Why the Dutch Government Has the Best Graphic Design - YouTube

Design matters and it matters for governments. Like companies, countries spend a lot of time and money  

on branding themselves so that they can communicate clearly to their citizens  

and also so that they can set themselves apart from others.

Now, when talking about how things look, it's always important to understand that taste and design is subjective,

with the exception of my own which is unparalleled in its sophistication.

But if we establish what goals governments are trying to reach with their design,

it becomes a lot easier to determine objectively what a good or bad design decision is

And there is one country  in particular

— assuming you think good government design is functional and minimalist design —

that stands out on top.

And that's the Netherlands.

If good government design is that which brands a nation as strong to the rest of the world,

a country that is probably more fitting is France.

Its logo includes the country's most important symbols: the red, white and blue,

with the blue being since  recently changed back to its traditional color,

and it also includes France's  most important national icon.

The french design goes a step further though

by also communicating their ground values more explicitly

than what may be typical even  when compared with stereotypically louder nations.

"E pluribus unum. Out of many, one."

Alternatively, if good government design means that it shows  

off your unique and immediately recognizable assets,

the Netherlands also isn't first in line.

It's not that tulips aren't great in all or that the Dutch sky isn't beautiful

but a country like Estonia, which is known as one of the first that  completely digitized its own government,

sometimes does a better job looking like an e-commerce company than an actual government.

Another example of a country that is very effective at marketing  its own personal brand

would be Sweden, which has seemingly delegated all of its branding to private  industry.

Also, if good government design is defined by strictly upholding certain rules and standards 

almost to the point of insanity, to everyone's amazement and surprise

the Germans and the Swiss are probably the leaders.

What makes Dutch government design good is its functionality  and simplicity

that comes close to but definitely is not: boring.

It stays uniform while also  giving room for each individual ministry

and it immediately communicates to the Dutch people that something is part of the Dutch state.

It does this while also remaining very flat and simple, which also immediately reminds you of the country.

In the typical Dutch obsession with being as normal as possible 

even the national serif font looks like  it's trying its hardest not to be a serif.

In 2007, Dutch Prime Minister Balkenende

who was always known for his especially creative unique and eccentric personality

made the surprising decision to centralize government design

and get rid of the hundreds of  individually unique government associated logos

in order to make a more, quite literally, monolithic block

At the time this wasn't typical as there were only a few countries

that had actively tried to centralize their branding schemes

And as we can expect from humanity and particularly the Dutch, a lot of people were critical.

You had of course the natural debate on whether the government was spending too much money

and the Dutch military, which as you know, has always been considered the Netherlands strongest asset

and really unique characteristic on the world stage,

was so opposed that the government conceded to give each military  branch their own special logo.

One of the main criticisms, however, which is what gets to the  heart of why the design is actually pretty good,

is that the Dutch government design is just too bland.

But this is the wrong way to look at it.

It is not a new thing to question that what you may gain in function will be lost in individuality.

It's an endless discussion and there are plenty of examples of where companies have given up creative expression for almost unnecessary simplicity.

But some could say that governments should be judged by different standards.

For many people, not including those who waste their incredibly valuable time consuming political content online,

governments can be considered to be doing their best job when its citizens aren't thinking much about it.

Take emergency services: this is one of the areas where government probably does want to make sure 

it's visible and clearly demarcated in daily life.

The solution for them are funky stripes, which give the impression that there are more visible emergency services

without coming off as intimidating or relying on the cheap use of  neon,

which many other European police vehicles do.

Unfortunately, there are still plenty of Dutch people who don't appreciate the design of Dutch  

emergency services like I do.

But there are plenty of other examples of good Dutch government design.

For example: letters.

Each comes off as subtle enough except for the dark blue which is immediately associated with the Dutch tax authorities

also conveniently the only important letter you actually need to open.

And there are some designs that are even more subtle.

If i show you this logo and try to imagine that you've never seen it before in your life  

what does it tell you?

Nothing. But of course  most Europeans know immediately that it signals the Deutsche Bahn

which is Germany's national  rail service.

And the same is true for the TGV.

It doesn't immediately tell you at face value that it's France's high-speed rail service

but what if I show you this logo:

It's subtle, sure, but you could also easily imagine yourself making the connection

between this and the Netherlands' national rail company.

The NS logo is also not so obvious to the point that it's explicit

like the Czech Republic's national rail company.

All of this is not to say that Dutch design is perfect.

No, there are plenty of things that I, with my childish desire to come off as intelligent and worldly as possible,

can't even really act like I understand either.

For example: PostNL

It is what it is. Or better yet, the recently upgraded, national parliament,

which looks more like an IKEA-filled  dentist waiting room along with a bunch of rocks glued onto the wall.

And there are plenty of  other governments that are also pretty functional.

Where each ministry in the Netherlands can technically choose their own department's color  

even though that color won't be explicitly acknowledged as theirs,

the UK does have uniquely color-coded ministries,

which is much more slick  in my unquestionable and authoritative opinion.

Where the Germans may have phenomenal and groundbreaking industrial design  

the Swiss placement in grids and the Italian's design that makes you feel incredibly inferior  

the Dutch navigate a very fine line between fun, simple and sober.

And for a government that probably doesn't want to come off as anything  more than normal,

that's probably perfectly okay.

"No!"