De Rooster is a Belgian printing brand whose mark was originally designed by Paul Ibou in 1962. Ibou, born Paul Vermeersch in Borgerhout in 1939, was a Belgian graphic designer and sculptor who founded his own design office, Paul Ibou Design, in 1962. He is credited with designing more than 350 logos and symbols during his career and is recognized as a pioneer in modern graphic design in Belgium. [1] [2]
Design and History
The De Rooster symbol was created in 1962, the same year Ibou established his independent design practice in Antwerp. [1] [3] The mark belongs to a period when Ibou was developing a reputation for creating clear visual identities for businesses and organizations. He played a pioneering role in the development of corporate identity systems in Belgium, and his work from this era is documented through his “logotheek,” a collection of three-dimensional logo objects that he used to present his designs to clients. This collection was donated to Design Museum Gent in 2019. [4] [5]
Ibou’s early career included work at Fotogravure De Schutter, where he learned printing techniques from the company’s manager and began designing logos. He later studied printing at the Plantin-Genootschap. [1] This background in printing and graphic reproduction is directly relevant to his work for De Rooster, a printing brand.
Meaning and Symbolism
The name “De Rooster” translates from Dutch as “the rooster,” and the brand’s symbol depicts a rooster. The mark is described as a straightforward, clean symbol rather than a complex illustration. [3] No official documentation has been located that explains additional symbolic meaning behind the choice of the rooster for this specific brand, beyond the direct reference to the company name.
Typography and Design
Ibou’s design approach in the early 1960s was part of a broader movement toward modernist simplicity in graphic design. His work is characterized by the use of stylized, geometric forms, as seen in his personal owl mark created at age 17 and in his later corporate logos. [6] The De Rooster mark follows this pattern, using a simplified rooster form as a memorable, durable brand symbol. [3]
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