercial printing, posters, postage stamps, corporate identity programs, logos, signage, and much more.

Included is the work of individual designers such as Jan Toorop, Jan van Krimpen, Theo van Doesburg, Piet Zwart, Hendrik Werkman, Willem Sandberg, Wim Crouwel, H. P. Berlage, and H. Th. Wijdeveld. Their work is discussed in the context of such themes as the decorated book, the Wendingen magazines, Dadaism, De Stijl, pictographs, the underground press of the occupation years, the fifty best books, corporate design, and current trends, including desktop images.

The authors examine the creative tensions over a century of graphic production between the decorative and the functional, the hand crafted and the machine made, letter and illustration, camera and crayon, the geometric and the freeflowing, tradition and change. And they consider clients with special requirements such as museums, publishers, the city of Amsterdam, the Dutch PTT, and the graphics industry.

Kees Broos is an art historian. Paul Hefting is Staff Member of the Royal PTT The Netherlands NV, Concernstaff Art and Design.