[1] Educated as linguist and art historian over the years he was active as journalist, editor, author, manager and teacher particularly in those fields of Dutch design.
Staal was born in 1956, and received his MA in Dutch language and art history at the University of Amsterdam.
In late 1983, he moved to the NRC Handelsblad, where he continued to write about design-related topics for a period of more than five years.
In the 1990s he continued to write occasionally for the NRC Handelsblad, for de Volkskrant, and for Trouw.
[2] When in 1993 the Netherlands Design Institute started, Staal was appointed deputy director under John Thackara.