A founding masterpiece of modern typography from one of the twentieth century’s most ambitious designers
Widely regarded as the most important Dutch designer of the last century, Piet Zwart helped rewrite the rules of modern typography. His best-known work, an 80-page catalog for the electrical cable manufacturer Nederlandse Kabelfabriek Delft (NKF), is a remarkable case study in visual communication: combining razor-sharp photos, playful type compositions, expressive montages, and bold fields of color to transform the humble cable into a subject for experimental graphic design.
Received in avant-garde circles as a model of modernist New Typography, the catalog remains a sought-after touchstone of art and design history. This first-ever facsimile of Zwart’s NKF catalog reproduces the complete book with exacting details and in its original format. An accompanying critical supplement includes fascinating essays by design scholars Philip B. Meggs and Paul Stirton, a rich selection of rarely seen projects from Zwart’s decade-long relationship with NKF, and a translation of Zwart’s original manifesto.
Contents
1. NKF Catalog: Facsimile Edition
2. Piet Zwart’s Avant-Garde Catalog for Standard Cables, 1927–1928
Piet Zwart’s NKF Catalog Philip B. Meggs → 7
Piet Zwart, NKF, and the New Typography Paul Stirton → 17
from old to new typography Piet Zwart → 37
Selected NKF Designs → 49
- Print Advertisements → 50
- Standardization Booklet → 56
- English-Language Catalog → 60
- Delft Cables → 66
Translations from the 1927–1928 Catalog → 73
Index, Credits, Acknowledgments → 77
About the Contributors
Piet Zwart was among the most influential Dutch designers of the twentieth century. Born in 1885, he studied applied arts, painting, and architecture first in Amsterdam from 1902 to 1907, then in Delft from 1913 to 1914. He taught classes in drawing and design throughout much of his life, including at the Rotterdam Academy of Visual Arts from 1919 to 1933. A prolific design critic, industrial designer, and photographer, he is best known for his work in graphic design for NKF (a cable company based in Delft), the Dutch postal service, and Bruynzeel. Zwart incorporated elements of fine art and architecture into his graphic design and often referred to himself as a “typotect”: part typographer, part architect. He was a member of the avant-garde advertising association Ring neuer Werbegestalter and an important figure in the network of European artists and designers who set the course for developments in graphic and typographic modernism.
Philip B. Meggs (contributor) was a design history scholar and a professor in the Communication Arts and Design Department at Virginia Commonwealth University. His 1983 book, A History of Graphic Design (retitled Meggs’ History of Graphic Design in 2006), set the standard for surveys of graphic design history and is currently in its sixth edition. Meggs authored more than a dozen other books and well over a hundred articles on graphic design and typography. He received the Association of American Publishers’ Excellence in Publishing award in 1983; VCU’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, Research, and Service in 1995; and the American Institute of Graphic Arts Medal posthumously in 2004. He was inducted into the Art Directors Hall of Fame in 2002.
Paul Stirton (contributor) is Editor-in-Chief of West 86th: A Journal of Decorative Arts, Design History, and Material Culture and Professor Emeritus at Bard Graduate Center. He is the author of numerous articles and books, including Jan Tschichold and the New Typography: Graphic Design Between the World Wars, Traveller’s Guide to Art: Great Britain and Ireland, and Renaissance Painting. He is also the coauthor of books on French art and nineteenth- century architect and design critic E. W. Godwin. He has curated exhibitions on Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris, William Blake, James McNeill Whistler, and the history of lithography.
Karen Polder (design) is a Dutch designer who studied at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague and the Royal College of Art (MA) in London. She designs books and exhibitions for museums and heritage institutions, including for the KB National Library of the Netherlands and for Huis van het boek, the world’s oldest book museum.
Praise
Letterform Archive’s edition of Piet Zwart’s legendary NKF catalog is a both a labor of love and an extraordinary feat of historical reclamation. This thrillingly faithful facsimile puts before us a complete artifact of graphic design, nearly 100 years old, that most of us have seen only in fleeting and frustratingly partial reproductions. And by supplementing it not only with generous commentary but with a full translation of its contents, the publishers restore its original context, adding depth and meaning to a seminal achievement in graphic design.
— Michael Bierut
A revelation. This new facsimile of Piet Zwart’s NFK cable catalog allows readers to experience typography (and cables) like never before. The top notch reader’s guide, with an essay by Paul Stirton, sheds light on the New Typography.
— Ellen Lupton, Betty Cooke and William O. Steinmetz Design Chair at MICA and author of Thinking with Type
One of the most progressive graphic designers of the 1920s and ’30s, Piet Zwart was among the pioneers of the New Typography.... He is known for many iconic period works that continue to influence designers today, mainly because they appear so contemporary—in fact, knowingly or not, many still follow Zwart’s principles published in his era-defining essay “from old to new typography”.... Faithfully printed, this facsimile of appears as though designed today, yet retains the original luster of those early years of The New Typography. This edition and supplementary guide is essential for studying the continuum of Euro-modern typography.
— Steven Heller, Print magazine
Pagethrough
Details
| Publisher | Letterform Archive |
| Publication date | October 29, 2024 |
| ISBN | 979-89891423-1-6 |
| Size | 8.25 × 11.5 inches |
| Printing | 4 colors throughout |
| Pages | 160 |
| Format | Two softcover volumes (facsimile and critical supplement) housed in a slipcase |
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