DESIGN MENTOR // Piet Zwart

Piet Zwart was a Dutch photographer, typographer and designer. He was introduced to the De Stijl movement when he became a draftsman for architect Jan Wils - a member of the De Stijl group. The De Stijl principals and ideas, along with Constructivism, shaped his design. I am drawn to his design aesthetic because it employs abstraction, functionalism, utilization of white space and most importantly - type as image. He referred to himself as a "typotekt" - a combination of both architect and typographer -as he "built pages with type." I believe every designer should be a typotekt in some form or another, and this is what I myself am striving to become.