Hard Werken. One for All

Graphic Art & Design 1979–1994

Book coverHard Werken. One for All
Book coverHard Werken. One for All
Book coverHard Werken. One for All
Book coverHard Werken. One for All

The legendary Rotterdam designers collective Hard Werken (1979–1994: Henk Elenga, Kees de Gruiter, Gerard Hadders, Tom van den Haspel, Willem Kars and Rick Vermeulen) have taken their inspiration from punk and the counterculture of the eighties to come up with an eclectic postmodern style that combines collage and photography with typographical anarchy (and a great deal of nudity). Hard Werken was wild, brutal and contrary. The same can be said of the book about the collective: Hard Werken. One for All.

The book’s designers, 75B – Rotterdam again – write: ‘We wanted a book with a brash and somewhat ragged, punky look.’ With four sorts of paper, some thirty different typefaces and a variety of grid forms, they’ve had no difficulty in succeeding on that score. The book is a nice example of how two different characters (Hard Werken and 75B) with related ‘attitude’ produced an exciting synergy. The idea could easily have led to forced, unnatural stylistic limitations and misplaced retro, but it all feels natural, honest and of the time. And there is method in the madness: the open spine has been sealed with black boat sealant: in other words it’s strong and falls open nicely – functional and yet entirely the Hard Werken style. Stuck onto this there’s a label with the title and so on, yet another nice reference to the group’s idiom – large numbers of posters and flyers. At the front the cover board has been folded with the coated side on the outside, conversely with the uncoated side at the back, creating a tactile indication of front and back. Inside, each title is set in its own typeface and the paper stock changes with every section of sixteen pages. According to how 75B see it, these choices reflect the fact that Hard Werken was first and foremost a bunch of individuals. Thirty-year-old photography and print have been faithfully lithographed without polishing them up too much. This, combined with the clear print, helps to make the book absolutely 2018, absolutely 75B, and absolutely Hard Work.

Edition: 2018
Date of publication: April 2018
Author: Ian Horton, Bettina Furnée
Language: English
Translator: Leo Reijnen (copy-editing)
Final editor: Ian Horton, Bettina Furnée, Astrid Vorstermans
Image editor: Hard Werken
Illustrator: Hard Werken
Artist: Hard Werken (Henk Elenga, Kees de Gruiter, Gerard Hadders, Tom van den Haspel, Willem Kars, Rick Vermeulen)
Publisher: Valiz, Amsterdam
Available through: Museumshops, eigen webshop
Graphic designer: 75B (Rotterdam)
Lithographer: 75B, Ole Eshuis, Tienkamp, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Groningen
Printer: Tienkamp, Groningen
Binder: Boekbinderij F. Erenstein, Groningen
DTP: 75B, Ole Eshuis, Drukkerij Tienkamp (Henk Tienkamp), Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Groningen
Size book block (w x h x d in mm): 170 x 240 x 30
Number of pages: 480
Print run: 2,000
Price: € 35
ISBN: 978 94 92095 17 6
Font and foundry: Syntax (Linotype), American Typewriter (ITC), Amarillo USAF (Tom C. Lai), Gill Sans (Monotype), Herculanum (Linotype), Giddyup (Adobe Originals), Hobo (Adobe Originals), Colonna (Linotype), Colonel (205TF), Eurostile (Linotype), Zapfino (Linotype), Courier Sans (Lineto), Anti-everlast (OSV Olympia), Letter Gothic (Adobe Originals), Source Code Pro (SIL), Decima Mono (Linotype), Palatino (Linotype), Latin (Open Type Family), Goudy (American Type Founders), OCR A (American Type Founders), Comic Sans (Microsoft Corporation), Harbour (Alias), Albertus (Monotype), 8bitoperator JVE (FontShop International), Cooper Black (American Type Founders), Antique Olive (Linotype), Helvetica Neue (Linotype), Koblenz Serial (TypeShop Collection), FlareGothic (W foundry), Repiejo (Woop), Roboto (Betatype), StonePrint (Stone Type Foundry), Times New Roman (Monotype), Optima (Linotype), Neue Haas Grotesk (Font Bureau), Neo Bulletin (Intellecta Design), Minion Pro (Adobe Fonts), Latin F (MicroFoundry), Euros (Eurotypo), Birch Std (Linotype)
Binding style: Sewn hardback, spine glued-off with polyurethane boat sealant on the spine (applied by Drukkerij Tienkamp and Boekbinderij F. Erenstein); a four-page cover with flap is pasted to the first and last page of the book block and thus acts as a sort of flyleaf.
Paper for interior (grammage): 100gsm Planoplus, 90gsm Maxi Offset 90, 115gsm Symbol Freelife Satin, 90gsm EOS 2.0, Papyrus, Igepa, Fedrigoni, Igepa
Material cover (grammage): 300gsm Symbol Card Premium White, Fedrigoni
Special features: The cover board is coated on one side only: at the front the coated side is on the outside, at the back on the inside. The book has been printed by an environment-friendly waterless offset process using vegetable inks on FSC and FSC mix paper.