Jonas Riemersma, graphic designer. About

... and student, typography enthusiast, and prolific experimenter currently studying Graphic Design (BA) at ArtEZ Arnhem. You can also find me on Instagram. Any inquiries, commissions, or collaboration ideas? Send me an e-mail: jonasriemersma@gmail.com.

Recently:

Fotoarchief Stenen Tafel / 2024 —
How to Disappear Without a Trace at De Meldkamer, Maastricht / 3 — 26 November 2023
marathon01 at Lorem Ipsum, Amsterdam / 16 December 2023
Regularly organising FiveThirtyTypeClub workshops / 2023 —

Jonas Riemersma

About

Graphic designer, student, typography enthusiast, and prolific experimenter currently studying Graphic Design (BA) at ArtEZ Arnhem. You can also find me on Instagram. Any inquiries, commissions, or collaboration ideas? Send me an e-mail: jonasriemersma@gmail.com.

Recently

Fotoarchief Stenen Tafel / 2024 —
How to Disappear Without a Trace at De Meldkamer, Maastricht / 3 — 26 November 2023

marathon01 at Lorem Ipsum, Amsterdam / 16 December 2023

Regularly organising FiveThirtyTypeClub workshops / 2023 —


Internet Censorship 2009—2023Info

This is a book about internet censorship, based on publicly available data. Every page contains a case of a country blocking one or more websites, or shutting down the whole internet, for a particular period of time. The information is formatted like a punch card, where the numbers form a unique pattern based on the dates and duration of a case. The colour of the cards is darker in cases where the internet was blocked for longer. The book becomes a physical stack of data, available both online and offline.

Book, Digital + RISO printed, 2023


8 1/2 DreamsInfo

In the autumn of 2023 I asked some folks to watch a film scene - the opening scene from (1963) - while I recorded their reaction. The scene is three minutes long, and shows a highly symbolic dream sequence. I tried out a couple of experimental ways of showing them the scene, in order to find some new meaning or interpretation of it, eventually having them view it with their eyes closed.

This book consists of the recorded interpretations of the scene, combined with images I found myself, to create a sense of what the viewers may have imagined, and to peek into the associative nature of the mind.

Book, digitally printed, 2023


SpikyInfo

A display typeface intended to dazzle the viewer with its intricate and almost psychedelic linework. It is based on multiple typographic experiments, out of which came a loose set of rules to create this typeface. To make it, I first created a skeleton font digitally, drew the spikes by hand, and digitalised the result. It was created at my course's Typography class, and is featured in Character Club, a collective publication with typefaces made by students of this class.

Typeface, 2022


Five Thirty Type ClubInfo

With a group of fellow students from Graphic Design Arnhem, I organise experimental workshops centered around typography. These workshops involve fun and inventive ways to create letters, often using unconventional tools and methods. We want to keep typography as accessible as possible, and anyone inside or outside the school can join a workshop. You can follow us on Instagram to see what we’re up to.

Workshops, 2023 -
Together with Gilles Goosen, Soyoon Cha, Clara Chirila-Rus, Basak Guner, and Joshua van Blijderveen.


Posters for De OpkamerInfo

A series of posters made for De Opkamer, a small space for art and events in Arnhem that, at the moment, is periodically inviting people to paint on their walls. The posters have very scratchy and odd typography mirroring some of the painting happening on the wall. The typographical effects were made using a pen plotter in ways it isn’t meant be used, continuing my long-running experiments with and fascination for this machine.

Posters, RISO printed, 2023 -


Generative LetterpressInfo

Letterpress printing is one of the oldest forms of printing, but it is somewhat obscure today. With the letterpress, a design’s empty space is created by invisible elements pushing the printed text into place. I experimented with this rule and created a constantly changing pattern using geometric elements and randomly chosen words. The words form strange sentences that change meaning depending on the configuration of the words. The pattern is formed with friction and compression, which makes it it quite hard to automatically create with a computer.

Poster series, letterpress, 2023


RISO TestcardInfo

A 4-colour Risographed test card. It was made in order to test out some ideas, textures and colours for an RISO-based project that is still under construction. It packs a large number of experiments and almost all of the sheet’s space is used. You get extra points if you can spot all of the hidden ‘white rabbits.’

A3 poster, Risograph, 2024


Left Right Up DownInfo

A zine that contains four articles from E-flux Notes, focused on the theme of movement. The zine can be taken apart and folded into multiple paper airplanes, and put together again with an included elastic band. Its typography also plays with the idea of movement by taking a typeface that already has a ‘stretched’ and a ‘compressed’ version, and stretching and compressing it even further where needed or desired.

Zine, Digital + RISO printed, 2024
Typeface: AUTHENTIC Sans
Made together with Clara Chirila-Rus, Victoria Tilliette and Gilles Goosen


I Am a Lonesome WindowInfo

This photo series shows a lonely window trying to find its footing somewhere in the world. This window is a replica of the window of my childhood bedroom window, placed in different locations. The project has a very personal basis: it is an abstract representation of the feelings of disconnection and placelessness I had when I was a young child. Whether the viewer knows this or not, I try to get them to feel some empathy for this object.

Photo series, 2023


Fish in AspicInfo

This is a magazine that contains a selection of almost 80 years’ worth of writing from Vogue magazine about food. From Julia Child and wheat-less wartime recipes to Champagne diets and computer cookbooks, it covers fond memories and interesting historical perspectives, but also some fads and diet ideas that are perhaps best left forgotten. It also has a little art collection that runs through the magazine, showing different depictions of and contexts around food throughout history. Its playful design is inspired both by old cookbooks and by the kitchen table itself.

Magazine, digital printing, 2022


marathon01Info

Pens always run out of ink, and spray cans always run out of paint. This series of images is focused on urban surfaces, their textures and markings, and their continuously changing appearance caused by human intervention. The whole series was pen-plotted with the same brush pen, letting it slowly run out. Its length was determined by the longevity of the pen.

Series of prints, pen plotted, 2023


Website by Jonas Riemersma, 2024

Typefaces: Bianzhidai by Xiaoyuan Gao
and Happy Times by Lucas Le Bihan / Velvetyne