Biography Gert Dumbar

Gert Dumbar (1940) studied painting and graphic design at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in The Hague. He studied in the post graduate graphic design program at the Royal College of Art in London.

In 1977 Gert Dumbar established Studio Dumbar. With his team at Studio Dumbar he completed numerous extensive corporate identity programs for many major national and international clients including: the Dutch Postal and Telecom Services (PTT), the ANWB (Dutch Automobile Association), the Dutch Railways, the Dutch Police, the Danish Post (together with Kontrapunkt a/s, Danmark) and the Czech Telecom.
Studio Dumbar won numerous national and international design awards. Among these were two D&AD golden pencils. A price that has never been won twice by any other graphis designer in the world.

Since 2003 Gert Dumbar is teaching at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in The Hague. In addition to this he frequently lectures at art schools and international design conferences.
Between 2000 and 2002 Gert Dumbar was visiting professor at the Royal College of Art in London. From 1985 until 1987 he was visiting professor here as well and headed the graphic design department of this College. Since 1980 he has periodically taught and lectured at the University at Bandung, Indonesia. From 1996 until 1998 he was visiting professor at the Hochschule der Bildenden Künste Saar in Saarbrücken, Germany. From 1998 until 2002 he was a board member at DesignLabor in Bremerhaven, Germany.

Gert Dumbar has been the chairman of the Dutch association of Graphic Designers (BNO). In 1987/1988 he was the president of British Designers and Art Directors Association and was a member of the Designboard of the British Rail Company until 1994. Gert Dumbar is a member of the Alliance Graphique International (AGI). ). In 1990 the Humberside Polytechnic honoured him as Honorary Fellow of the Polytechnic.  In 1994 the Asociacion de Disenadores Grafáficos de Buenos Aires (ADG) appointed Gert Dumbar to be a Honourary Member and in 1995 the English Southampton Institute honoured Gert Dumbar with the title of Honourary Doctor in Design.

Gert Dumbar is the initiator of the travelling exhibition ‘Behind the Seen’ about the work of Studio Dumbar. This exhibition has been shown in the Netherlands, Germany, Japan, the USA, China, Australia and Canada.

The Hague,2006.