Abstract
Design is a fast-pacing discipline, always in the present, looking for the best solution. But design also has a past which will teach you how other individuals in other historical contexts solved a big variety of problems, sometimes more successful sometimes less. Besides well written historical books and essays, archives can open up a unique window to the past. Especially to understand the life and motivation of creatives that lived in the past. From a German point of view the → University of Brighton Design Archives offer a unique outlook into the life of various designers that had to emigrate because of the national socialist terror regime in the 1930s and 1940s. Among them are → FHK Henrion, → Natasha Kroll, → Arnold Rotholz, → Bernard Schottlander, → Willy de Majo and → Dorrit Dekk. Most likely you don't know them by name, but have certainly come into contact with their work directly or indirectly – for example Henrion’s design of the KLM Royal Dutch Airlines logo which is still in use today. Definitely it is worth to check in on them and understand their life’s work in times of tremendous challenges and existential threads. For a good overview you will find Sue Breakells and Lesley Whitworths text → Émigré Designers in the University of Brighton Design Archives helpful. Carl talked to Sue Breakell, archive director at the University of Brighton Design Archives for an article he wrote for ndion. They spoke about the relevance of archives today, the cooperation with design students from University of Brighton as well as the discourses the archive initiates with other institutions around the world. Following you will find the whole interview with Sue, which was – for some odd reason – more or less five questions. For the whole ndion article, follow → this link.
Original language | English |
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Type | Interview |
Publication status | Published - Sept 2023 |