Wim Crouwel a graphic odyssey at Design Museum

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11 Greenwich Centre Business Park,
53 Norman Road, Greenwich
London SE10 9QF

Cog is a Certified B Corporation

020 8269 1800 [email protected]

Wim Crouwel a graphic odyssey at Design Museum

Fri 1st July 2011

Michael Smith

This exhibition spans his 60-year career and includes commercial work from some of the companies he worked with and founded, including his work for design practice Total Design.

This was the Design Museum’s summer party; a late-night opening with events throughout the building.

Crouwel is a living legend in our industry so a chance to examine his work, up-close and see the thinking behind his designs was a real treat. In the 1960s when graphic design was emerging as a business tool, Crouwel invented the systematic thinking that we all take for granted, today.

It is so difficult to think back to a time before computerised design, to a time when all logos and page layouts were painstakingly drawn, by hand.
Michael Smith

It is so difficult to think back to a time before computerised design, to a time when all logos and page layouts were painstakingly drawn, by hand.

Although I really enjoyed the exhibition, I wish it had more to examine those craft skills and to revel in the fact that Crouwel’s designs still feel fresh and still set the standards.

This was a great examination of his career. It’s an exhibition for designers, for aficionados.

I suppose I am always a little more interested in the methods, the politics behind the commission and the wrangling over execution. And this exhibition was more about displaying the archive of a life in the industry.

Like many graphic design exhibitions, if I weren’t a designer, I suspect I may have been just as well served buying and reading a decent book about the man. But I am and I’m hugely grateful that someone took the time to build this collection and displaying it.