SHV think book

Boom was commissioned to create a jubilee for the Coal Trade Company, SHV. The book turned out to be a landmark in her career. The 2,136-page book took five years to complete, and was finally published in 1996. The project began in 1991 with Boom’s only prompt being to “look for the unusual“. The book utilizes the nonlinear structure of the internet, which was then quite new. The book contains no index or page numbers and is in reverse chronological order. The book is a voyage in time. Tulip fields and a Dutch poem are printed on the edges of the book, seen in different ways depending on the direction the pages are flipped. The book has a white cover and a text reveals itself when the book becomes used and dirty.

Created with Sketch.

i don't use the word “client“. i have “commissioners“. i am commissioned to do work. the designer is on an equal level with the commissioner. —irma boom

Christian Brändle, Glenn Adamson, Verena Formanek, Every Thing Design, designed by Irma Boom

Christian Brändle, Glenn Adamson, Verena Formanek “Every Thing Design: The Collections of the Museum of Design Zürich”, 2009. Book designed by Irma Boom.

 

a book that smells

Creating books where content and form are closely related is very important to Boom. She aims to inspire discovery and interaction. Scent is one of the unusual features Boom utilized in one of her book designs, in collaboration with an artist. Her conceptual book design for The Road Not Taken with artist Job Koelewijn has 718 pages printed using ink mixed with a base of bouillon. Coffee filter paper is another unusual material choice that Boom used for a book about water in Scotland.

A fragment of “De Rijp/Kunst op Kamers” book, 2008. Designed by Irma Boom and Cees Straus.

A fragment of De Rijp/Kunst op Kamers book, 2008. Eye-like colored shapes foating in space
Vitra Workspirit Six, 1998. Book designed by Irma Boom

Vitra Workspirit Six, 1998. Book designed by Irma Boom.

Surplace, 2007. Book designed by Irma Boom
Lichtjahre: Zumtobel 2000–1950, 2000. Book designed by Irma Boom

Surplace, 2007. Book designed by Irma Boom.

Lichtjahre: Zumtobel 2000–1950, 2000. Book designed by Irma Boom.

Paul Fentener van Vlissingen The Eleonora's First Atlantic Crossing. Book designed by Irma Boom

Paul Fentener van Vlissingen “The Eleonora's First Atlantic Crossing”, 2003. Book designed by Irma Boom.

Shot, 2004. Book designed by Irma Boom
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