Wim Crouwel

Wim Crouwel
Wim Crouwel (l.) receives the Willem Grollenberg Prize (1976)
Born	Willem Hendrik Crouwel (1928-11-21) 21 November 1928 (age 88) Groningen, Netherlands
Nationality	Dutch
Education	Academie Minerva Gerrit Rietveld Academie
Known for	Typographer, Graphic designer
Notable work	New Alphabet
Awards	H.N. Werkmanprijs 1958/1966 Frans Duwaerprijs 1965 Piet Zwart Prizes 1991 Anton-Stankowski-Preis 1991 BKVB Funds Oeuvre Award 2004 Gerrit Noordzij Prize 2009

Willem Hendrik "Wim" Crouwel (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈʋɪləm ˈɦɛndrɪk ʋɪm ˈkrʌuʋəl]; born 21 November 1928) is a Dutch graphic designer, type designer, and typographer. Between 1947 and 1949, he studied Fine Arts at Academie Minerva in Groningen, the Netherlands. In addition, he studied typography at what is now the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam.

In 1963, he was one of the founders of the design studio Total Design (currently named Total Identity). From 1964 onwards, Crouwel was responsible for the design of the posters, catalogues and exhibitions of the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. In 1967 he designed the typeface New Alphabet, a design that embraces the limitations of the cathode ray tube technology used by early data display screens and phototypesetting equipment, thus only containing horizontal and vertical strokes. Other typefaces from his hand are Fodor and Gridnik. In 1970 he designed the Dutch pavilion for Expo '70 (Osaka, Japan). Later, Crouwel designed the Number Postage Stamps for the Dutch PTT, well known in the Netherlands during its circulation from 1976-2002.

In the years Crouwel worked for Total Design, he designed many geometric wordmarks, one of which is the wordmark for the Dutch Rabobank, designed in 1973. The lettershapes have been influenced by the fact that the wordmark had to be used as a 3D light box. After the 3D application was finalized, the 2D design for print was adapted.