Irma Boom

Irma Boom

Irma Boom presenting her book Grafisch Nederland 2005 Kleur/Colour at the University of Amsterdam, November 2004
Born (1960-12-15) December 15, 1960
Lochem, Gelderland, Netherlands
Nationality Dutch
Education AKI Art Academy
Known for Graphic design
Awards Gutenberg Prize, 2001
Website www.irmaboom.nl

Irma Boom (born 15 December 1960 in Lochem, Gelderland, Netherlands), is a Dutch graphic designer—who specializes in book making. Boom has been described as the ‘The Queen of Books’,[1] having created over 300 books and is well reputed for her artistic autonomy within her field. Her bold experimental approach to her projects often challenges the convention of traditional books in both physical design and printed content.

Boom has been noted as the youngest recipient of the Gutenberg Prize, an award recognizing outstanding services to the advancement of the book arts.[2] A selection of Boom’s books are exhibited in the permanent collection of MoMA,[3] and a personalized Irma Boom Archive has been set up at the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands, showcasing Boom’s work.

Biography

Born in Lochem, The Netherlands in 1960, Boom was the youngest child of nine in her family.[4] Her venture into book design came by accident while pursuing painting at art school.[5] Boom had walked into a lecture on book design, and so profound was its impact that it inspired her to drop painting and join the graphic design department.[6] Here she found a love for Swiss typography[7] and began developing her creative voice.

Boom attended the AKI Art Academy in Enschede, Netherlands, where she pursued a B.F.A in graphic design.[8] During this time she interned at various offices including the Dutch Government Publishing and Printing Office in The Hague, Studio Dumbar and The Dutch Television (NOS) design department. Boom had applied to intern at Total Design in Amsterdam, where Wim Crouwel was director, but had been rejected by his colleagues for mixing too many typefaces. Her work was far too experimental for a firm that was used to strict typographic convention.

Boom experienced her first job as both an editor and designer during her time at the Dutch Government Publishing and Printing Office. It was here that she was noticed by Ootje Oxenaar, a designer of Dutch banknotes, who then invited her to design two catalogues for special edition postage stamps between years 1987-1988.[9] To him, she was the ‘designer of the crazy ads’.[10] The annual Dutch postage stamp books was considered a prestigious opportunity with previous designers had including Wim Crouwel, Karl Maartens and Gert Dumbar. Boom's experimental style was evident in this particular publication, through the rich layers of information and imagery. Boom had text crossing multiple pages, with printed folds and translucent paper. Though well received by Oxenaar, this project drew a lot of public outcry, for being overtly experimental in comparison to previous editions. Boom had received much hate mail, particularly from stamp collectors but in the light of it, this controversy brought her name into the public stage.

Upon graduating during the 1980s, Boom decided to return to the Dutch Government Publishing and Printing Office where she worked for another five and a half years. It gave her the opportunity to jump right into the shoes of a designer rather than an assistant designer. During this time she became acquainted with Paul Fenter van Vlissingen who would invite her to design the SHV Think Book—a book which eventually elevated her status to a design star.

Boom founded the Irma Boom Office in Amsterdam in 1991. Here she continued to tackle projects nationally and internationally in both the cultural and commercial sectors. Since 1992 she has been a critic at Yale University in the USA, and has both lectured and given workshops worldwide. She had also tutored at Jan van Eyck Akademie, Masstricht in the Netherlands between 1998-2000. Her work has been shown at numerous international exhibitions, including her own solo exhibition in Amsterdam in 2011.[11] She had been a member of the Supervisory Board Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam between 2004-2011 and has since 2008 been a member of the board Premsela Foundation, Amsterdam.

Building Books

Boom’s books take on an object-like architectural form. They are to her a unique medium for delivery of information. A thorough reflection of the information contained leads Boom to her design decisions. It is her aim to enhance the readers understanding of content while at the same time creating an object of beauty, with quality and permanence.[12] Just like a building, Boom considers the entire landscape of the book including the edges. She builds three-dimensional models in miniature scale to aid in the development of her books. From typography to material, every detail Boom applies to her projects possesses an underlying logic.[6]

Unconventional typographic trademarks of Boom may include the use of oversized type which successively shrinks from the opening to end of her book. This claims is a way to lure people into reading the introductory pages.[6]

Boom also makes use of various finishing in her printed material such as embossing and dye cuts. In her commissioned book for Chanel, Chanel N ͦ5, Boom printed an entire 300 page book devoid of ink, but instead embossed text and image creating a semi-invisible narrative of Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel.[12] The book is in all white, contained in a black box. This direction was said to be inspired by the nature of perfume-you can smell it and experience it, but you cannot see it.

Scented is another unusual feature Boom has utilized in her book design. Her conceptual book design for ‘The Road Not Taken’ has 718 pages printed using ink mixed with a base of beef bouillon. Coffee filter paper has been another unusual print material choice.

Creating a sensory tactile experience when designing and making books is very important to Boom. She wants to inspire discovery and interaction. Some of her books may be devoid of page numbers, or index. She may even have the book printed entirely in reversed chronological order. Book covers may be left white or blank, and the books scale distorted in thickness and size. Inner pages may have elaborately chosen colour codes or hidden motifs.[6] Every little detail is thought about by Boom to maximize its engagement potential in contrast to its digital counterparts.

Boom introduced the idea of a ‘fat book’; that is, books that are overtly thick. When asked what would make her create a book that was two inches tall and half as thick, she replied:

“The book is small because whenever I make a book, I start by making a tiny one. Usually I make five, six or seven for each book, as filters for my ideas and to help me to see the structure clearly. I have hundreds of those small books and am so fond of them. I’ve always wanted to make one for publication, but no one has ever wanted to do it. And I thought, well, this time, I can.”[13]

Titled Irma Book: The Architecture of the Book, it contains 704 pages and 450 images. She has received extensive media coverage of her work, and the New York Times profiled her in an article titled "A Small Book in a Big Career," published on August 8, 2010.[14]

Boom has designed most of her books with creative freedom in her designs. She designed a book titled Beautiful Ugly by Sarah Nuttall, with an olive-green colored cover and no pictures or text. "The book was designed in Amsterdam by Irma Boom, and I thank her for her extraordinary eye and prodigious talent for making books beautiful."[15]

Notable Books

Irma Boom has created over 200 books. Selection of books can be found at the permanent collection of the Architecture & Design department, MoMA.

SHV Think Book 1996-1896

This book was ‘the landmark book’ in Boom’s career.[1] The 2,136 page book was worked on for a span of five years before being published in 1996. Three and a half years were dedicated to intense research in Amsterdam, Paris, London and Vienna.[9] It contains no index or page numbers and is anti-chronological. This was to encourage readers to approach the book without constraints, but rather surprise and discovery. Tulip fields and a Dutch poem were incorporated into the edges of the book, viewable depending on the direction in which each page is flipped. It is an unusually thick book measuring 22.5 x 17 x 11 cm. It started with Boom being asked to ‘look for the unusual’.[1] It was created with the editorial of art historian Johan Pijnappel. Initially there had been consideration in publishing the content as a CD-ROM, but a book proved to be a more timeless and opportunistic option. The book’s cover is in entirely white linnen but reveals a title after frequent use. An alternate version comes in black. Transparent adhesive had been typographically applied to collect dust and finger prints. Creating a blank covered book had alarmed publishers who feared it would not sell. Its production proved to the contrary. It was the book which elevated her to international design stardom. The anniversary book was one of her biggest and communicated a narrative on the history of that company. It was designed to be distributed worldwide, yet Boom has calculated that it will take five hundred years for the book to spread to all the corners of the globe. Four thousand copies were printed in English and five hundred in Chinese.[16] It has been described as an international icon of Dutch design. It is part of the permanent collection of MoMA.[17]

Weaving as Metaphor, Sheila Hicks

Boom was commissioned this book by American artist Sheila Hicks. The book was published in 2006 and gained a gold medal as ‘The Most Beautiful Book in the World’ at the Leipzig Book Fair. This book again troubled publishers for its blank cover, warning that an image is needed or it would not sell. Boom rejected a request to have the artists work on the cover stating that Hicks is an interesting artist who deserves a bigger audience, therefore is in need of a more abstract cover.[1] The book was designed with a simple layout, text on the left, image centred on the right. Particularly noted of this book are the edges, which are jagged and frayed. A circular hack saw was introduced into the industrial process to create these edges, which were to mimic the tapestry of Hick’s work.[9] It measures at 22 x 15.5 x 5.6 cm and is part of the permanent collection at MoMA.

N°5 Culture Chanel

For Chanel's 2013 exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, Boom created a big white book. An entire 300 page book was printed devoid of ink, instead embossed with text and image creating a semi-invisible narrative for Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel.[12] The book is in all white, contained in a black box. This direction was said to be inspired by the nature of perfume—you can smell it and experience it, but you cannot see it. The essence of the Chanel N ͦ5 fragrance is represented via touch. Its content came from the world of Mlle. It won the Dutch Design Awards in 2013. It is part of the permanent collection at MoMA.

Irma Boom: The Architecture of the Book

Featuring an overview of Boom’s work are two 800 page identical copies of extremely contrast in size, published in 2010. The Boom book comes in a miniature (41.4 x 54.0mm, 55g) and an XXL edition (345 x 455mm, 7.5 kg). They both complement each other in that the larger version reveals hidden touches that cannot be seen in the miniscule. The books have coloured edges and are soft-cover bound with faux leather. Both include a specimen of the Chanel N ͦ5 book, with blind embossing. Other finishings include hot foil. The XXL is available in a limited edition of 150 numbered and signed copies. The miniature became a huge print success. Despite its size, it reads well. Boom had often dreamed of publishing at such a scale but the idea had as per usual been too unconventional and alarming to publishers. Her miniature is simply a model of her design process. She works builds books in small scale before evolving their size.[18] It is part of the permanent collection at MoMA.

Commissions & Clients

Boom's clients include the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, Inside Outside, The Museum of Modern Art New York, Prince Claus Fund, Fondazione Prada, Masserati, OMA/Rem Koolhaas, Yale Press London/Bard Graduate Centre New York, Serpentine Gallery, Wiel Arets, Chanel, Paul Fentener van Vlissingen, Inside Outside, Museum Boijmans, Zumtobel, Ferrari, Vitra International, NAi Publishers, United Nations, Koninklijke Tichelaar, Makkum, Aga Khan Foundation and Camper.

Boom is very selective of her projects, and collaborations. She is particular in acting roles while taking on projects.

“I never talk about clients, by the way – I have ‘commissioners’. I think with a client, the designer works for them. So instead I have commissioners I work with. The commissioner is on an equal level as the designer. Not like ‘I’m paying you-you do this for me.’ To you the ‘commissioner’ feels like we’re talking about an artist, but in the Netherlands, a commissioner is someone you – i say- work with.” [19]

Collections

Select Awards & Honors

Boom has over 50 awards and honors and nominations received between 1989 and 2013.

2001 Gutenberg Price for oeuvre (Leipzig)

2000 Gold Medaille “Schönste Bücher Aller Welt”, Leipzig (cat. World Wide Video, 1998)

2002 Siver Medaille “Schönste Bücher Aller Welt”, Leipzig (cat. Rijnlands Huis, 2001)

2003 Gold Medaille “Schönste Bücher Aller Welt”, Leipzig with Kristina Brusa (Irma Boom, Gutenberg Galaxie 2, 2003)

2006 Golden Bee Award, Colour book 5 centuries art

2009 AIGA Best Book (Design and the Elastic Mind)

2011 AIGA Best Books, New York (Irma Boom: Biography in Books)

2011 D&AD, London (Irma Boom: Biography in Books)

2012 Amsterdam Price for oeuvre

2012 House of Orange, Honory Medaille for Art and Science, hounour of Queen Beatrix 2012 AAM Museum Publications Design Competition, First Prize (USA) (Knoll Textiles)

2012 Herzog & De Meuron, Architectural Book Award 2012 of the German Museum of Architecture, Frankfurt

2013 Auto Biographical References/Wiel Arets

Irma Boom Quotes

"Sometimes I see books, and I think, Well, it could have been a PDF. The regular book is not alive anymore. You can put it on a PDF on the internet, or on a Kindle or iPad, and it’s the same. But my books are something else. They have to be this three-dimensional object. Somebody once said that I’m building books. I really like that expression very much."[20]
"I compare my work to architecture. I don’t build villas, I build social housing. The books are industrially made and they need to be made very well. It’s never art. Never, never, never."[1]
“In older days, a book was made for spreading information, but now we have the internet to spread information. So to spread something else, maybe sheer beauty or a much slower more thought provoking message – its the book.” [21]
“Stay close to your own ideas.” [22]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Eye Magazine | Feature | Reputations: Irma Boom". www.eyemagazine.com. Retrieved 2016-01-27.
  2. ↑ "Gutenberg Prize - Stadt Leipzig". english.leipzig.de. Retrieved 2016-01-27.
  3. ↑ "Irma Boom | MoMA". www.moma.org. Retrieved 2016-01-27.
  4. ↑ Breuer, Gerda (2012). Women In Graphic Design. Jovis. pp. 226–231.
  5. ↑ "Irma Boom / The European Design Show : - Design/Designer Information". design.designmuseum.org. Retrieved 2016-01-27.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Reinventing the Smell of a Book". The International Herald Tribune. March 19, 2007 – via LexisNexis Academic.
  7. ↑ "Boom and her books | Creative Review". www.creativereview.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-01-27.
  8. ↑ "Network « Follow The money". Followthemoney.nu. 1962-12-18. Retrieved 2013-05-02.
  9. 1 2 3 Butler, Cornelia (2010). Modern Women: Women Artists at The Museum of Modern Art. New York: The Museum of Modern Art. pp. 401–403.
  10. ↑ "Eye Magazine | Feature | Reputations: Irma Boom". www.eyemagazine.com. Retrieved 2016-01-29.
  11. ↑ "Irma Boom — Calendar — Walker Art Center". Walkerart.org. Retrieved 2013-05-02.
  12. 1 2 3 http://www.artbabble.org/video/louisiana/irma-boom-tribute-coc-chanel. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  13. ↑ "Irma Boom's Miniature Monograph Reviewed: Observatory: Design Observer". Observatory.designobserver.com. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  14. ↑ Rawsthorn, Alice (2010-08-08). "A Small Book on a Big Career". The New York Times.
  15. ↑ Beautiful ugly - Sarah Nuttall - Google Books. Books.google.com. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  16. ↑ JAbreo (2008-11-15). "Design History Mashup: Irma Boom, Thinkbook". Designhistorymashup.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2013-05-02.
  17. ↑ "Yale University School of Art: I Boom". art.yale.edu. Retrieved 2016-01-27.
  18. ↑ Amsterdam, Universiteit van. "Irma Boom: The Architecture of the Book". bijzonderecollecties.uva.nl. Retrieved 2016-01-27.
  19. ↑ "Irma Boom’s Visual Testing Ground - Metropolis Magazine - December 1969". www.metropolismag.com. Retrieved 2016-01-27.
  20. ↑ "Interview with Irma Boom". Print Magazine. Retrieved 2016-01-29.
  21. ↑ "Irma Boom’s Visual Testing Ground - Metropolis Magazine - December 1969". www.metropolismag.com. Retrieved 2016-01-27.
  22. ↑ "Irma Boom’s Visual Testing Ground - Metropolis Magazine - December 1969". www.metropolismag.com. Retrieved 2016-01-27.

Sources

Further reading

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