Icon on Dutch Design

In the May issue of Icon there’s an article on Dutch design, where people from Dutch design companies try to nail down the essence of Dutch design. I like the following; first Edo van Dijk of Eden Design:

“What is very Dutch is our love of clear and readable typefaces, uncluttered typography, primary colors and straightforward layouts,” says van Dijk. It is a manner that formed from De Stijl and the Bauhaus educational system.

And Marcel Schreuder of Springtime:

“European design is good because we’re used to limitations – space, air, everything.”

And, finally, Aaron Betsky, director of the Netherlands Architecture Institute:

There are very basic and logical reasons why Dutch design has taken this route. The first and most obvious point is that the historic core of the Netherlands, the area known as the ”randstad” where seventy per cent of the population lives and works [...]. Onto this small territory crowd enough people to make this one of the most densely populated countries in the world. This is a truly artificial environment, in which space has to be continually divided up and reallocated to make room for everybody and everything. You also need really good signage to find your way through this dense labyrinth [...]. The best Dutch design does no more than make you conscious of that situation.