LUCIEN DE ROECK | ICONOFGRAPHICS |
Belgium, Dendermonde, 1915 - 2002 | |
 | De Roeck in his Studio in Elsene, on the background his 'lucky star', the Expo '58 logo. |
Lucien De Roeck (Dendermonde, 1915-2002) was barely 17 years old when he subscribed at the belgian institute 'La Cambre'. At La Cambre, where the emphasis was put on crafts, he learned the basic principles of typography, graphic design, poster design and branding. During the first year, pupils were allowed to use only black and white in their work. In the second year they could ad one colour, and it was only in the third year that they could work with all colours. Henry van de Velde, principal, and Joris Minne, typography teacher at his school, brought him the love for functional ideas in his design.
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His career started at school, where he drew commercial posters for the ferryboat Ostend-Dover and the city of Antwerp. In 1943 the mayor of Antwerp organised a designcompetition to promote his city in a poster. The unsatisfying results of the first round, forced him to ask his friend Henry van de Velde to organise the competition among his students. Lucien De Roeck drew the winning design, combining a vision of the Antwerp cathedral with a red ship and the typical antwerp hand (as part of the myth of Brabo).
As photography was not yet common in posterdesign, De Roeck lived through a golden period using his drawings. Even the letters on his posters were faithfully drawn by hand. | |
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Ten years after graduating, De Roeck takes over the typography-atelier at La Cambre and educates several young graphic designers during 40 years. Besides teaching at La Cambre, he also had classes at St. Lucas Antwerp and St. Ghislain.
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Expo '58 logo, 1954
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In 1954 Lucien De Roeck won another designcompetition, designing the logo and poster for the Worldfair in Brussels that would take place in 1958. The Expo-star, an elegant, asymmetric elongated star, still is a recognizable symbol. The five rays visualise the five continents, carrying out the humanistic message to the five corners of the world. On the right side a globe and the date were added. In the center of the star he placed an image of the Brussels city hall.
In 1958 this star was everywhere, covering official posters, streetcars, outfits of hostesses, poststamps and schoolbooks. | |
 | Lucien De Roeck making drawings in his sketchbook. |
De Roeck was a gifted drawer. Inseparable from his sketchbook, he drew everything around him, his family and friends, his pupils, the towns he visited, boats in the harbour,... For each of his grandchildren he had a book in which he kept al his drewn memories since their birth. It was his diary, in which he had to ad a new drawing every day. Today the shelves of his library tend to burst under the weight of nearly 500 books.
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one of the great
Some post cards
What you find the most of the expo 58 are post cards. They come in all shapes and forms. Colour and black , small and big .
small ones in book form
small ones
And even long ones.
A nice gift
Visiting one of my favorite vintage shops in Bruges 'madam mim' , i got a nice gift. A lace piece from the world fair 1958.
You find Madam Mim in hoogstraat 29 in Bruges. Always a worth a visit.
The rare Chocolate case
This is a very rare tin chocolate case from the world fair in 1958. On the front you find an image of the Jacques pavilon but on the back you find a nice 50's gimmick. If you make a clockwise movement with the box you can see an atom. What a nice add to my collection
some nice old pictures
It's always nice nice to find expo 58 stuff, but old pictures are super nice. Today I got two nice ones.
a big frame wit a nice panoramic view and a familie shot in a small frame. The last one is a shot at the seaside, but the kid had a promotion balloon of the world fair 58.
Silk and silver
Today in the mailbox... A silk scarf and a silver spoon from the world fair. There are different silk scarfs and I have now 3 differents. I'm sure there are more out there. Spoons I have over 20 differents...
Ribbon
A friend got me a nice ribbon, from the world fair 1958.. Where he got it there is still an clossed rol left. He will trh to get it for me. For now I'm happy with this piece
money
A nice one in my collection is the memorial coin.
In those days you still had Belgium Frank. Now everything is Euro; the memorial coin was a silver one for the value of 50 BF. That would be € 1,25 !
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on the back you find King Boudewijn who was not yet married in 1958. on the front you find city hall and the famous star.
It's nice to have friends
This post is a special one for Gorik. A true friend, not long ago he brought some family pictures from the world fair to my home. Just to look at.. Of course. But last Friday he donated them for my collection! I'm honored.
I was overwhelmed, did I already say thanks Gorik? If not.. THANKS !
The pictures are super.. Some of them even are from the construction of the fair, but the real find for my collection are the two covers they came in.
In those days your photos came in a cover.. And Gevaert Film ( a brand of photofilm) had those covers with the expo star on it.
All I have to do now ,is look out for a nice album, so I can reserve them for later Belgium Expo addicts and the Hendrickx inheretance.
New addition to magazine collection world fair
It's not easy to find magazines that I dont't have jet. Magazines often get trashed away in time...
This one I found on the net and was delivered at my doorstep.
it has nice interviews and pics, pics you normally don't see.
I 'm glad to add this to my collection
le nouveau expo 58 est arrivé
After a two week waiting for the press shop to be back from their holliday, today at 7.00 a clock I got the bottle of wine!
An unopened bottle of wine from the world fair 1958; a nice new rare thing for my collection. At first I thought it would be too expensive, but that turned out ok, especially with the free shipping
The picture says enough
New photobook
I got my hands on a personal photobook from the world fair 1958. It's nice to see all the different views... Here's a selection of the photos
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