slide back into history “restless typographer” ISSUE 08
Jurriaan Schrofer - Restless Typographer
Schrofer’s letter to his son: “You, your grandfather and I are alike: wayward, we do not want to depend on anyone else, and are only happy when we have something to do. However, for your grandfather this ‘something’ is colour, for you-objects, and for me-characters. An artist, like a singer of pure poetry, is autonomous in his art. An industrial designer is the author of tools -a knife and fork, table and chairs, car and satellite, and his art is a secret of a craft.
(Visothea Chhim, 2017)
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A GRAPHIC DESIGNER EMBODIES THE ART OF STORYTELLING THROUGH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF WRITTEN COMMUNICATION BETWEEN PEOPLE. Do what you do best. It is great to have a certain talent, because then you will automatically become yourself. It is much harder when you do not have one, or when there are several at once.” (Murashko, 2016).
JURRIAAN SCHROFER SLIDE BACK INTO HISTORY A RESTLESS TYPOGRAPHER Jurriaan Willem Schrofer (1926-1990) was known as Jurriaan Schrofer, a restless typographer (Typeroom, 2016). He was not only a Dutch graphic designer, but also a typographer, bookbuster designer, polymath, lecturer, thinker and pioneer in design (Typeroom, 2016). Schrofer was considered one of the most influential in the 1950s-1970s yet did not become a well-known graphic designer until 2013 when Unit Editions published a book on him titled “Jurriaan Schrofer: Restless Typographer” (Kerr, 2016). Schrofer was a designer for a number of major Dutch publications including Forum magazine, Ooievaars’ paperbacks, PTT (the national Dutch post office), Stedelijk Museum and numerous high-profile clients (Typeroom, 2016). Schrofer was a partner at Total Design (alongside Wim Crouwel), laid out a version of the Situationist Constant Nieuwenhuys’ New Babylon (a project for a Utopian anti-capitalist city), and sat on numerous official committees (including one tasked to commission a monument for Queen Wilhelmina) (Typeroom, 2016). Schrofer’s typographical works were striking, brilliant manipulattive letterforms constructed by using graph paper to draw symbols and patterns. He created the skeletons of complex geometric deformations of certain inscriptions, multidimensional lettering and entire type compositions by sketching out detailed coordinate grids and dots by hand. Writer Frederike Huygen describes Schrofer as “…a computer designer before the computer.” (Sullivan, 2013). In addition to pioneering geometric works, Schrofer constructed complex rhythmic compositions with astonishingly fluid patterns. Most of his letterforms focused on their aesthetic appeal rather than readability (Kerr, 2016).
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References Kerr, F. (2016). Jurriaan Schrofer.[Lecture notes-Power Point slides]. Retrieved from https://laureate-au.blackboard.com/webapps/discussionboard/ do/message?action=list_messages&course_id=_47087_1&nav=discussion_board_entry&conf_id=_54997_1&forum_id=_451091_1&message_ id=_1152209_1 Murashko, A. (2016). Jurriaan Schrofer. Retrieved from https://typejournal.ru/en/articles/Jurriaan-Schrofer Sullivan, M. (2013) Jurriaan Schrofer (1926-90) Restless Typographer. Retrieved from http://www.typetoken.net/publication/jurriaan-schrofer-1926-90restless-typographer/ Typeroom. (2016). Happy Birthday Jurriaan Schrofer, The Genius of Design You Didn’t Know. Retrieved from http://www.typeroom.eu/article/happybirthday-jurriaan-schrofer-genius-design-you-didn-t-know