Ton Haak
Dutch design heritage
Ton Haak (background journalism and PR) became involved with graphic design and art through projects with Otto Treumann and Louis Gans (former curator of Stedelijk Museum). ‘Those two taught me to look.’ The art manifestation Sonsbeek buiten de perken (1971) introduced him to Wim Crouwel and Total Design, a meeting with Gert Dumbar led to a partnership at Tel Design, where he gave the start and edited the design newsletter Telwerk. He was editor of the design magazine De Vorm. Later, he became a co-founder and partner of Concepts (Amsterdam) and Landmark (Rotterdam), after which he continued as an independent consultant for design and communication. At the age of 50, he left for the US, where he ran contemporary art galleries in New Mexico and Kansas and contributed to art projects and publications. 23 years later, he moved back to the EU. From Portugal he writes (‘There was no escape’) about art and design – and about Portugal.
Ton Haak is a honorary member of the Association of Dutch Designers (BNO)
Dutch Graphic Roots is a series of online publications and aims at generating attention to the roots of Dutch graphic design culture. Read the complete Roots article about Ton Haak on dutchgraphicroots.nl.