Wim Crouwel

19 x 15 ½  in. (49 x 39 ½ cm)

Condition: The white is slightly yellowed with age, there are a few tiny marks in the white area and a light diagonal crease across the top. Overall, this poster is in excellent condition for its age.

Legendary Dutch graphic designer and typographer Wim Crouwel (1928-2019) is known for his devotion to minimalist grid-based designs (his passion for the modernist grid earned him the nickname Mr. Gridnik). His influential agency Total Design created the identities for many Dutch companies and cultural institutions, and Crouwel spent much of his career working with Dutch museums.

The basic grid anchoring this composition easily reveals itself: the width of the vertical white stripe fits five times across the paper, while the small black inverted “V” in the top right corner fits three times down the right edge. The rest of the elements in the composition fit neatly within this grid. The diagonal white stripe adds a dash of dynamism while maintaining symmetry – it divides the blue space on either side into two equal triangles.