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

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 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 d&a hummus bistro Oostenburgergracht 185 dna-hummusbistro.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.

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

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

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.

SLANTED MAGAZINE TYPOGRAPHY & DESIGN CULTURE

SPRING / SUMMER 2023

41 AMSTERDAM

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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

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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.

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