Irma Boom on the Future of Book Design

What is the future of the printed book? Does it have one? And, if so what will it consist of? Who better to answer this than the woman who is inconstestably the greatest book designer of our time, the brilliant Irma Boom. In this episode of Design Emergency, Irma tells our cofounder, Alice Rawsthorn, why the printed book is too important to join all the other analogue objects that have become extinct in the digital age.

Irma has designed some of the most beautiful, intriguing, original and surprising books of our time by experimenting with new facets of book design: in terms of their functions, forms, tactility, scent, printing and papers. 

She tells Alice how she fell in love with book design as an art student in Amsterdam, and began her experiments as a junior designer at the Dutch government’s publishing and printing office in The Hague. Irma also describes some of her favourites of the centuries-old books that she collects as research tools in her Amsterdam studio, and has encountered through her research in historic libraries, including the Vatican’s.

We hope you’ll enjoy this episode. You can find images of the books Irma describes on our Instagram @design.emergency. Please join us for future episodes of Design Emergency when we will hear from inspiring global design leaders who are in the forefront of forging positive change.

Design Emergency is supported by a grant from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts.

Recording and editing by Spiritland Creative.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.