Frederika Sophia "Fré" Cohen (11 August 1903 – 14 June 1943) was a Dutch artist and graphic designer.
[2] She was the oldest daughter of diamond cutter Levie Cohen, a member of the Social-Democrat Jewish community in Amsterdam.
Later, she got a job at a socialist publishing firm, Ontwikkeling ("Development", tied to the Dutch Social Democratic Party, SDAP), where she did some design next to office work.
Through her work for this publishing house she got access to the Social Democrat Party’s printing office, Vooruitgang ("Progress").
As a woman designer who was also well-versed in technical methods such as typesetting, Cohen was initially viewed with suspicion by her male colleagues.
Initially, as a self-educated artist, Cohen worked in her own personal and easily recognisable style, influenced by art deco and the strong lines and basic colors of De Stijl, used more for decoration than for function, comparable with the Amsterdam School of architecture.
[3] Cohen had a large output of rather varied printed matter, from window bills to bookplates, diplomas, illustrations, running headers, baby announcements and postcards.
She created folders and maps for Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, in a modernist style using gold, red and blue.