You will never forget the lettered book covers by the Rotterdam typographer and type designer Gerrit Noordzij. Classic, graceful and at the same time powerful letters, always drawn by hand.
Take the typography of the famous novel I am always right (1951) by WF Hermans: bright white letters on bright red cover. Title and typography form a beautiful unity. Noordzij was born on April 2 in 1931 in Rotterdam, last Thursday March 17 he died in Meppel at the age of 90.
In an interview for this newspaper in his home and studio in Hattem (Gelderland), he once said: “Typography is the basis of all thinking about form, shape retention, balance and rhythm of letters on paper. Letters always arise from the interaction between black and white, between the black of the ink and the white environment around it. You can tell from the way someone draws letters how conscious he or she is.”
Timeless beauty
Noordzij did not talk exclusively about letters and type designs: he also drew continuously during the conversation. Then he put the pen on top of the paper and drew a letter in one smooth motion. Noordzij is regarded both nationally and internationally as one of the most important typographers and type designers. He was permanently associated with Van Oorschot publishing house, for which he designed the covers of Hermans, JJ Voskuil (the novel series The desk ), Anton Koolhaas, Willem Jan Otten and A.Alberts and many other prominent poets and writers. His designs are of a timeless beauty. He also designed stamps, coins, wood and copper engravings and inscriptions in glass. Noordzij calligraphed the deed of abdication by Queen Juliana and the marriage certificate for Princess Beatrix.
In addition to being a typographer, Noordzij taught typography at the Graphic and Typographic Design section, which he founded himself, at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague. He taught there between 1960 and 1989. He was loved by his students, including later designers such as Just van Rossum, Erik van Blokland or Peter Verheul. Noordzij’s son, Christoph Noordzij, is also a gifted type designer. Students mainly remember Noordzij as a stubborn and idiosyncratic teacher, who went against the prevailing trends and liked to turn things upside down. For example, he praised the “beauty of imperfection” and praised students precisely when they did something “wrong” and especially when they went off the beaten track. It was his conviction that you had to learn to look at the obvious.
That is what makes his typographic work so impressive: it seems to have been designed naturally, effortlessly, but if you look closely you can see the ingenuity and especially the balance in which the letters stand together. Because that was one of his convictions: a letter never stands alone, but always in conjunction.
Irish monks
What is striking is his statement that language is only “form.” For “no one can imagine language without form.” He praised the Irish monks who put spaces between words in the seventh century. From that moment on, every word was given space around it.
Also read: The world loves ‘Dutch’ letters
Noordzij wrote numerous books on typography, including The hands of the seven sisters (2000) and The region. Theory of writing (1985). In both publications he compares word forms with architecture. With this, Noordzij indicates exactly what it is all about when designing letters. In 2011, Noordzij received the Laurens Janszoon Costerprijs, the biennial award for someone who has made a valuable contribution to the world of books.