Robert Oxenaar (b.1939) Designer of Dutch Banknotes

Advertisements
1000 Guilder Note by R.D.E Oxenaar

Designer of Dutch banknotes and stamps; Head of the Art and Design branch of the Dutch postal service (PTT).

Robert Oxenaar revolutionised the look of official government publications and documents like passports, postage stamps, and, most notably, banknotes. He has also been a key player in the growth of the Dutch graphic design community.

Biography

Since he started designing Dutch banknotes in 1965, they have been hailed as the most cutting-edge and innovative in the entire world. They bear innovative social devices and moments of breathtaking beauty, like the 50 guilder note with sunflowers glowing yellow on it (raised marks to allow the visually handicapped to identify note values were used here for the first time). The 250-guilder note, which Oxenaar elaborately displayed with rabbits, birds, and other oddities as watermarks and registration devices, is perhaps his most famous example of an intricate anti-counterfeit device. This paper humanises the most impersonal of official documents.

He was appointed head of the PTT’s art and design division in 1976, serving as the organization’s general “aesthetic” adviser and overseeing artwork placement in PTT structures. This required commissioning artwork, furniture sign systems, and promotional materials for the building’s interior and exterior. In this surprisingly wide-ranging role, Oxenaar helped launch a new generation of Dutch designers in the 1970s, including Gert Dumbar. Throughout the 1980s, he continued to support and encourage young studios, designers, and artists.

Sources

Byars, M., & Riley, T. (2004). The design encyclopedia. Laurence King Publishing. https://amzn.to/3ElmSlL

Dormer, Peter. The Illustrated Dictionary of Twentieth Century Designers. 1991.

Advertisements

Design Store

New Releases in Graphic Design

* This website may contain affiliate links and I may earn a small commission when you click on links at no additional cost to you.  As an Amazon and Sovrn affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Advertisements

More Dutch Designers

  • Theo Colenbrander: The First Dutch Industrial Designer

    Theo Colenbrander: The First Dutch Industrial Designer

    Discover Theo Colenbrander, the first Dutch industrial designer who revolutionized Dutch decorative earthenware. With his innovative and abstracted designs, he transformed ceramics at Plateelbakkerij Rozenburg from 1884 to 1888. Colenbrander’s influence extended beyond ceramics to textiles, incorporating European styles and Java’s batik patterns. Explore his life, creative contributions, and lasting design legacy.Read More →


    Learn More →


  • Experimental Acrylic Side Tables from Nortstudio

    Experimental Acrylic Side Tables from Nortstudio

    These side tables are the outcome of an acrylic resin experiment. Acrylic is a two-part substance made up of mineral powder and water-based acrylic resin.Read More →


    Learn More →


  • Hans Gugelot (1920 – 1965) Dutch-Swiss Product Designer

    Hans Gugelot (1920 – 1965) Dutch-Swiss Product Designer

    Hans Gugelot (1920 – 1965) began his career in engineering (1940–2) and architecture (1940–6) in Switzerland and was closely associated with the radical Hochschüle für Gestaltung (HfG) in UlmRead More →


    Learn More →


  • Khodi Feiz Iranian born Industrial Designer

    Khodi Feiz  Iranian born Industrial Designer

    Feiz’s work has received numerous awards and has been featured in exhibitions and publications worldwide. The overriding inspirations for Feiz’s work can be summed up by: Clarity, concept and context. Feiz has developed several project in collaboration with Artifort, including the Extens, Bras and Beso chair family.Read More →


    Learn More →


  • Plateelbakkerij Ram (1921 – 1969) Arnhem-based Dutch Ceramics

    Plateelbakkerij Ram (1921 – 1969) Arnhem-based Dutch Ceramics

    Plateelbakkerij Ram (1921 – 1969) was an Arnhem-based Dutch ceramics company. Ram was founded in 1921 to produce high-quality ceramic bodies. At Ram 1921—25, Thomas A.C. Colenbrander was the designer for whom the company was established at the age of 80. Ram wares were sold at exhibition auctions as art rather than craft.Read More →


    Learn More →


  • Bob Noorda (1927 – 2010), Dutch Designer and Graphic Artist

    Bob Noorda (1927 – 2010), Dutch Designer and Graphic Artist

    Noorda, Bob (1927–2010) was a Dutch designer and graphic artist who studied at the Institute of Design in Amsterdam. He was a member of ADI, AGI, ICSID, Società Umanitaria, Pirelli, Vallecchi, Unimark International, and IBM. He was an artistic consultant to Vallecchi and Rinascente-Upim, and co-founded Unimark International in 1965. He designed environmental graphics for…


    Learn More →


  • Robert Oxenaar (b.1939) Designer of Dutch Banknotes

    Robert Oxenaar (b.1939) Designer of Dutch Banknotes

    Robert Oxenaar (1929 – 2017) Designer of Dutch banknotes and stamps. Head of the Art and Design branch of the Dutch postal service. Helped launch a new generation of Dutch designers in the 1970s, including notables like Gert Dumbar.Read More →


    Learn More →


  • Discovering the Magic of Plateelbakkerij de Distel

    Discovering the Magic of Plateelbakkerij de Distel

    Plateelbakkerij de Distel was a Dutch ceramics firm founded in 1895 in Amsterdam. It employed artists for both designing and painting, and produced art pottery, utility ware, tiles, ceramics for special events, and small sculptures. Exhibitions were held before WWI, including the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition.Read More →


    Learn More →


  • J.M van Kempen Dutch Silversmith

    J.M van Kempen Dutch Silversmith

    J.M. van Kempen was a Dutch silversmith who started a silver factory in Utrecht in 1835 and moved to Voorschoten in 1858. He hired English craftsmen to teach them how to make forks and spoons, and a separate studio was set up to make sculptures and silverwork parts. He didn’t hire outside artists until the…


    Learn More →


  • Dutch Design – what is it?

    Dutch Design – what is it?

    The phrase “Dutch Design” refers to an informal artistic school of design in the Netherlands, particularly in product design. More specifically, the word refers to the design aesthetic used by Dutch designers. Read More →


    Learn More →


  • Benno Premsela (1920 – 1997) Dutch textile and exhibition designer

    Benno Premsela (1920 – 1997) Dutch textile and exhibition designer

    Benno Premsela (1920 – 1997) was a Dutch textile and exhibition designer. He studied interior design at the Nieuwe Kunstschool, Amsterdam. Read More →


    Learn More →


  • Cor Alons (1892 – 1967) Dutch Interior and Industrial Designer

    Cor Alons (1892 – 1967) Dutch Interior and Industrial Designer

    Between 1913 – 1917 he studied in the drawing and painting department, Academie van Beeldende Kunsten, The Hague.Read More →


    Learn More →


  • Mart Stam (1899 – 1986) Dutch architect and designer

    Mart Stam (1899 – 1986) Dutch architect and designer

    His design approach has been categorised as New Objectivity, a counter-movement and outgrowth of Expressionism that emerged during the Great Depression in Germany in the 1920s.Read More →


    Learn More →


  • Bloemenwerf Side Chair (1895) designed by Henry de Velde

    Bloemenwerf Side Chair (1895) designed by Henry de Velde

    Bloemenwerf, Henry Van de Velde’s property outside Brussels, is the inspiration for this chair. Van de Velde planned and built the house and the interior—from the furniture to the wallpaper—resulting in a holistic design that exemplified the concept of a Gesamtkunstwerk “total work of art”. Read More →


    Learn More →


  • Pierre Imans – Dutch mannequin designer & manufacturer

    Pierre Imans – Dutch mannequin designer & manufacturer

    Before 1900, Imans was active in a mannequin factory in Paris. By the 1920s, his establishment was located at 10 rue de Crussol. He became known for his faultlessly finished imitation human skin in wax; in 1922, he developed ‘carnesine’ or ‘carnisine’ to simulate skin; developed a secret formula that was mainly plaster with gelatin;…


    Learn More →


  • ‘Never assume’: Gijs Bakker

    ‘Never assume’: Gijs Bakker

    Gijs Bakker’s career spans fifty years and not one of them dull. His first piece, Golden Onion, a sperm-shaped bracelet designed in 1965 was the beginning of a rich, varied and invigorating output that shows no sign of slowing down today. Bakker refers to himself as a “jewellery designer” and since the Dutch aren’t big…


    Learn More →


  • Gijs Bakker – Dutch sculptor & jewellery, furniture & lighting designer.

    Gijs Bakker – Dutch sculptor & jewellery, furniture & lighting designer.

    Gijs Bakker is a jeweller, sculptor, furniture designer, and, to a lesser extent, industrial designer who studied gold and silversmithing at the Amsterdam Art Academy. READ MORERead More →


    Learn More →


  • Red and Blue Armchair by Gerrit Rietveld

    Red and Blue Armchair by Gerrit Rietveld

    The Red and Blue Chair’s visual impact has ensured that it will always be a staple image in any history of twentieth-century design. It has become a metaphor for the Modern Movement along with the Schröder home.Read More →


    Learn More →


  • Gerrit Thomas Rietveld – Dutch architect and furniture designer

    Gerrit Thomas Rietveld – Dutch architect and furniture designer

    Gerrit Thomas Rietveld was a Dutch architect and furniture maker, and designer. He was born in Utrecht.  Probably the mostRead More →


    Learn More →


  • Peter van der Waals (1870 – 1937) Dutch Furniture Designer

    Peter van der Waals (1870 – 1937) Dutch Furniture Designer

    Peter van der Waals is a Dutch furniture designer and maker; active Britain. He studied in The Hague, Brussels, Berlin, and Vienna and from 1899, London. Read More →


    Learn More →


More design articles

❤️ Receive our newsletter

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.