Cobbenhagen Hendriksen – Identity De Hallen Haarlem

Book coverCobbenhagen Hendriksen – Identity De Hallen Haarlem
Book coverCobbenhagen Hendriksen – Identity De Hallen Haarlem
Book coverCobbenhagen Hendriksen – Identity De Hallen Haarlem
Book coverCobbenhagen Hendriksen – Identity De Hallen Haarlem

It is printing on demand that makes a book like this possible. For most of us, it was a real pleasure. De Hallen exhibition rooms in Haarlem recently adopted a disruptive house style in which individual letters are altered by cutting into them, an operation which creates a recognizable identity in any number of different fonts. Here it is presented in a classy clean catalogue that feels like a telephone directory.

On the front, four letters by way of example, on the back a photographic overhead overview of the typography as used for a variety of publications from De Hallen. This, as it happens, is the book’s sole spot of colour.

Inside we have one letter per page, which allows undivided attention and gives space to a different aesthetic: that of the letters as letters. One panel member genuinely failed to comprehend why the others found this so attractive, or why there should be any need for such a work – whereas the others were delighted by the very fact that the book had been produced, even if it is for a very small audience.

Edition: 2012
Language: English
Publisher: Cobbenhagen Hendriksen, Amsterdam, De Hallen Haarlem
Graphic designer: Cobbenhagen Hendriksen
Printer: lulu.com
Binder: lulu.com
Size book block (w x h x d in mm): 216 x 279 x 35
Number of pages: 694 p.
Print run: print on demand
Price: € 19.20
ISBN: none
Binding style: unsewn soft cover
Material: 75gsm woodfree offset white (interior), 270gsm sulphate card, laminated (cover)