Jan de Fouw
Jan de Fouw | |
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Jan de Fouw (15 July 1929 – 1 February 2015) was a Dutch graphic designer and illustrator who lived and worked in Ireland.[1] He was influential on Irish design in the 20th century.[2]
Early life
Jan de Fouw was born in The Hague on 15 July 1929. He was one of three sons to Adriaan de Fouw and Jacoba Kramer.[1] Initially de Fouw studied at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague where he learnt Bauhaus design principles. He then worked as a freelance designer for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines before undertaking military service from 1949 to 1951.[3]
Work as a designer in Ireland
In 1951 de Fouw moved to Ireland on the advice of Guus Melei, a former colleague at KLM, who had started working on the Aer Lingus account for Sun Advertising. Ireland was an attractive option because de Fouw was able to get a house with a garden, which was not as easily available in his home country in the aftermath of World War II.[3] A small group of other Dutch graphic designers were also recruited to Irish advertising agencies such as Gerrit van Gelderen, Piet Sluis and Cor Klaasen.[3]
As well as designing posters for Aer Lingus, de Fouw was the art director of Ireland of the Welcomes, from 1952 to 1996, a magazine published by the Irish Tourist Board, which promoted Ireland as a tourist destination to an international market.[4] He was actively involved in many printmaking organisations in Dublin such as Graphic Studio Dublin, the Black Church Print Studio, and the National Print Museum.[1] He was a member of ICAD (Institute of Creative Advertising and Design), a professional body which provided support and instigated debate within the advertising and design industry.[5]
Working as a freelance designer in Ireland, de Fouw applied his knowledge of modern Bauhaus principles, using flat colours, grid layouts and sans-serif typography. These techniques were not commonly used in Irish design up to that point. Along with other Dutch designers, de Fouw helped to fill a gap in professional design standards that existed in Ireland at that time.[4] According to the art historian, John Turpin, the work of this group, "crystalized the advent of modern design in Ireland."[2]
Later life
In 2001 at the age of 72, de Fouw was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, which impaired his ability to draw. He began making sculptures as a creative outlet.[6] He died on 1 February 2015.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d "Dutch designer and illustrator who made a home in Ireland". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
- ^ a b Turpin, John (1986). "The Irish Design Reform Movement of the 1960s". Design Issues. 3 (1): 9. doi:10.2307/1571637. ISSN 0747-9360. JSTOR 1571637.
- ^ a b c Clarke, Conor (2002). Oranje & green Holland - Ireland design connections 1951 - 2002. Amsterdam: Amsterdam BIS Publishers. p. 11. ISBN 90-6369-016-9. OCLC 249329860.
- ^ a b Elaine., King, Linda, 1967- Sisson (2011). Ireland, design and visual culture : negotiating modernity, 1922-1992. Cork University Press. p. 167. ISBN 978-1-85918-472-1. OCLC 664677369.
- ^ "Campaign's Campaign". ICAD. 2016-05-16. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
- ^ "Designing a new way to cope". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2021-10-16.