Gerd Arntz, graphic designer
Gerd Arntz, graphic designer
book, website, app, tableware, doormat, exhibition
Upon our own initiative, we developed a website (www.gerdarntz.org), a book and an app about graphic designer Gerd Arntz (1900 – 1988). The project included the digitisation of the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag’s Gerd Arntz archive and has given a wide audience access to his work, which is of great importance to visual communication today.
In the 1920s, graphic designer Gerd Arntz (1900 – 1988) designed a game to teach his son the meaning of words via images. This inspired us to develop a free memory game app based on his visual language: a playful, contemporary way to introduce people to a design legacy of great importance to visual communication today. The app is free available via iTunes at the app store.
Arntz' beautiful hand drawn symbols can easily been adapted in another context to confront a larger audience with his work. We designed a 17-piece tableware set for the Dutch brand Kwantum and two doormats 'Hare' and 'Hippo' for Droog, as an 'hommage to Gerd Arntz'. For an exhibition in the public souterrain tram tunnel in The Hague, we designed a special set of posters with a selection of 60 symbols enlarged on colourful backgrounds in order to give attention to the black silhouettes.
The book 'Gerd Arntz, graphic designer' received a Bronze Medal for 'Best Book Design all over the World', Leipzig 2011, and was awarded as one of the 33 'Best Dutch Book Designs', Amsterdam 2010.
Book: Gerd Arntz, graphic designer
Authors: Ed Annink, Max Bruinsma
Research: Laura van Uitert, Ontwerpwerk
Publisher: 010 publishers, Rotterdam
Language: English, 288 pages
Price: € 34,50
Order: 010 or Idea Books
