Gielijn Escher, Paul Mertz, Paul van Yperen

Frans Mettes Affichevirtuoos

Book coverFrans Mettes Affichevirtuoos
Book coverFrans Mettes Affichevirtuoos
Book coverFrans Mettes Affichevirtuoos
Book coverFrans Mettes Affichevirtuoos

Another one of those great books that we were all agreed should be in the final selection. A special ode from one poster artist to another.

Agreeable format, hard cover, superbly printed and bound, good and attractive cover design, unusual endpapers (different at front and back) – a book that was clearly designed and executed with love. Material of this kind appealed to all of us, of course, but there was more to it than that.

The way the book is structured is pleasant: first the text, combined with the posters shown in their natural habitat in black-and-white photographs with small colour insets of the poster or posters in question – a great idea.

This is followed by a section with one poster per page, in which posters with a white background are set off by a surround of soft grey, the whole being brilliantly lithographed and printed so that the true glory of each work can be appreciated to the full.

Finally another text section with extensive technical information, publishing details and several indexes. And then, right at the end, at the bottom of the last page, a touchingly innocent silhouette of a cat and a mouse. Lovely!

Edition: 2012
Language: Dutch
Publisher: De Buitenkant, Amsterdam
Graphic designer: Gielijn Escher
Lithographer: Zetterij Chang Chi Lan-Ying, Amsterdam (page layout), Image Degree Zero (Michiel Hofmans), Amsterdam
Printer: Lenoirschuring, Amstelveen (interior), Offsetdrukkerij Jan de Jong, Amsterdam (additional section), Terts, Amsterdam (endpapers and binding)
Binder: Van Waarden, Zaandam
Size book block (w x h x d in mm): 170 x 245 x 18
Number of pages: 144 + 11 p.
Print run: 500
Price: € 29.50
ISBN: 978 94 90913 29 8
Font and foundry: TEFF Lexicon 1
Binding style: sewn hardback
Material: 130gsm Lessebo Design 1.3, 100gsm Maxioffset (interior), 150gsm Lessebo Design 1.3 (endpapers), 135gsm Condat matt (binding)