For the first of our anniversary features, we have taken our cue from industrial designer Herbert Lindinger’s four-part series on design history, which was originally published in 1964/65 in the issues 26, 27, 28, and 30 and is still well worth a read today. Lindinger, who among other things, was then lecturing at the HfG Ulm (1962–1968) and is still working today, offers a remarkably broad-ranging survey of design history.

Please note that the original articles have only been published in German. 

In the late 1960s, an intense debate on functionalism was conducted in the pages of form. In the first of her three-part series on the theme of design ideologies, Gerda Müller-Krauspe attempted a differentiated view of functionalism in form 46 (1969). The debate was not limited to theory, however, also prompting an emotional response from practitioners.

Please note that the original articles have only been published in German. 

From the late 1970s to the 1980s, we find design studios, especially newer ones, increasingly investing in their own business and publicising their work via paid ads in form. 

Back in 2013, we celebrated the 250th issue of form with a relaunched magazine in which we explored the future of design as a discipline, then, in form 251, posed the question “Designer Quo Vadis?”. In 2017, we are still asking such questions; after all, the moulding of the future began yesterday, continues today, and will impact on tomorrow.