Gemma de Roos

Back in Art College (St. Joost academie in Breda) Gemma de Roos graduated two years ahead of me. Although we studied graphic design it was quite obvoius that she more into illustration. This book was her final exam. Back then I wasn't really impressed but I realise now how great it was! Click on the photo's to see the illustrations more clearly.

Sketching my monogram

These are sketches I did in Art college for my own monogram. All of these are done by hand, I wish I still had the patience to sketch like that!

Different header

Tell me if you prefer the one I used to have (see below).

Miss Scarlet, in the library, with the rope

Who doesn't know the game of Cluedo? I love this vintage version which I found in a second hand store. Just look at the weapons and the character cards. Lovely!

Crane is cotton

A few years ago I received this small book from a paper supplier. The paper brand is called Crane. The manufacturer uses only 100% pure cotton fibre to make its business papers. The paper feels like a lot of paper brands feel but the presentation is quite nice. The illustrations were made by Stephen Alcorn. He used the relief-block print technique for these illustrations. Gorgeous, right?

Happy birthday

Vandaag is deze speciaal voor jou, mam. Omdat je me vroeger altijd mijn kaartjes liet in plakken kan ik nu terugkijken op een plakboek vol mooie oude kaartjes en herinneringen! Dank je wel.

This blogpost is for my mother who went into surgery today. She used to 'make' me collect the postcards I received in this book. Back then I didn't like doing it but now I'm really glad she encouraged me. The book is a nice collection of vintage postcards from the (early) seventies. My own time capsule!

Seawater aquarium from 1930

Learning fractions

These wooden boxes are actually learning material.

A long, long time ago

A few books from my childhood: the Fabeltjeskrant books are picture books from the early seventies. I have a whole stack of these. Fabeltjeskrant was a TV show for children which ran for two decades on Dutch television. The Sjors and Sjimmie books are comic books, these would nowadays considered to be a bit politically incorrect. It's the Dutch version of the American character Perry Winkle.

Chinese paper cuts

My friend Jenny once showed me paper cuts she had used for a birth announcement design. I was in love with these delicate pieces of art immediately. These tiny pieces of paper are hand cut and are so extremely fragile, you cannot believe it. So beautiful! It's hard to imagine someone doing this actually by hand. I bought two of these sets a few years ago somewhere in Amsterdam but, for the life of me, I cannot remember where?!

Let children learn

things to learn from Matt Edgar on Vimeo.

Dutch illustrator/designer Christan Borstlap was commissioned to design the children's stamps for 2009 for the Dutch TNT. This charity project focuses on the promotion of children's education. Dutch children at the age of about 10 go door to door to sell these stamps. I remember when I was at the right age to sell them. I had to run home and start my selling activities immediately, otherwise someone else would have beaten me to it. The stamps were very popular, everyone bought them! Needless to say, that was in the pre e-mail era.

For the promotion of the 2009 stamps Christian made an animation which I saw at the Berlin Pictoplasma Festival. I had never seen the stamps, nor the animation... So I was pleasantly surprised to discover that one of the animations I enjoyed most was designed by a Dutch illustrator! In fact, I was already familiar with his work. His brother Jan-Jacob used to be a colleague of mine at EdenSpiekermann. Check out his website for more great work.