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…I don’t have a premeditated plan when I’m making prints. It’s more of a reflection on what’s already there: The paper motivates me to do something, to react to what exists. In the case of this new series, which has a lot of circles, I’m curious to see them in combination with the background color of a found card or in relationship to the rhythm of each card’s typewriter typography. My method takes time: I print one color, then wait for at least a day for the drying process; on the next day or whenever, I react again to what there is now…

The influential Dutch graphic designer Karel Martens is most strongly associated with typography: He even developed his home country’s gold-standard master’s degree program focusing on the discipline. But Martens isn’t just a serifs-and-kerning guy: He works across video, installation and sculpture, too, having spent nearly 60 years developing a practice that reflects his persistent inquisitiveness…

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…there are a few of these cards that I found in the same place. It’s a ‘specification card’ for income and expenditure. It makes me think of my father, who entered his costs into a similar ledger book every day. The card shows formal columns in combination with human handwriting. The print on it is very simple, just one metal shape repeated. I found that piece a while ago; it also has a kind of ‘list’ character, but from a different world than what’s in the card itself. The print was motivated by my curiosity to see the two things together…

on the eve of his show in new york karel martens talks about his work and the process involved

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…the white on the right-hand circle is printed perhaps seven times, until it gets really white. And the blue is printed with a white on top of it, but that looks gray, because it’s only overprinted two times. In offset printing, this effect is almost impossible, but you can do it in letterpress if you repeat it many times using opaque ink. It was my intention to take the closed yellow circle and make an opening in it. By overprinting the white ink, it becomes the same ‘color temperature’ as the background, matching the white color of the card. And then the yellow dot pops out — a surprise that you can’t plan for. Perhaps this is the best motivation to make work…

m / 09-08-2016 12:16 - tags: , , , , ,  

#TBT

tbt_gebroken_glas

a dust jacket for a novel entitled ‘broken glass’ which i designed in 2009, the vintage print and title text were both photographed under a sheet of glass covered in water drops to distort the typography, the water splashes were then reproduced in a glossy spot UV varnish on the final (matte laminate) cover to create depth in the image

m / 07-08-2016 12:10 - tags: ,  

graphic past

…it’s been roughly 30 years since the desktop computer revolutionized the way the graphic design industry works. For decades before that, it was the hands of industrious workers, and various ingenious machines and tools that brought type and image together on meticulously prepared paste-up boards, before they were sent to the printer…

this documentary graphic means which is currently in production, aims to cast its eyes backwards to take an in-depth look at the history of our profession, seems very promising so far…

m / 06-08-2016 13:47 - tags: , , , , ,  

kapitaal kracht

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several weeks back (20th sept.) i was invited to do a short presentation as a guest of bno utrecht, a fun gathering which was held at the wonderful (but soon to be defunct) gallery and creative workspace of kapitaal in utrecht

i shared the evening together with my friends from studio mals and passionate type designer peter bilak, we each had 30 minutes to do our ‘thing’ and there were inspiring words to be heard from both parties

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i was allowed to finish up with a (ridiculous) presentation; attempting (against the organisers’ advice) to present 300 slides in max. 30 minutes, eventually coming in under the allocated time by at least 10 minutes! but judging by the reactions, i managed at the very least… to entertain the crowd

once again, thanks for the (i was honoured) invitation, delicious meal and fun evening! see you all again soon i hope…

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the puzzle is complete

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the fourth (and last) book of the 70 year jubilee set for the metropole orkest arrived this week, it was a year ago that i started working on this project and it is really nice to see the four sections of the logo finally come together on the covers… more images to follow later this week, the books are officially being presented this saturday in hilversum

i will also write a larger post on the whole project (with many more images) in the near future

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m / 06-08-2016 10:41 - tags: , , ,