Louise Schouwenberg

Abc of De Designpolitie Louise Schouwenberg

The Dutch firm Designpolitie (Richard van der Laken and Pepijn Zurburg) is celebrated for its fresh, deceptively simple and direct approach to graphic design, which often implements bright color and sans-serif typeface in a lively and fun style. Among other projects, Designpolitie ("Design Police") is behind the review column Gorilla in the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant, in which the team reacts to current affairs with word-and-image graphics. ABC of De Designpolitie is an index of Designpolitie's reflections on design, catalogued in humorously alphabetical order (with failed projects filed under "Damn," or an account of their simplified methods under "Rocket Science"). More of a workbook, a process book or an inspirational resource than a portfolio, ABC collates Designpolitie projects (implemented and otherwise), schemes, photographs, musings and articles in a style that is both serious and replete with irony and self-mockery--a natural extension of the firm's own ethos.