Tuesday, November 30, 2010

KAREL MARTENS report

Lauren Jastrebski
Seminar in Design
12/1/10




  Karel Martens is a contemporary Dutch graphic designer, born in 1939. He has been an active graphic designer for over fifty years. His work includes designing signage, coins, stamps, phone cards, books and other publications. His work includes the element of, “traditional workmanship and simplicity” (KNAW) This is evident through the paper he chooses to use, such as the Japanese/Chinese fashion in which he binds his books (Hyphen Press). He has produced two books, Printed Matter and Counterprint. His work uses simple colors, forms and type, but the manner he combines them creates a seemingly complex, but legible piece. His work often includes the repetition of colors and forms (Bravo).  Generally his work exemplifies his interest in the printing process and techniques used to create a design on paper (Eye Magazine). He has been noted that what he loves about graphic design is working with limitations, because of the ability to, “exploit” them  and see where the design ends up (Bravo).  
    He also teaches design. He has taught at the Arnhem School of Art, which he also graduated from in 1961 (Bravo). He then taught at the Jan Van Eyck Academie in Masstricht, and Yale University’s graphic design department in the United States (Bravo). In 1998 he and Wigger Bierma, founded the Werkplaats Typgrafie (WerkplaatsTypografie.org). WT is a two year Masters Program for graphic design in the Netherlands. Martens has received awards for his work, including the Dr. A.H. Heineken Price for Art in 1996 (Bravo). In 1998 the Leipzig Book Fair gave Martens’s Printed Matter the prize of being named the, “best-designed book, ‘in the entire world’” (Bravo). 
Interior of his Printed Matter
    In regards to issues we’ve discussed in class, Karel Martens has combined art and design throughout his work. This is primarily because he graduated from Arnhem School of Art as a Fine Arts Major (Bravo). Rick Poyner claims that, “good designers also cross over into art”  and while it is the opposite in Martens’s case, the combination of art and design is definitely apparent in his work. His work has been criticized for, “remaining in the realm of superficiality and beauty” (UCLA). Superficiality and aesthetics is typically more the focus of an artist, whereas a designer’s goal is delivering a message. However,  the attention paid to the aesthetic does not denote a lack of legibility. Martens makes sure that his work is legible, so a message is delivered to the viewer (UCLA). Everything seems carefully placed and treated. Matthew Collins suggests that, “the essential difference between design and art if that design has function while art has mystery” (qtd. in Poyner 97). Martens’s phone cards, stamps and books are functional pieces, but the way in which he chooses to convey their information, especially for the phone cards and stamps have an artist’s touch. The overlapping of colors and type creates forms that are legible, but also transgress into patterns of color. For Martens design has taken over his career, but his fine art training gave way for the things he has produced. Martens thinks that his, “lack of professional instruction” in design actually benefits his work (Bravo). He states that, “I’m really happy that it was that way, because it gave me a broader experience” (qtd. in Bravo). This statement is in line with the notion that, “the open collaborative methods” that result from having knowledge in different areas allows, “cross-fertilization” between disciplines (Beegan and Atkinson 309). 



  Martens’s graphic design is not just a career, it’s his lifestyle. His work has a purpose and is functional. His phone cards and stamps were used throughout the Netherlands, their legibility and uniqueness was a combination of successful design and information conveyed. He still teaches and works with young designers to pass on his knowledge and expertise in the field. His work with OASE, the Dutch architecture magazine which he began directing in 1990, also displays the functionality in his design work (UCLA). Overall, his work evokes a cheerful quality because of the bright but simple colors he uses and organic forms. Despite the intense time spent on the compositions of his work, each piece is still legible to the viewer and serves the purpose to inform.






Dutch phone cards

















































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Works Cited
Bravo, Amber. “Dutch Master”.  Dwell, At Home in the Modern World. May 2010. Vol. 10
Eye Magazine. “An Anti-Monument to Success” 2001. Web. 28 Nov. 2010. 
      karelmartens.pdf
 KNAW. “Dr. A.H. Heineken Prize for Art for Karel Martens”. Press release. 4 Sept. 1996. Het Trippenhuis, Amsterdam. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. <http://www.knaw.nl/cfdata/news/pressrelease_detail.cfm?nieuws__id=183>

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