experimental book about stamps

During her B.F.A. in design Irma Boom interned at various prestigious offices including Studio Dumbar. Her work was often rejected as too experimental for firms accustomed to strict typographic conventions. At the same time her experimental books began attracting new interesting commissioners. In 1987–1988 Boom designed the official annual Dutch postage stamp books. She structured them in Japanese style binding and had text crossing multiple pages with printed folds and translucent paper. It was her first work where she also acted as image editor, which was unusual for the time. Boom received much hate mail, particularly from stamp collectors, who thought the books were controversial. However, such controversy brought her name onto the public stage and established her name as a designer.

Created with Sketch.

the books are industrially made and they need to be made very well. it’s never art. never, never, never. —irma boom

Christian Brändle, Glenn Adamson, Verena Formanek, Every Thing Design, a book designed by Irma Book

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

 

building books

Irma Boom founded an independent office in Amsterdam in 1991 and continued to work on projects in cultural and commercial sectors. A thorough reflection on a book's content leads Boom to her design decisions. It is her aim to enhance the reader's understanding while at the same time creating an object of beauty, with quality and permanence. One of Boom’s trademarks (Weaving as Metaphor) is the use of oversized type which successively shrinks from the opening to the end of a book as a way to lure people into reading the introductory pages. This book has a blank cover and alarmed publishers at the time but their unease presumably disappeared after the book's release, as it elevated Boom to international design stardom.

 

Chanel: Livre Dy Artistes, 2014. Book designed by Irma Boom.

Chanel: Livre Dy Artistes, book designed by Irma Boom
Reading the American Landscape, a book designed by Irma Boom
The Spine, a book designed by Irma Boom

Anne Hoogewoning, Erik de Jong, Lex Braak, David Hamers, Frank van der Salm “Reading the American Landscape: An Index of Books and Images”, 2009. Book designed by Irma Boom.

“The Spine”, 1994. Book designed by Irma Boom.

Knoll Textiles, a book designed by Irma Boom

Knoll Textiles, 2011. Book designed by Irma Boom

Elements, a book designed by Irma Boom
Robert Zandvliet, I Owe You the Truth in Painting, book designed by Irma Boom

Robert Zandvliet “I Owe You the Truth in Painting”, 2012. Book designed by Irma Boom.

Elements (15 books accompanying the exhibition “Elements of Architecture” at the 2014 Venice Biennale), 2014. Designed by Irma Boom.

Bobbye Tigerman, Handbook of California Design, designed by Irma Boom
Alice Rawsthorn, Hello World: Where Design Meets Life, a book designed by Irma Boom

Alice Rawsthorn “Hello World: Where Design Meets Life”, 2013. Book designed by Irma Boom.

Bobbye Tigerman “Handbook of California Design”, 2013. Designed by Irma Boom.

the books are small because whenever i make a book i start by making a tiny one. i have hundreds of these small books and i am so fond of them. —irma boom

A fragment of De Rijp/Kunst op Kamers book, designed by Irma Boom and Cees Straus
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