International Advertising & Design DataBase

The International Advertising & Design DataBase (IADDB) is a non-commercial foundation and online database based in the Netherlands that provides online access to publications devoted to artistically designed advertising and design. It was founded in 2014 in the Netherlands as a homage to Hans Sachs, the German-born poster and graphic-design collector, and states its intention to continue the work that Sachs was forced to abandon because of circumstances. The project is explicitly framed as a tribute to a collector whose career was cut short by the political upheavals of the twentieth century. The IADDB's first goal is to make rare, public-domain advertising and design magazines and periodicals publicly accessible. Beyond rare printed material, the foundation intends to build and gradually complete an index of artists' names, their biographies, artists' signatures and monograms. To do this, the foundation publicly asks on its website for active participation from the public in supplementing information such as images, names and other helpful information needed to complete the records. In this sense the IADDB functions both as a digital archive and as a crowdsourced reference work for the history of advertising and graphic design. The IADDB is supported by individual donors, each of whom has contributed the equivalent of up to US$50,000. The first of these donors was the Amsterdam-based foundation Het ReclameArsenaal. The database is accessible online, with its magazine holdings published through the magazines.iaddb.org portal. Because it is a non-commercial foundation rather than a commercial publisher, its output is oriented toward preservation, research and public access rather than toward advertising sales or subscription revenue. As a brand, the IADDB occupies a niche at the intersection of advertising, design history and digital archiving. Its audience consists of design historians, collectors, students, researchers and members of the public interested in the visual culture of advertising. Its identity is closely tied to the legacy of Hans Sachs and to the idea that rare advertising and design periodicals should be preserved and made freely available rather than left inaccessible in private collections.

The International Advertising & Design DataBase (IADDB) was founded in 2014 in the Netherlands as a non-commercial foundation. Its founding was conceived as a homage to Hans Sachs, the poster and graphic-design collector, and the foundation states that it intends to continue where Sachs was forced to stop because of circumstances. Sachs, a German-born collector, assembled one of the most important collections of posters and graphic design before his life and career were disrupted by the political events of his era; the IADDB presents itself as a continuation of that collecting and documenting mission in digital form. From the outset the IADDB set itself the task of making rare, public-domain advertising and design magazines and periodicals publicly accessible online. Rather than limiting itself to digitized print, the foundation also planned to build and progressively complete an index of artists' names, their biographies, artists' signatures and monograms. Because such reference data is difficult for a small foundation to assemble alone, the IADDB publicly invites participation on its website, asking users to contribute images, names and other helpful information to complete the records. This crowdsourced approach is central to how the project expects to grow. Funding for the IADDB comes from individual donors, each of whom has contributed the equivalent of up to US$50,000. The first of these donors was Het ReclameArsenaal, a foundation based in Amsterdam. The involvement of Het ReclameArsenaal, itself connected to Dutch advertising heritage, ties the IADDB to the Netherlands' advertising-history community. The database's magazine holdings are made available through its online portal at magazines.iaddb.org. As of the available evidence, the IADDB remains an active non-commercial foundation and online resource. Its history is less a story of commercial expansion than of archival preservation, donor support and public participation, with its identity anchored in the legacy of Hans Sachs and in the goal of keeping rare advertising and design periodicals openly accessible.

• 2014

  The International Advertising & Design DataBase foundation is founded in the Netherlands as a homage to Hans Sachs.

• Het ReclameArsenaal, based in Amsterdam, becomes the first donor to the IADDB.

• The IADDB publishes its magazine holdings through the magazines.iaddb.org online portal.

Non-commercial, publicly accessible digital archive and reference resource for the history of artistically designed advertising and design.

• Online database of advertising and design publications

  Online access to publications around artistically designed advertising and design.

• Index of artists, biographies, signatures and monograms

  A gradually completed index of artists' names, biographies, signatures and monograms.

• Rare public-domain magazines and periodicals

  Rare, public-domain advertising and design magazines and periodicals made publicly accessible.

1. 1International Advertising & Design DataBase — Wikidatawikidata.org
2. 2International Advertising & Design DataBase — Wikipedia (German)de.wikipedia.org
3. 3IADDB magazines portalmagazines.iaddb.org