Dutch book design is of a high standard and is widely appreciated internationally. A competitive market poses major challenges for the graphic and cultural profession. At the same time, the sector demonstrates great creativity and innovation. We celebrate this resilience of the profession with The Capital: a new Dutch award that honours a person, institution, or initiative for its distinctive contribution to Dutch book design.
The prize consists of a porcelain sculpture designed by Team Thursday and made by ceramist Marieke van Heesbeen. An interview is included in the catalogue The Best Dutch Book Designs | The Best Dutch Book Designs.
Team Thursday (Loes van Esch and Simone Trum) chose a sculpture. The designer duo drew inspiration from very early printing techniques such as the brick stamp from Iraq (2200 B.C.), the first Chinese printing technique in which individual letters made of porcelain were placed in a printing form (ca. 1000 A.D.) as well as the Western technique of using lead letters (15th century).
Team Thursday enlisted the help of an amazing ceramist, Marieke van Heesbeen. She created 5 porcelain “capitals,” each with a different color glaze.
Photo: © Titia Hahne