“To Pull a Stürzebecher”

• Humble proposal for dictionary entry

I’m sure, this has happened to all designers: You are browsing through a pile at a flea market and suddenly realise you’re holding a book designed by Müller-Brockmann. (This has happened to me before and hopefully will happen again.) You anxiously take out your wallet, count the bills just to notice it’s very cheap. So you buy it, no questions asked. Maybe you even go on and show this new addition to your collection to some friends.

How do you describe what just happened if any combination of “bargain,” “serendipity” and “design history” won’t do the job?

Please allow me an interlude.

Jörg Stürzebecher, a former professor and friend of mine, almost magically attracts these discoveries. Equipped with a stunning knowledge of 20th century art and design, he is able to spot objects of historic value almost everywhere—and he is eager to preserve them in his archive.

I always held his ability in high regard. I was even a tiny bit jealous until it started happening to me. My friends were afraid: “Simon, you’re gonna end up like Jörg Stürzebecher with no space left in your office.” And indeed i was! (To some extent, at least.)

So why not give this phenomenon its own proper term since it has already worked for one of TV’s favorites: “To pull a Homer.”

Let me suggest an addition to a designer’s vocabulary:

“To pull a Stürzebecher” or “einen Stürzebecher landen”—as you would say in his native tongue. Please feel free to use this term whenever you find something of historic value for a very low price or even for free.

Now, imagine Kramer storming through the door, holding a Crouwel poster: “Look, Jerry, I pulled a Stürzebecher!”

Posted by Simon on January 19th 2010 in Thoughts

• Newer: Amazing Things Will Happen
• Older: KD-Lounge Depot