Jurriaan Schrofer Publication

m a i n t y p e main type • jurrian schrofer edition • vol 2

vol 2

1926-1990

jurriaan schrofer edition

Typography’s Secret Genius

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JURRIAAN SCHROFER

main type • jurrian schrofer edition • vol 2

main type • jurrian schrofer edition • vol 2

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hanks to the world wide web, it is unusual to miss influential designers in this day and age. It is very likely you’ve heard all about designers such as Weingart, Escher and Lubalin. As a designer, you have probably studied them at some length. However, it is quite unlikely that you have heard of Jurriaan Schrofer, who does not even have a Wikipedia page, and has only been discovered by the world outside the Netherlands since a book was released in 2013

by Frederike Huygen (Jurrian Schrofer: The Restless Typographer) exposing his intricate, multi-dimensional, experimental design. The book presented an astounding quality of work, which has since been met with resounding interest in the man himself and his career.

Schrofer began his career in design as an intern with the well known Dick Elffers, honing his skills before moving into paid employment at the Meijer Printing

“

A graphic designer embodies the art of storytelling through the implementation of written communication between people.”

Jurrian Schrofer

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House. He later worked with Wim Crouwel in the 1960s at the prestigious Total Design Studio where his most impressive work was done. Schrofer was very passionate about government art policy, and was heavily involved in policymaking. During his career he took great inspiration from M. C. Escher, which can be seen in his works.

Schrofer was separate in his thinking to the majority of designers of the time in that he considered advertising an appropriate use of design. His adventurous temperament took him into the realms of logos, branding, book covers, brochures, journals, signage, and his most ambitious and well-known area of photo books. The majority of his work with multi-dimensional lettering was crafted by hand in a time where digital typography was not an option, but occasionally used photography to create optical illusions which are baffling works even today with technology continuously at our fingertips.

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main type • jurrian schrofer edition • vol 2

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