Together with the designer the Stedelijk decided on a monumental book for its new accessions list, and this is it. ‘A genuine Walter Nikkels.’ Lexicon as the text face. The uncompromising, very carefully built-up grid. Within it, again and again the tension of white space. Bright, stylish, aesthetically pleasing.

The panel spent a long time discussing the four minuscule dots within which the illustrations in the catalogue overview are placed. Has the designer abandoned all his principles by making visible that which ought to be invisible? No: this designer would never countenance meaningless ornamentation. He has merely found a brilliant solution for a problem that needed to be solved. The dots made it possible to put six small pictures in a limited space without the need for a horizon. Inside this visible framework the images can jump about according to their format, creating immediacy without being arbitrary. A tool for the maker, certainly, but above all: a quiet life for the spectator – and the spectator is what it’s about.