The history of form magazine

1957 – Jupp Ernst, Director of the Werkkunstschule in Kassel, museum directors Willem Sandberg and Curt Schweicher, and former member of the Bauhaus Wilhelm Wagenfeld found form magazine. Friedrich Middelhauve brings out the “International Revue“ as the form’s subtitle then read, in his Westdeutscher Verlag publishing company, based in Opladen. form started out as a wide-ranging cultural magazine: A pencil drawing by Le Corbusiers and a photo of a Rietveld chair adorned the cover of the first edition. The layout was devised by the Müller/ Blasé studio, and graphic artist Karl Oskar Blase designed almost all the covers through 1968. The magazine came out on a quarterly basis and focused on topics relating to art, architecture and industrial design. Ballet and album reviews were just as much at home in it as were poetry and design manifestoes.

1962 – the later editor-in-chief Karlheinz Krug, a graduate of the renowned Ulm design academy, became head of the editorial desk at the magazine. The imprint of form 19 lists him for the first time. Karlheinz Krug was to remain editor-in-chief until the of 1998, was a major influence on the magazine, and acted as co-chief editor until the end of 2001.

1966 – marked the first relaunch of form: issue 33 first bears the subtitle “magazine for design”. The issue also presented an international advisory council, including, among others, Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer, Sigfried Giedion, Johannes Itten, Richard Buckminster Fuller and Max Bill. The latter stated in the issue that “we need an independent information vehicle in order to promote the principles of design. we believe form magazine fulfils this function.”

1974 - Westdeutscher Verlag, which publishes form, is bought out by Bertelsmann. However, the finalized sales package did not include form, thanks to the efforts of editor-in-chief Karlsheinz Krug, form’s graphics man Hanswerner Klein and commercial director H.O. Döring; the trio henceforth brought it out themselves. To this end, they founded the “Verlag form” publishing company.

1994 - Alex Buck (as co-chief editor alongside Karlheinz Krug) and Matthias Vogt as MD take over at the helm of the magazine. The magazine’s offices are located in Düsseldorf, where Karlsheinz Krug continues to act as editor-in-chief, and in Frankfurt, where editor Fabian Wurm and graphic artist Andreas Liedtke decisively shaped the content and image of the magazine until the end of 1998. Offenbach-based “Büro für Gestaltung” handled the graphic relaunch and in subsequent years the publishing company brought out designer monographs and publication series, such as “Designer Profiles”, “Design Classics” and “form diskurs”.

1998 – saw the form Web site go live. With Petra Schmidt in charge of the content, and Mathias Wollin handling the graphics. Internationally renowned graphic designers such as Stefan Sagmeister, Jonathan Barnbrook, Peter Saville, Gunter Rambow and Mike Meiré create form title pages.

1999 – Petra Schmidt takes over from long-standing editor-in-chief Karlheinz Krug. Together with Ralf Schlüter as head of the editorial desk, editor Gerrit Terstiege and graphic designers Sarah Dorkenwald and Annette Müller Petra Schmidt devises a new shape for form. Issue 170 of the “magazine for design” marks the relaunch, complete with new subtitle “The European Design Magazine”. form henceforth comes out in a fully bilingual edition, and as of 1995 Dr. Jeremy Gaines has been in charge of the translations. The magazine now came out every two rather than every three months.

2002 – Birkhäuser Verlag, the renowned Swiss publishing house, takes over form magazine. Birkhäuser is part of Springer Science and Business Media. The form editorial team relocates from Frankfurt to near-by Gravenbruch, where Petra Schmidt continues to be in charge. Silja van der Does takes over as art director.

2003 – Ruedi Baur, Bernhard E. Bürdek, Alois Martin Müller, Chee Pearlman, Dieter Rams, Winfried Scheuer, Erik Spiekermann, John Thackara and Stefan Ytterborn act as consultants to the magazine. Gerrit Terstiege, a member of the editorial desk since 1997, is appointed deputy editor-in-chief, and Karianne Fogelberg gives the editorial team greater depth.

2004 – Dr. Sven Fund replaces Hans-Peter Thür as MD of Birkhäuser Verlag.

2005 – issue 206 marks a special relaunch: form reengineers itself as the leading design magazine in the market. The coverage will henceforth center on design processes and stages in the development of a design. The magazine thus boasts a new subtitle “The Making of Design”. The magazine’s updated layout and completely revised online image are the handiwork of “ade hauser lacour“, the multi-award-winning Frankfurt agency that cooperated with “meso.net“ in relaunching this website.

2006 - Gerrit Terstiege represents Petra Schmidt, who is on maternity leave. Markus Zehentbauer becomes head of copy.

2007 – the editorial team moves from Frankfurt to Basle, the Birkhäuser Verlag HQ. Petra Schmidt leaves form and now devises book concepts for Birkhäuser Verlag. Together with the former form editor Karianne Fogelberg she sets up an editorial office in Frankfurt. The latter's successor is Katharina Altemeier. Ramona Rockel, since 2005 Head of Sales and Marketing becomes publishing director. Gerrit Terstiege remains editor-in-chief.