Gert Dumbar, Gentleman Maverick of Dutch Design

Gert Dumbar (1940) is one of the most influential—and colourful—graphic designers in the postwar design field, both in the Netherlands and abroad. As a young partner in Tel Design, he designed one of the most iconic symbols in the Dutch public domain, the logo for the Dutch National Railways, NS, to which he has added countless designs for other clients with his own Studio Dumbar. Applauded or reviled, Studio Dumbar has left an indelible mark on Dutch and international visual culture.

Dumbar produced a vast amount of work, for an enormously varied clientele, from avant-garde theatres to the central government, from hospitals to multinationals. That work and the Werdegang of its namesake are now—for the first time—described and interpreted with great verve by the two authors in a richly illustrated book.

Gert Dumbar, Gentleman Maverick of Dutch Design considers this fabulously versatile oeuvre in its time and context and examines the various roles Dumbar played—that of artist, provocateur and “design director”, student and teacher, cultural initiator and mediator. Unique is the treasure trove of sketches from the Studio’s archives, which were abundantly sampled for the book. It provides insight into Dumbar’s independent, agile mind, his gift for engaging talented young designers, and his ability to time and again seduce his very diverse commissioners to tread unconventional paths.

Max Bruinsma is a design critic, editor, curator and lecturer. He was the editor-in-chief of Eye: The International Review of Graphic Design (founded by Rick Poynor). He has written on design extensively, and has been teaching in many international positions.

Leonie ten Duis is an art historian and writer. One of her best-known books is The World Must Change: Graphic Design and Idealism / De wereld moe(s)t anders: grafisch ontwerpen en idealisme.

September 2024, Valiz supported by Creative Industries Fund NL, het Cultuurfonds and Jaap Harten Fonds Foundation