Dutch Design
Encyclopedia
Dutch Design is a term used to connote design
Design
Design as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...
in The Netherlands, particularly product design
Product design
-Introduction:Product design is the process of creating a new product to be sold by a business or enterprise to its customers. It is concerned with the efficient and effective generation and development of ideas through a process that leads to new products.Product designers conceptualize and...
. More specifically, the term refers to the design
Design
Design as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...
esthetic common to designers in The Netherlands. Dutch Design can be characterized as minimalist, experimental, innovative, quirky, and humorous.
"Dutch design is simple and powerful", according to Hugo van den Bos, strategy director of Dutch graphic design studio Koeweiden Postma. Author and journalist Tracy Metz notes that, "The Dutch have the ability to make fun of themselves. Also it's a matter of combining things that usually don't combine at all. Dutch designers are good in using materials that look worthless. The designers give them a new value."
The Netherlands were primarily known for graphic design
Graphic design
Graphic design is a creative process – most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form – undertaken in order to convey a specific message to a targeted audience...
until the 1980s, when the term Dutch Design started to come into popular use. The term came to be closely identified with a group of Dutch product designers who have gained international recognization particularly from the 1990s onwards. These include Maarten Baas
Maarten Baas
Maarten Baas is a Dutch designer.From 1979 Baas grew up in Burgh-Haamstede and Hemmen in the southwest and centre part of the Netherlands. Graduated from highschool he started to study at Design Academy Eindhoven in 1996. Still in school his first design, candleholder “Knuckle”, was taken in...
, Jurgen Bey, Richard Hutten
Richard Hutten
Richard G. J. Hutten is a Dutch designer. Hutten started his own design studio in 1991 in Rotterdam after graduating from the Design Academy Eindhoven....
, Hella Jongerius, Wieki Somers
Wieki Somers
Wieki Somers is a Dutch designer. She works closely with Dylan van den Berg under the name Studio Wieki Somers. Somers is considered part of the second generation of Dutch designers who have gained international acclaim...
, Hester van Eeghen
Hester van Eeghen
Hester van Eeghen is a Dutch designer of leather bags, wallets and accessories.- Life :Hester van Eeghen was born in Amsterdam, the youngest of five children. Her family has been involved in the arts in The Netherlands in one way or another since the 17th century...
and Marcel Wanders
Marcel Wanders
Marcel Wanders is a Dutch product and interior designer, who drew international recognition for his Knotted Chair produced by Droog in 1996.- Life :...
, as well as internationally recognized design firms and collectives like Droog and Moooi which helped gain prominence for Dutch designers at major design events such as the Salone del Mobile
Salone del Mobile
The Milan Furniture Fair is a furniture fair held annually in Milan. It is the largest trade fair of its kind in the world. The show showcases the latest in furniture and design from countries around the world....
in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
. More broadly, the term could be extended to fashion designers such as Viktor & Rolf
Viktor & Rolf
Viktor & Rolf is an Amsterdam-based fashion house. The company was founded in 1993 by designers Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren .- History :...
and architects such as Rem Koolhaas
Rem Koolhaas
Remment Lucas Koolhaas is a Dutch architect, architectural theorist, urbanist and "Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design" at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, USA. Koolhaas studied at the Netherlands Film and Television Academy in Amsterdam, at the Architectural...
.
The emergence of an internationally recognized Dutch design scene has been fueled by a strong educational system for designers. The Design Academy
Design Academy
Design Academy Eindhoven is a school for industrial design in Eindhoven, Netherlands. The work of its faculty and alumni have brought it wide recognition, it has been called the "best design academy in the world." -History:...
in Eindhoven has produced many well-known designers and has been called "without question, currently the best design academy in the world." Another well-known school is Gerrit Rietveld Academie
Gerrit Rietveld Academie
-Profile:More than 45% of the student population comes from abroad, originating from over 60 different countries around the world. Most of the classes are in English...
in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
.
A second contributing factor to the success of Dutch design is government support for new designers. Financial support from the Fonds BKVB (the Fund for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture), launched in 1988, has enabled design students to set themselves up as independent entepreneurs right after graduation.
Also playing an important role is the fact that design has become a integral part of product development in the Netherlands. Designers are included in the earliest phases of innovative processes and the production development cycle. The Dutch electronics company Philips
Philips
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....
, for instance, has around 450 people working on design at 12 offices around the world.
The Dutch Design Awards
Dutch Design Awards
The Dutch Design Awards are a series of awards to honor Dutch designers. The awards are handed out during the annual Dutch Design Week in the Dutch city of Eindhoven. A year book and exhibition of the nominated designs are also presented as part of the event...
are awarded annually during Dutch Design Week
Dutch Design Week
The Dutch Design Week is an annual event about Dutch design, hosted in Eindhoven, Netherlands. The event takes place around the second week of October and is a one-week exhibition with many venues....
in Eindhoven.
Annual events
- Dutch Design Week (Eindhoven), including the Dutch Design Awards, http://www.dutchdesignweek.nl
- Via Milano New Dutch Design (Amsterdam), http://www.via-milano.nl
Past events
- Dutch Design Double (Amsterdam/Utrecht, 2009) http://www.dutchdesigndouble.com/home/
- Dutch Design Expo @ Shanghai International Creative Industry Week (Shanghai, 2008) http://www.dutchdesignexpo.net/
- Dutch Design Days (Belgium, 2008) http://www.dutchdesigndays.be/
- Orange Alert (New York City, 2005) http://www.dutchdesignevents.com/