DESIGN QUARTERLY no. 59
INDUSTRIAL DESIGN IN THE NETHERLANDS
Pieter Brattinga [Guest Editor & Designer]
Pieter Brattinga [guest editor and designer]: DESIGN QUARTERLY 59: INDUSTRIAL DESIGN IN THE NETHERLANDS. Minneapolis, MN: Walker Art Center, 1964. Original edition. Slim quarto. Saddle stitched thick printed French folded wrappers. 36 pp. 102 black and white illustrations. Wrappers lightly worn, but a nearly fine copy.
8.5 x 11 staple-bound magazine with 36 pages and 102 black and white illustrations. Includes an introduction and brief overview by Brattinga of Netherlands' design history including sections on Art Nouveau, Berlage, De Stijl, Functional Architects and Prewar Architects. Post-war examples of industrial design in the Netherlands includes toys, lighting, tableware, furniture, professional equipment, transportation, heavy machinery and appliances.
Designers and manufacturers include Piet Zwart, Gerrit Rietveld, Mart Stam, Duiker and Bijvoet, de Cirkel, Gero Stroink, Fokker, Werkspoor, H. Vissers, Philips Electrical Works, P.T.T., Friso Kramer, Oda, Gispen, Auping, Avek, Royal Leerdam, W. H. de Vries, Gustav Beran, van Kempen and Begeer, Dick Simonis, Mosa, Hiemstra, Coen de Vries, Kho Liang le, Raak and Sio among many others.
Adapted from "Hidden Gems: Pieter Brattinga’s Exhibition Posters" on the Graphic Design Museum blog [July 3, 2009]: Pieter Brattinga (1931-2004) started working for his father 'Steendrukkerij de Jong & Co.,' a printing company in Hilversum at the age of 20. From 1951-1970 Brattinga was head of design there; he saw the printers task 'not as reproducing, but rather producing the ideas of the designer.' He worked with such designers as Willem Sandberg, Dick Elffers, Wim Crouwel, Gerard Wernars and Benno Wissing.
During his time at the printing house, he also organized some 80 exhibitions in the company’s canteen, for which he designed the posters himselves. The exhibitions included typography, photography, painting and industrial objects . . . . Besides organizing the exhibitions and being the mediator between printer and designers, he also offered a series of magazines called 'Kwadraatbladen' . . . . He served as the Head of the Visual Communication Department of Pratt Institute and also lectured at Yale University. In 1989 he won the Dutch Graphical Culture Prize for the example he set as a designer and organizer of both the magazines and the exhibitions.
Design Quarterly began as Everyday Art Quarterly, published by the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis starting in 1946. The editorial focus aimed to bring modern design to the masses through thoughtful examination of household objects and their designers. Everyday Art Quarterly was a vocal proponent of the Good Design movement (as represented by MoMA and Chicago's Merchandise Mart) and spotlighted the best in industrial and handcrafted design. When the magazine became Design Quarterly in 1958, the editors assumed a more international flair in their selection of material to spotlight.