Karel Martens: printed matter/drukwerk, 2nd Edition

by Robin Kinross

Karel Marten's work occupies a unique place in the present European art and design landscape. While working in the tradition of Dutch modernism, he maintains distance from the main developments of his from both the practices of routinized Modernism and the facile reactions against it. His work is personal and experimental, while at the same time publicly answerable. This book presents Martens graphic design oeuvre in reproductions of startling fidelity, and described in informal captions. Printed on uncoated paper and Chinese-bound, the book itself has a compelling tactile quality. For this long-awaited second edition, twenty-four pages have been added to cover Marten's most recent work.

Genres: Design, Art

Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Robin Kinross (born 1949) is an author and publisher on the topic of visual communication and typography. His most significant work is Modern Typography. He is a proprieter of Hyphen Press, which publishes books on design and typography.

Kinross did undergraduate and graduate studies at the Department of Typography & Graphic Communication at the University of Reading. He moved to London in 1982. In the 1980s he contributed content to publications such as Blueprint, Baseline and Eye.

Kinross started Hyphen Press in 1980. Modern Typography was published in 1992. Since the 1990s, Hyphen produces about "two to four publications a year". Important publications by Hyphen include Christopher Burke's Paul Renner and Fred Smeijers' Counterpoint.

Reviews

[Alex Seo]

OWESOME! Best Choice for Graphic Designer.

[Loren]

This is supposed to be one of the most beautiful books ever made. Karel Martens is a total design bad-ass.

[Chris K · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read Emigre magazine for years while in college and have almost all of those issues, so naturally when I came across this book I had to buy it.

I was so impressed with the quality of the paper and the printing that it was a beautiful piece to hold in my hands. I enjoyed flipping through it now and then, but never really sat down and read it cover to cover. It was mostly a collector item that I knew would be valuable someday.

Now that I am in my forties and have been designing everything on a computer for the past two decades, I have longed to go back to print design with its handmade quality and layers of ink on paper. Many of the designs in this book could also be applied to digital design today in new and creative ways with layers of color, shapes and patterns.

I plan on sitting down and reading this book, absorbing the inspiration of Karel Martens's work and applying what I have learned to my own work and philosophy of what it means to design.

[Al Matthews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh this book rocks. Another Hyphen Press triumph. I already pimped this publicly though so why repeat?

http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/08/16...

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

10 Years ahead of its time.

[Widgets & · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mid-century modernist who loves letterpress printing? And he's Dutch? Fantastic!

[Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my most cherished books.