FONTNAMES ILLUSTRATED
FONTNAME: PURPLE HAZE
LABEL: FONT SPECTRUM
JAVIER RODRÍGUEZ FERNÁNDEZ 153 → 216 Slanted 41—Amsterdam
2021
FONTNAME: DUTCH DECO JNL
LABEL: JEFF LEVINE
JUNA HORSTMANS 156
→ 216 Slanted 41—Amsterdam
2020
ANNABEL KEIJZER 157
FONTNAME: NORDIC PAVILLION
2021 → 217 Slanted 41—Amsterdam
LABEL: SCOTT VANDER ZEE
10 × 10
You are tall, blue-eyed, blonde, do drugs, travel with your caravan to France, and wear wooden shoes, right? Who are you and what are you currently doing?
Hans Gremmen Random answer 1: Grootveld called this symbol GNOT, a neologism combining the Dutch words for “God” and “pleasure” (genot). The symbol came to stand for the magical center of Amsterdam, in which the apple symbolizes the concentric canal belt, the stem the river Amstel, and the dot the public sculpture Het Lieverdje on the Spui, opposite the independent bookstore Athenaeum. Possibly, there’s a secret connection between this magic apple and The Beatles’ record label Apple Records (founded in 1968).
Jeremy Jansen I guess I am indeed relatively tall. And last summer I did travel with my camper through Europe, including France. In no particular order, some of the things I am are a book designer, dad, mediocre cook, teacher, owner of a gray Opel Corsa, and optimist.
At the moment I am working on several artist books. These last couple of years I have worked almost exclusively on book design, which I enjoy very much, probably the most.
Elisa van Joolen I am the opposite of the above, except I do have blue eyes.
At this moment I am working on different projects, one of them is Our Rags Magazine, a collaborative project with Aimée Zito Lema that investigates transformative processes, proposing new forms of collective production aimed at the reuse of discarded clothing and textiles. The project and resulting fashion magazine question consumer behavior and its relationship to the world in which we live. We imagined what a fashion magazine would look like in 400 years, in a world with no natural resources left, transformation and recycling are the only way forward. Our Rags Magazine is a magazine where the pages not only show clothing but actually are clothing. We made 68 unique copies.
Another ongoing project is EVJ, a series of unique tote bags made from used plastic shopping bags. These bags are not for sale, but users can borrow them for a set period of time.
In doing so, they become the bags’ caretakers: users sign a loan agreement stipulating that they will look after the bag and take care of it, and return it after six months ready for a new caretaker. I initiated EVJ in March 2020 at the Jan van Eyck Academy (JVE) in Maastricht, and the project continued in collaboration with Het Nieuwe Instituut Rotterdam, Dutch Design Week and Z33 House for Contemporary Art, Design, and Architecture in Hasselt. EVJ challenges preconceived notions around property, use, and care. It asks what it means to care for something that is not ours, and whether something seemingly worthless can accrue value by being in our charge.
We buy things, or we receive them as gifts. Sometimes we rent things. But borrowing something—without a monetary exchange taking place—and then having to care for it, is less common; even less so when it comes to borrowing from a stranger. It calls on notions that seem to have gone out of fashion but are in fact incredibly important. In our present moment, ideas around commons—shared spaces and shared resources—have become sparse, as well as notions of care, commitment, responsibility, maintenance, and trust. EVJ aims to reinstate these ideas as and through daily practice.
We made a website (evjbags.com) where you can borrow a bag, browse through the ever-growing archive of EVJ bag stories, and read up on the history, theory, and psychology of care, maintenance, and commons.
In March 2023, some bags will be available again for a new round (the fifth!) of borrowing at Het Nieuwe Instituut. Since the bags are from no one, also not from an institute, I like that they become temporary Z33 bags and now are again Het Nieuwe Instituut tote bags, I would love them to become one day MoMA or Hamburger Bahnhof tote bags …
Madeleine van Lennep I am small, brown-eyed, hate drugs, prefer boats and flexible shoes. My name is Madeleine van
1 Slanted 41—Amsterdam 161 10 × 10 → 214–220
Around 30,000 residents of Amsterdam called for tourism to be limited to 12 million overnight stays a year. But the city did not follow suit. It set the cap at 20 million. The rules for platforms like Airbnb have been drastically tightened, the number of hotel beds has been limited, and city tours in the historic city center have been restricted. It is also being considered to ban a large part of prostitution from the red light district and to ban the sale of soft drugs to tourists in the coffee shops. How does it feel to live in a city that seems so expensive and crowded with tourists?
Hans Gremmen Random answer 8: P.L. Kramer designed an apartment block located in Heinzestraat, including a red-bricked façade. The doors in the triangular—shaped porches are placed slantwise. This building provides an architecturally relevant example of a tight façade composition and of expressive details in the style of the Amsterdam School.
Jeremy Jansen I wouldn’t know, I live on an island. Literally, I live on an artificial island on the border of the city.
Elisa van Joolen It can be overwhelming … and yes, residents of Amsterdam are fighting to claim the city back. I live in Amsterdam because my friends, family, and work are here, I love the city and cannot imagine myself living in another place in the Netherlands.
Madeleine van Lennep Compared to other “real” metropolises Amsterdam is not
8
that overcrowded yet. It is not so difficult to avoid a certain type of tourist and it is only enriching to see and meet others. The lockdown periods showed us a quiet, serene Amsterdam that we hadn’t experienced for a long time. It made us more aware of the fact that we don’t need to take things for granted. We can make choices and “manage” tourism.
Jord Noorbeek Luckily I am living in the north of Amsterdam, on the other side of the backwater called the IJ. It is (at least where I live) quiet. You don’t hear trams on the street. It’s like a village. When, in the morning at 9 a.m., I cycle away from home it gets busier and busier the closer I get to my studio. I’m used to living in a busy city and I do like being among the bustling crowd. I like I can always be among the people, and join the crowd, whenever I feel like it. It was precisely when the tourists were not there (during Covid) that the impact of
Haarlem Vinyl Festivalal design: Suze Swarte, Jord Noorbeek, poster design, 2023.
Phil concerthal Jord Noorbeek, design: Suze Swarte, Jord Noorbeek, visual identity, client: Stadsschouwburge & Philharmonie Haarlem, 2023.
174 → 214–220 Slanted 41—Amsterdam 10 × 10
tourism became clearly visible. The rest and quietness in the city were overwhelming. During that time Amsterdam was only for Amsterdammers. Suddenly I would walk into friends on the streets, while normally—as it is now again—there are too many people, too many tourists, to spontaneously bump into anyone you know. Many people enjoyed it. What I really liked as well was that the streetscape, the city, and its architecture were much more and differently visible, without all the tourists.
Hugo Rocci Are there cities where the local, creative class is appreciated appropriately? Doesn’t seem to be an issue exclusive to Amsterdam.
Charlotte Rohde It makes cycling an adventure every day. But our communities are small and we have our places and usually, you don’t really intersect with the tourists.
Vera van de Seyp Damn, I feel sad now. The city center is not very liveable in some parts anymore, but then it also wasn’t before it was gentrified and tourists came. I don’t think prostitution or the sale of soft drugs should be banned as it has been part of this city for longer than most people. Honestly, I prefer being surrounded by tourists than by people that spend their entire day practicing some new hip lifestyle and unironically wearing yoga gear in public (rocking a VanMoof or one of those dumb Mad Max motorized bikes). In my opinion, that tendency is affecting the city more negatively. However, as creatives, we also have to acknowledge the role we play in this process of gentrification of cities. In Amsterdam, new creative hubs are subsidized in specific areas so that they
would become more “habitable” (read gentrified). Until recently interesting art places were subsidized further and further away from the city center (De School complex, Het HEM) but in the past few years some creative places have started in the middle of the Red Light District again. Full circle: the epicenter of tourism now has become a ground zero for arts again.
Kai Udema I don’t want to compare them to pigeons, but … after a while, you don’t notice them anymore until you almost kill one on your bike. Then there’s another plague going on, which is the “ringneck parakeet.” They’re more like the slumlords of the city, overtaking you left and right on their electric bikes, claiming every hole in every tree, and making life for the other species more expensive. They look pretty but they’re loud and selfish.
Edgar Walthert What hurts me the most are specialized stores that have to close because the rents are too high. These are then quickly replaced by tourist shops. Souvenir shops have been limited by the city, but now there are overpriced candy stores or a rubber-duck stores that keep popping up (probably until this loophole gets closed). The inner city is a theme park. When friends complain about tourists blindly walking into the bike paths backward, I say: who can blame them? The city is marketed as Disney Land, people have no conception of people living and working here. Putting up huge photographs of residents in the Red Light District that say “I live here” is too little too late. The city needs to do more, of course. If it keeps going in this direction, the center will be uninhabitable.
Purple Haze
Edgar
Walthert, Font Spectrum, typeface design together with Daniël Maarleveld, released at Future Fonts, 2021.
→ 214–220 Slanted 41—Amsterdam 175 10 × 10
Oedipus Alphabet Two Edgar Walthert, typeface design, in collaboration with Victor Brangolo / Oedipus Brewing, designs and logos: Victor Brangolo, 2022.
Amsterdam Tapestry
In Rotterdam, some people prefer not to pronounce the word “Amsterdam, ” but say 020 instead. This refers to the phone area code for Amsterdam. The code for Rotterdam is 010, and of course 010 comes before 020. Despite the eternal rivalry, we as Rotterdam-based designers are very fond of Amsterdam. We visit the city often, have many befriended colleagues and clients over there and it has always been the cultural center of the Netherlands. So, as two Rotterdammers with a love for Amsterdam and a healthy fetish for iconography, we decided to make a contemporary coat of arms for the Dutch capital in 2017. Something we had already done for our own city in 2001 when Rotterdam was the cultural capital of Europe. There the idea was born to use classic shield-compositions for showing relevant symbols of today.
21st Century Heraldry
When we lived and worked as artists in residence in Los Angeles (2007) and Naples (2018) we developed a contemporary crest for these cities as well. We named this series 21st Century Heraldry. We make them because we have a long-term obsession in collecting and inventorizing symbolism and both graduated as designers on symbols and graphic icons. Our bible is a thick book that’s always on the table: Heraldry, Sources, Symbols, and Meaning. The first historical shields were a sort of war resume, there were the antecedents on it, battles won and the like: feats of arms. Later they developed for more widespread use, such as guilds, families, and sports clubs. The symbols themselves had a fixed meaning, as did their position on the shield. We thought it was interesting and funny to use these traditional compositions as a framework for representing the logo’s we see in a city today. Because branding now does what heraldry used to do; let people identify themselves with a sign or symbol that stands for something that they feel they belong to. The best materialization of our modern crests (that were originally only published as graphic images in newspapers and magazines) we found at the Textile Museum in Tilburg, The Netherlands. There we developed large jacquard-woven tapestries of 235 × 170 centimeters. Having set the base for this series, many cities followed over the years, among which tapestries for Milan, London, and Hamburg.
Amsterdam in 100 Symbols
In our Amsterdam tapestry there are about 100 references incorporated from all kinds of fields and disciplines. All of them we chose as characteristic
186 Slanted 41—Amsterdam → 214 75B
187 Slanted 41—Amsterdam → 214 AMSTERDAM TAPESTRY
Amsterdam Tapestry. Photo: © Bob Goedewaagen.
Centrum
In the oldest part of Amsterdam there is much to discover. The Amsterdam city center with its centuries-old buildings, hidden courtyards, and restaurants on every street corner are perhaps the liveliest part of the city.
@droog
Oranje-Vrijstaatkade 71 droog.com
A special place in the heart of Amsterdam holding cultural events of all kind, pop-ups, and more. You can also eat and drink in their café, so make sure to safe some time and go by.
Athenaeum Nieuwscentrum
Spui 14–16 athenaeum.nl
A place of pure joy for every book lover. Spending time at Athenaeum
Boekhandel is time well spent. See their book and magazine recommendations on p. 204.
Bonne
Warmoesstraat 67 bonnelife.com
Bonne by Bonne Reijn is an Amsterdam based work wear brand. The unique, minimalist work wear with the design of four patch pockets is designed for everyday use and is made of 100 % cotton. It fits any gender and is available in all sizes.
Bordello A Parigi
Oudezijds Kolk 71 bordelloaparigi.com
A record store, shop, and label … all in one. Check out their Instagram @bordelloshop for the latest additions and insights into the wide selection of records.
Bordello Aperitivo
Zeedijk 41 bordelloaperitivo.com
Bordello Aperitivo is the cozy sister of the Bordello family with aperitivi, antipasti, pizza. News about the DJs playing here can be found on their Instagram @bordelloaperitivo. You can simply email or call to reserve a table.
Burrito Maker
Haarlemmerplein 29
Legend has it that the pop star Beyoncé ordered a large amount of burritos for her performance in Amsterdam. For all fans this means a clear recommendation.
Café de Tuin
Tweede Tuindwarsstraat 13 cafedetuin.nl
Typical cozy Brown Café near the Tulip Museum. They serve Dutch
Hotel Cafe / Tea / Bar Restaurant Sweet Treats Record Store Books Park Education Theater / Cinema / Events Shopping Take a look Museum Gallery / Art Space Architecture 198 Slanted 41—Amsterdam HOT SPOTS
snacks, beers, but also cakes and coffee. Depending on what you feel like.
Café Parlotte Westerstraat 182 parlotte.nl
Casual dining in a laid atmosphere with an extensive wine list, serving oysters and global dishes as well as beer.
Café Twee Prinsen Prinsenstraat 27 tweeprinsen.nl
Twee Prinsen has their doors open for you seven days a week, serving a great selection of natural wines.
Chamuyero Carnicería & Deli Rozengracht 104h chamuyero.nl
Argentine bar and deli in a vintage inspired store. You can try Argentine icons, daily baked medialunas and empanadas. Worth eating.
Chun-Café Berenstraat 8 chun-amsterdam.com
The Korean-inspired Chun Café is very popular for its toasts, again the eye eats with every bite! You can’t reserve a table and there can be a long wait—but it’s worth it.
d&a hummus bistro Oostenburgergracht 185 dna-hummusbistro.com
After eating here your DNA definitely will contain hummus. But it’s worth it. A must-do for every hummus lover.
De Koffieschenkerij
Oudekerksplein 27 koffieschenkerij.com
Specialty coffee bar with beautiful historic rooms and a lovely garden to sit outside in the oldest building of Amsterdam: de Oude Kerk.
Duke of Tokyo Reguliersdwarsstraat 37 dukeoftokyo.com
The Duke of Tokyo takes us on a musical journey. With private karaoke rooms in a variety of styles and sizes, you can easily spend an entire night singing and dancing and getting a variety of drinks served directly to your room (Ka-n-pa-ii!!).
Elliott Gallery
Tussen de Bogen 91 elliott.gallery
Elliott Gallery is a place you must visit if you are passionate about
photography and art. This leading gallery has a diverse collection of works.
ENTER ENTER— A Space for Books
Nieuwe Herengracht 11 enter-enter.nl
ENTER ENTER is a project space dedicated to the “art of the book.” Here you will find works by publishers, designers, authors, and printers, but also independents who are passionate about art books.
Filmtheater De Uitkijk
Prinsengracht 452 uitkijk.nl
De Uitkijk cinema opened in the 1920s and is the oldest art house film theater in continuous use in the Netherlands.
Foam—Museum for Photography
Keizersgracht 609 foam.org
Foam offers its visitors an accessible platform to establish direct contact with the world of photography. They create a dialog with exhibitions, publications, debates, and educational programs. Step inside the museum and be challenged, stimulated, and inspired.
Fou Fow Ramen
Elandsgracht 2a foufow.nl
A small, warm place where you can get Ramen in an urban atmosphere. But remember that you can not reserve a table in advance!
Fou Fow Udon
Prinsengracht 411h
@foufowudon
Fou Fow Udon serves you homemade Noodles. You can eat them inside or on their terrace but also easily order for take away.
Fromagerie Abraham Kef Marnixstraat 192b abrahamkef.nl
With three locations (Oost, Noord, and West), Formagerie Kef is offering a particularly fine and exclusive range of cheese in all its stores. Quality is assured!
Galerie Ron Mandos Prinsengracht 282 ronmandos.nl
In Amsterdam’s gallery district, among other great spaces, you’ll find the Ron Mandos Gallery, which exhibits contemporary artists from around the globe in a calm atmosphere.
Hortus Botanicus Plantage Middenlaan 2a dehortus.nl
The Hortus Botanicus, with its butterfly greenhouse, the Three Climate Greenhouse where three different climate zones can be found, and finally the palm greenhouse, which is a protected monument and an important part of the Hortus heritage, offers visitors a beautiful experience in every season.
Kimpton De Witt Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 5 kimptondewitthotel.com
Hotel Kimpton de Witt promises a combination of experiencing the rich historic city center of Amsterdam and a modern and urban environment.
Madé van Krimpen Prinsengracht 615h madevankrimpen.com
The Madé van Krimpen Gallery specializes in solo and group exhibitions and collaborates with creative groups and collectives organizing pop-up and gallery takeover events. It presents works by established and emerging artists. Part of Madé van Krimpen is also the Green Room, which offers space for experimental projects.
Mangia Pizza & Wine di Antonio Cavoto Lindengracht 158h pizzamangia.nl
“Qui si mangia e si beve bene!” Here you eat like in Italy and with your pizza you can enjoy one or more of the many Italian wines.
Mediamatic ETEN Dijksgracht 6 mediamatic.net
For an unforgettable dinner, spend an evening at Mediamatic. Here is served not “only” food, but also an experience. Overlooking the river, you sit in the greenhouses “Serres Séparées” and can look directly at the science museum Nemo.
MENDO
Nieuwe Doelenstraat 10 mendo.nl
Verry well-assorted bookstore with a focus on aesthetically and visually pleasing books. Both off–and online you will feel the passion of MENDO’s dedication to share beautiful books.
Mokum Vintage Rozengracht 25 mokumvintage.com
Mokum Vintage store offers a well-stocked selection of street
199 Slanted 41—Amsterdam
HOT SPOTS
Plakato by Akiem Helmling, Bas Jacobs & Sami Kortemäki
Underware, underware.nl, 2022
Styles: 16 styles from Neon to Stencil
Language support: Latin
OpenType features
Optimized for web
Test version available
Plakato, a stencil love affair— a collective of fonts, consisting of various eye-catching styles. It is an identity toolkit, a heavyweight building block in case you need a strong personality, a small stencil font family to cut out your best ideas and grab all the attention. But just as with many other creations, its outcome is as divers as its multiple origins. The collective of fonts, include a static, a variable and a COLRv1 family.
SOLAR PANEL SMILE
ag r KG R abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwzßæñşý ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUZÆÄĖĢĦ 123456789 0&$€@.,:;!?’)]§*“”«»↙☛ O Mi Unicornio Azul u
La Pantera Nera ! Pre Internet Geest � Mečové Umění ® Bauhaus Werkstatt PARA MI COLECCIÓN FIGH TER LITTLE – @
№4
1 CONTEMPORARY TYPEFACE FROM NL 210 → 220 Slanted 41—Amsterdam
HP:235
Stage:
Rapida & Rapidissima by Michelangelo Nigra Typotheque, typotheque.com, 2022
Styles & weights: 2 styles: Rapida and Rapidissima, both in 5 weights from Regular to Black.
Rapida + Italic
Language support: Latin
OpenType features
Optimized for web Test version available
Rapida is a serif typeface family for continuous text setting, distinguished by the way in which it both follows historical conventions and introduces unusual, abrupt detailing. This brings a liveliness to text, on screen as well as in print. In addition to the body text version, there is an italic-only, display group of fonts called Rapidissima, which presents an extreme visual rendering of the idea of speed.
agrKGR abcdefghjklmnoqrstuwxyzßæäñşý ABCEFGHIJKLMNOQRYZÆÄĖĢĦ 1234567890¾&$€ @.,-:;!?’)]§*“”«»↗ No time for worrying Cliffjumper jumps off Chissà dove sarai? M EMENTO † MORI Right Time−Wrong Style Baby wants to ride AUTO DA GARA ⑧ Locomotive Breath “ ki�� ing it. ” CONTEMPORARY TYPEFACE FROM NL 211 → 218 Slanted 41—Amsterdam
SLANTED MAGAZINE TYPOGRAPHY & DESIGN CULTURE
SPRING / SUMMER 2023
41 AMSTERDAM
PUBLISHER
Slanted Publishers
Nördliche Uferstraße 4–6
76189 Karlsruhe
Germany
T +49 (0) 721 85148268 magazine@slanted.de slanted.de
TEAM
Editor in Chief (V.i.S.d.P.)
Lars Harmsen
Creative Direction
Lars Harmsen
Managing Editor
Julia Kahl
Proofreading
Lies Wolf, Julia Kahl
Assistance Editing & Graphic Design
Maritza Lapeira, Clara Weinreich
Final Design
Clara Weinreich
Photography
Lars Harmsen, Julia Kahl
Video Editing
Juliane Nöst
SLANTED WEBLOG
Editor in Chief (V.i.S.d.P.)
Julia Kahl
Editors
slanted.de/publisher/profile-contact
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Video interviews slanted.de/amsterdam
ISBN 978-3-948440-47-3
ISSN 1867-6510
Frequency 2 × p. a. (Spring / Summer, Autumn / Winter)
Copyright © Slanted Publishers, 2023
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All rights reserved.
PRODUCTION
Printing
Stober GmbH, Druckerei und Verlag
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Book Binding
Schaumann Buchbinderei
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Cardboard Cover
WestRock Crescendo® C1S, 320 gsm
Paper Visual Part
galaxiart® samt, 115 gsm
Distributed by Inapa Deutschland
Hamburg, Germany inapa.de
Paper Back Part
Holmen TRND 1.6 70 gsm
Holmen TRND Vintage 2.0 60 gsm
Manufactured by Holmen Paper AB
Norrköping / Sweden holmen.com
Spot Color
HKS Warenzeichenverband e. V. Stuttgart / Germany hks-farben.de
HKS 13 N
Fonts
OPS Favorite, 2020
Design: Our Polite Society & Jan Egbers
Label: Our Polite Society / ourpolitesocietytype.net
Haultin, 2019
Design: Fred Smeijers
Label: TYPE BY / typeby.com
Suisse Int’l / Neue, 2011
Design: Swiss Typefaces Design Team
Label: Swiss Typefaces / swisstypefaces.com
Slanted 41—Amsterdam 222 IMPRINT
SUBSCRIPTIONS
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Slanted Magazine can be purchased online, in selected bookstores, concept stores, and galleries worldwide. If you own a shop and would like to stock Slanted Magazine or other publications from us, please get in touch:
Contact Julia Klose, T +49 (0) 721 85148268 julia.klose@slanted.de
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AWARDS (SELECTION)
ADC of Europe
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Annual Multimedia
Berliner Type
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European Design Awards
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iF communication design award
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This issue could not have been realized without the enthusiasm and support of the following people: 75B, Athenaeum Boekhandel & Nieuwscentrum, Maarten Baptist, Blast Foundry, BNO, Irma Boom, Brût Homeware, Building Fictions, Mélanie Corre, Vanessa van Dam, DBXL, De Designpolitie, De Vorm, Javier Rodríguez Fernández, FreelingWaters, fw:books, Graypants, Hansje van Halem, Haller Brun, Olivier Heiligers, Juna Horstmans, Jeremy Jansen, Elisa van Joolen, Annabel Keijzer, KesselsKramer, Elisabeth Klement, Kooij, Lesley Moore, MacGuffin, MainStudio, martens and martens, Mass-Driver, Moniker, Michelangelo Nigra, nouch, Novo Typo, NXS WORLD, Moriz Oberberger, Our Polite Society, Revised, Charlotte Rohde, Rush Hour Music, Vera van de Seyp, Studio Jord Noorbeek, studioHendriksen, Sunne, Jolana Sýkorová, Terry Bleu, The Rodina, thonik, Kai Udema, Underwear, untold-stories, VANTOT, Jasper de Waard, Edgar Walthert, Julian Williams. Also thanks to our two hotel partners, Sir Albert and Kimpton de Witt. We felt very comfortable and were able to recover and strengthen ourselves during these exhausting production days.
A special thanks to Marianne Meijer and Tom Barbereau, who sweetened our stay in their city of Amsterdam—the Useful Phrases (see p. 221) might be helpful when visiting the city again. For this issue we teamed up with Everpress, a creative platform and community with a vision to innovate the traditional retail business. With the support of Alex Econs and Gaia De Siena we produced an edition of 120 limited longsleeves that have been printed with a two color silkscreen. The shirts have been designed by graphic designer and creative coder Vera van de Seyp, who normally works in Amsterdam and is currently at the MIT Media Lab in Boston. Now exclusively available in the Slanted online shop. Make sure to grab yours: slanted.de/slanted-x-everpress-vandeseyp
We are happy to print on great papers with every magazine. Special thanks to Michaela Deckelmann (Inapa Deutschland) for their support!
Thanks to our long-standing printing partners at Stober near Karlsruhe for the great production!
Last but not least: A special thanks to our supporters out there on social media. You help a lot, sharing our work to the world, making Slanted a wonderful community of design interested people. We love you!
DISCLAIMER
The publisher assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of all information. Publisher and editor assume that material that was made available for publishing, is free of third party rights. Reproduction and storage require the permission of the publisher. Photos and texts are welcome, but there is no liability. Signed contributions do not necessarily represent the opinion of the publisher or the editor.
The German National Library lists this publication in the German National Bibliography; detailed bibliographic data is available on the Internet at dnb.d-nb.de.
Slanted 41—Amsterdam 223 IMPRINT
HET WAS PRACHTIG 224
Slanted 41—Amsterdam
Diederik, Lars, Julia, Karel
For the Amsterdammers, the “bruine kroegen” (brown cafes) are what the pubs are for the Londoners. For us, they were initially just random places of refuge after bike rides to the studios (through pouring rain, of course) to warm up or dry out our clothes, and have a few beers. In no time, we became downright addicted to them. The dark brown wood, colored by century-old cigar and cigarette smoke, low-wattage lamps, the old-fashioned décor, the smell of fried croquettes, the bar staff taking orders in big books, the clientele (mostly regulars, yuppies, card players), the intimacy, the tightness, … all of this did it for us.
The first brown cafes probably appeared in the 17th century in people’s homes or living rooms. Inhabitants would furnish a part of their houses, usually a room on the ground floor, as a café. In this way they could entertain guests, sell juniper-flavored liquor (the “jenever”), and earn some extra money. Even today, Amsterdammers consider their pub (“kroeg” in Dutch slang) an extension or replacement of their own home.
Perhaps we also fell in love with Amsterdam’s “bruine kroegen” because the studio visits have been so extremely intense and colorful. The maze of canals and the upcoming neighborhoods are characterized by muted tones, dominated by black cobblestones, and dark brick. Behind the facades it rattles. The Dutch have always let it rip. The orange is more intense, the red more luminous, the black more brutal. Design is radical, it crashes, it vibrates. We know few places where color and form play such an important role. Design is innovative, modern, functional, and spiced with a pinch of humor. Design is about egalitarianism, not reserved for the wealthy elite. Design serves the masses. And so it happens that everything is professionally designed. The bike path, the kebab stand, the tax return form, the police cars, the park benches and trash cans, the vegetables. Even the city crest and the entire CI look monster good. Design is just everywhere. If this gets on your nerves and you need a break, there is, as we said, a great place to retreat: “bruine kroegen.” Proost to Amsterdam!
This issue of Slanted Magazine goes along with additional video interviews which have been conducted in November 2022 by the Slanted team in Amsterdam.
To watch the videos, please scan the QR code, or visit slanted.de/amsterdam