Daniele Musio - Rule of Variations

Wim Crouwel: Rule of Variations

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Rules of variations is a research about Wim Crouwel works and methodology. As a designer he felt related to the Bauhaus ideas, the swiss-inspired international style. He was fascinated by the rational aspect in Bauhaus typography, which he discovered through Karl Gerstner’s and Gerard Ifert’s work.

Although his ideas were bauhaus-related, unlike many Crouwel was not a dogmatist. He was fascinated by the ideas about serial and mass production, as he stated “we need the machine since we have no time”. But he also believed “the machine cannot replace the precision of the human eye and human feeling”.

Crouwel’s work has always consisted of these two essential elements: the emotional aspect and the rational one.

Some sketchbooks were then created inspired by the different posters of the Dutch designer. The underlying grid on the pages is the same grid used for the letters creation; a set of rules and variations is also given and the beginning of the sketchbook, in line with Wim Crouwel philosophy.

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