Food for thought
18-06-2014 (11:38) - Gastcolumn
Claire Parker is Partnership Creative Director bij international brand design agency Design Bridge in Amsterdam en is dit jaar het enige ‘Nederlandse’ lid in de jury van de Design Lions die vanavond worden uitgereikt. Hoe kijkt zij aan tegen het huidige Hollandse verpakkingsdesignklimaat?
‘A look along the supermarket shelves in the Netherlands is enough to make any designers heart sink. It is a sorrowful sight: timid clichéd packaging. Surely the same Dutch public that was wowed by Wanders deserves to be engaged by the brands on the shelf in a more meaningful way.’
‘I’ve had an admiration for Dutch Design dating back to my college years and the first time I saw one of Robert Oxenaar’s guilders it sealed the deal. Having lived here for some time now, I see how the Dutch have the ability to make fun of themselves, combining things that usually don’t combine at all. Dutch designers are adept at using materials that look worthless, transforming them, giving them a new value. But such quirky pragmatic thinking seems to stop when it comes to branded packaging.’
‘Where as ‘Design’ used to refer predominantly to the discipline of graphics, it is now more readily identified with product designers who have gained international recognition, as well as internationally recognized design firms and collectives like Droog and Moooi which have helped gain prominence for Dutch designers globally. And the term isn’t limited to product design, it encompasses fashion designers such as Viktor & Rolf and architects like Rem Koolhaas.’
‘This ever growing and internationally recognized Dutch Design scene is cultivated by a wonderfully nurturing educational system for designers. The Design Academy Eindhoven has produced many well-known designers, as has the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam. Perhaps some of the success of Dutch product design may well be the government support for new designers. Financial support from the Fonds BKVB (the Fund for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture), since it launched in 1988 has enabled design students to graduate and immediately start their creative career as independent entrepreneurs.’
‘So why isn’t some of this prodigious talent being channelled into the everyday and eminently more affordable world of branded packaging? Don’t get me wrong, there are a few shining stars out there, but far less than one would expect with such a design-focused aesthetic nation. I hate to play the Calvinism card, as it seems such a sweeping generalization… But there is no denying it - the Dutch are Calvinists. Not so much in a religious sense, but in terms of behaviour. As any guide book will tell you the Dutch are sober, reserved, conscientious, rule-driven and thrifty, all typical Calvinist characteristics, but more importantly characteristics that focus your attention on food being just a commodity. If the diet eaten here is predictable and bland, and it generally is, then it is hardly surprising the packaging that contains it also lacks spice.’
‘So when are we to expect a Golden Age of branding to arrive? Is it simply that the Dutch consider food to be healthy and nutritious and nothing else, or perhaps it’s just that the nation simply isn’t interested in engaging with design which isn’t cultural or status led? Maybe it isn’t the general public at all but the commissioning of the work itself that is at fault? We need to find patrons for the ‘arts in everyday life’, those who want to elevate the humble brands in a shopping bag to a more inspired position, so all that Dutch quirky yet pragmatic design can find a new role: brightening up our shopping experiences, our homes and our lives.’
Claire Parker, Partnership Creative Director international brand design agency Design Bridge in Amsterdam
