The Best Dutch Book Designs 2017 book review

User Design, Illustration and Typesetting

15 min readAug 7, 2020

By Thomas Bohm of User Design, Illustration and Typesetting. Published 7th August 2020. Updated 12th May 2021. Editorially corrected in March 2023.

Book details

ISBN-13: 978–9059654877.
Price: €29.50.
Pages: 272.
Page size: width 20cm × height 32cm.
Binding type: sewn softcover (Otabind).
Book design and writing: Studio Rob van Hoesel, photographs by Eva Meijer (Studio Rob van Hoesel) with a book manifesto by Ruud de Wild, judges’ report written by Yolanda Huntelaar.

The lime green annual photographed side-on with the title in large black type — **Figure 1.** Front cover of *The Best Dutch Book Designs 2017* annual. Book designed by Studio Rob van Hoesel.

Introduction

Every year or so, I like to see what is going on in book design in countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. In 2019, I bought The Best Dutch Book Designs 2017 (Stichting De Best Verzorgde Boeken, 2017) annual and was not disappointed. Every year the Stichting De Best Verzorgde Boeken (The Best Dutch Book Designs Foundation) chooses a book designer to design their competition annual. For the 2017 annual, Studio Rob van Hoesel were chosen. Irrespective of the language in which books were published, to be eligible for selection in the competition, a book must fulfil at least 2 of the 3 following requirements:

Published by a publisher established in the Netherlands.
Designed by a person of Dutch nationality or resident in the Netherlands.
Printed by a printing business, and/or lithographed by a lithography business, and/or bound by a binding business, established in the Netherlands.

The subjects of the books awarded and showcased, range from engineering, to animals, to art, urban design, to general novels and picture books. The books have been done for both large commercial publishers and also self-published. The price of the books range from €16.50–€89, print runs range from 100–25,000 copies.

Design overview of the annual

The book cover is bright and modern, and the book cover paper colour is bright fluorescent lime green (that is the actual colour of the paper, bright fluorescent lime green has not been printed on top of the paper). This creates a cool modern book cover, that stands out and is distinct.

The book format is around A4 portrait in size and feels like an oversized menu in a restaurant, that also allows images of the featured books, to be viewed at a large enough size to see all the relevant details in the photographs. In The Best Dutch Book Designs 2014 (Stichting De Best Verzorgde Boeken, 2014) annual, all the pages of each book showcased and were displayed at a thumbnail size (width 33mm × height 20mm), that was too small to get a good up-close impression.

The paper used for the annual book is very smooth, soft and fresh, and adds much to the overall feel of the book, it really creates a sensory quality and becomes something noticeable and pleasant, rather than typically going unnoticed, or in the case of very rough dark brown paper (found in many paperback books) leading to a dated feel. This book is a long way away from typical paperback books in the U.K., that typically have very rough and dark brown paper, that is nasty to touch, often complemented by a very stiff holt-melt glue perfect binding. (Hot-melt glue dries very hard with hardily any flex in it, cold-melt glue dries with much more flex, that subsequently cracks and does not allow the pages to lie flat enough) (Kinross, 2007). The quality of the paper and the sensory feel, communicates through your fingertips and palms of your hand.

The photographs of the books showcased within the annual, usually follow the layout sequence of:

1st page: the book title in a large typeface size with a close-up photograph of the front cover, at an angle showing the spine.
2nd page: usually 150 words about the content of the book set in a larger typeface in Dutch on the left, and a smaller typeface in English on the right. Also on this page, is a photograph of the book (side-on) and a close-up photograph of the binding, that is a very informative feature and gives you an idea and feeling of the binding used.
3rd page: usually 2 photographs of spreads from inside the book.
4th page: 150 words in the same Dutch and English text configuration as the 2nd page, from the jury about standout qualities of the book and what particularly stood out for them.
5th and 6th page: usually photographs of spreads from inside the book.
7th page: a list in 2 columns with all the details of the book like title, ISBN number, designer, printer, binder, paper used, to print run length. This information is a rich source for people looking for quality supplier information.

Photograph of a double page spread from inside, shows books photographed at smaller sizes over a double page spread — **Figure 2.** The last page of a showcased book (page 44) has a detailed list of all the materials and suppliers, used to make the book. The next page is the 1st page of a showcased book (page 45).

The book has a cut-away feature of tabs on the outer right-side of the book, it is again, another interesting feature of the book, adding another unusual but successful access structure, and tricky to do and mass produce (I would have thought). There is a wide variety of books and on different subjects, from highly illustrated-led books, to informative and infographic-led books, artist and architecture books, to books on animals and plants.

Short overview of the books awarded

I am not going to focus on any particular books, as they all have their own qualities, some general observations are below.

There is an illustrated information graphics-led book called De Zweetvoetenman (The Sweaty-Feet Man) by Annet Huizing and Margot Westermann (Huizing and Westermann, 2017) about true stories regarding the law. The whole graphic communication narrative, illustrations and layout is intriguing and engaging, and the double-page spreads are animated and alive. The information has been handled in a very free and interactive manner, and features typical paragraph text blocks, full-page flow diagrams, to picture book like double-page spread layouts. The spine of the book has also been rounded, for a better feeling when holding, and makes the hardbound book, with a thin cover board, lie more open and flatter. Overall a very dynamic and varied book.

Inside spread photograph, shows an animated cartoonish illustrated spread using green and red colours of places in Holland — **Figure 3.** Double-page spread from *De Zweetvoetenman (The Sweaty-Feet Man)* by Annet Huizing and Margot Westermann. Book designed and illustrated by Margot Westermann.

Layers of Reality by Anna Püschel (Püschel, 2017) has been done with great presence, conviction and typographic clarity. The book explores a medical condition in a semi-academic study into the subject. The simple grid system works well for the information and content, and uses the space available effectively and systematically. The inside book design has been handled in a bold, clear and legible manner.

Photograph of the cover side-on with the title in large black text and the light brown cover paper with images faded — **Figure 4.** Book cover of Layers of Reality by Anna Püschel. Book designed by Studio Rob van Hoesel and Carel Fransen.

Photograph of an inside spread showing a multi-coloured pie chart on the left page with large black text on the right — **Figure 5.** Double-page spread from Layers of Reality by Anna Püschel.

There is a book called Maria I Need Your Lovin’ by Martijn van de Griendt (van de Griendt, 2017) about a young woman, issues of growing up, and drugs. The book deals with a tricky subject and has some unusual details, such as gold inking of the right outside book block, that is a magical feature and shows the designer has got to grips with the subject and content. The overall communication is in-your-face, and has been designed and laid out well, utilising full-page up-close photographs, smaller polaroid photographs, interview extracts and photographic compositions.

Photograph of an inside spread showing the black paper and a polaroid photograph of the woman on the right — **Figure 6.** Double-page spread from Maria I Need Your Lovin’ by Martijn van de Griendt. Book designed by Eva van der Schans.

Photograph of the side-on view of the book showing the gold printing on the outside book block edge — **Figure 7.** Side-on photograph of the outside book block, with gold inking on the outside, from Maria I Need Your Lovin’ by Martijn van de Griendt. Book designed by Eva van der Schans.

There is a book called Salamanders in Art and Science by Max Sparreboom and Bas Teunis (Sparreboom & Teunis, 2017). This book makes use of clean design and has an airy feel. The photographs and information have been handled well, with great positioning and composition, using large amounts of white space, that makes great use of the page size and space available. This systematic overview of all salamanders in Europe, Asia and Northern Africa is saturated with precision and quality. This book has been very well bound and is contained within a hardcover case slipcase.

Photo on the left of book cover (black paper with title in large orange text), on the right a photo of the binding zoomed-in — **Figure 8.** Double-page spread from Salamanders in Art and Science by Max Sparreboom and Bas Teunis. Book designed by Reynoud Hofman.

**Figure 9.** Double-page spread from Salamanders in Art and Science by Max Sparreboom and Bas Teunis. Book designed by Reynoud Hofman.

Lastly, a book called Voorbij de Dijken: Hoe Nederlnd Met Water Werkt (Beyond the Dikes: How the Dutch Work with Water) by Marinke Steenhuis and Paul Meurs (Steenhuis & Meurs, 2017). This book has been done with real conviction, utilising a diverse range of information types like maps, infographics, section devices and diagrams. The book has been well communicated and designed, and is rich source of information. An example of this, is how the technical details of the dike with a small green map in a side-section, has been designed and handled (for an example, see the top right of page 75, in Figure 11). It would have been really easy, routine and idle, to have the technical details of the dike in the main body text. Many designers would have accepted and not considered an alternative to this. However, this information has been chunked and dealt with well, starting with an inline grey bold weight heading, followed by the information in the black regular weight of the text, plus indentation of any lines of an entry, greater than 1 line. This is information design at work, it makes the information easier to process, digest and understand, reducing potential confusion, although remains unconsciously invisible (Sless, 2018), and goes usually undervalued by people and clients who commission designers. The book also features a vertical navigation device on the outer sides of pages, marking project locations, as the pages are turned and worked through.

The book makes use of colour very well, in 2 areas:

To signal sections and different parts of information.
In the book’s overall identity, light greens, subtle blues, greys, and these are the colours of dikes in the Netherlands.

It might sound simple, but the use of content fitting colours, reflects the subject and content, and adds to the descriptive language and power that graphic communication can achieve. Colour is often used to make something stand-out, to make a statement, or is used in relation to current fashions. The way colour has been used for this book, leads to a more descriptive graphic communication, and is very positive.

Photo of the greenish book cover diagonally stood-up showing the English cover on the left and the Dutch version on the right — **Figure 10.** Side-on book cover photograph of Voorbij de dijken: Hoe Nederlnd met water werkt (Beyond the Dikes: How the Dutch Work with Water) by Marinke Steenhuis and Paul Meurs. Book designed by Beukers Scholma.

Photo of an inside double page spread, uses a 3 column layout with images running along the bottom of the page — **Figure 11.** Double-page spread (pages 74 and 75) from Voorbij de dijken: Hoe Nederlnd met water werkt (Beyond the Dikes: How the Dutch Work with Water) by Marinke Steenhuis and Paul Meurs.

Photo of an inside spread, green paper used with black body text on the left page, and 2 photos of dykes on the right page — **Figure 12.** Double-page spread (pages 56 and 57) from Voorbij de dijken: Hoe Nederlnd met water werkt (Beyond the Dikes: How the Dutch Work with Water) by Marinke Steenhuis and Paul Meurs.

Critical aspects

This book is after all, a review and critique of books and book design, so I would like to expand on some critical issues and possible improvements.

From buying The Best Dutch Book Design in 2010 (Stichting De Best Verzorgde Boeken, 2010), 2014 (Stichting De Best Verzorgde Boeken, 2014), and 2017 (Stichting De Best Verzorgde Boeken, 2017), I have noticed a general style as to how typographers typically handle and deal with typography in the The Best Dutch Book Design printed yearly annuals. The style in recent years seems to be sans serif typefaces like Univers or some strain of Helvetica, with headings typically underlined. The question I would like to ask is are other typographic configurations not okay and acceptable?

The text for the Dutch information has been typeset in a typeface twice the size of the English text. The problem for me is that it makes the Dutch text feel more important than the English text. Maybe the 2 different languages could have been typographically communicated as more equal.

It would have been better to use a thicker paper for the book cover, that would have added even more durability and strength to the cover. Book cover paper gets a lot more rough treatment, than the thinner inside text paper. The book cover paper is 250g/m², I would go up to 300g/m² or 400g/m² if possible, this would then stop the cover paper from scuffing and curling up on the edges. To further protect the book cover paper, maybe a matt coated or laminated paper.

In regards to the printing depth and richness of the photographic images, there seems to be a lack of rich depth to them, maybe some JPG compression or subsampling happened at some part of the process, or when possibly exporting the final file to PDF?

Also, it is not always clear that the details for a book (set in 2 columns) come after the photographs of the actual book. The book design needs a stronger layout marker for the start of a new showcased book. As it has been designed, the books and information seem to run into each other, it was hard to tell where a new showcased book starts or ends.

There is a wide-variety of types of books, and on many different subjects, but I would have liked to see showcased the often neglected area of academic books.

Book design competitions and book design annuals from other countries

I usually buy an annual once a year from book design competitions around the world.

In the Netherlands it is called The Best Dutch Book Designs.
In Germany it is called The Best German Book Designs.
In Switzerland it is called The Most Beautiful Swiss Books.
In Australia it is called Australian Book Design Awards.
In Austria it is called The Most Beautiful Books of Austria.
In the United Kingdom it is called The British Book Design and Production Awards.
In the Ukraine it is called Ukrainian Young Book Design Awards.

Unfortunately, while other countries provide excellent annual books of their competitions, the same cannot be said for the United Kingdom. Before 2018 they offered a low-resolution PDF, as of 2019, nothing, not even a webpage.

Observations and conclusions

The design of the printed book is clearly alive and kicking, and this book is clear evidence. There is so much life, design and thought gone into it and books showcased. It is really positive and great to see in these technological advancing and diverse times. There are clearly very skilled people, businesses and suppliers in the Netherlands, with a very open-minded philosophy, that cannot typically be said for the United Kingdom or United States, where they do not have a wide-variety of especially binding options (Kinross, 2007), this is for sure. The annual itself and the books featured in it, are a long way away from just exporting the PDF, then sending to the printer. It is very obvious that a great amount of thought, know-how, time, and skill, has been applied to all the books. What is the result of this?

It makes the difference between using design to simply get an end-product (a means to an end), to using design for what it can really achieve (wider sensorial qualities).
A more interesting journey for the reader.
Communication design that tackles and reflects the subject and content.
Enhanced dialogue between reader and content.
More usable information.
More content comprehension.

Design has been used to engage and interact with the senses (eye, hand, smell, physical, tactile) and utilises the full range of communication possibilities.

The Netherlands excel in binding options. There was a lot of use of the Otabind binding method, or similar binding method (either Otabind, Otastar, or Patabind) throughout all the showcased books, that is a good binding method and allows pages to lie flat. Essentially Otabind, Otastar, or Patabind is binding like a typical hardcover, but instead of using hard thick board for the cover, it uses paper. Additionally, the cover paper that goes over the spine, is not glued to the spine (like paperback), but folds out and away from the book block spine, when the book is opened (like a sewn hardcover binding), subsequently allowing the book to lie flat. Of the 33 books showcased in the annual, 9 of the books (22%) used either Otabind, Otastar, or Patabind. It needs to be stated, that finding a binder in the United Kingdom or the United States that does these 3 binding methods, is near impossible. I am not sure why… how hard is it to buy a machine?

On the 7th page of every showcased book, is a list in 2 columns with details of the people and suppliers who made the book. This information is a very rich source for people looking for supplier information and it is worth buying the annual for this information alone. In fact, book and printing production manager at publishers, would enjoy it a lot. There is information on different types of suppliers, from the usual large-scale printers, to individual bookbinders doing unusual binding methods, to uncommercial paper suppliers, text translators, to information on what typefaces were used.

In the The Best Dutch Book Design competition, it is notable that books designed and published in the areas of art, design, and photography, seem to get more attention and exposure, more than book design competition in other countries.

It is also noticeable that books designed and produced in the Netherlands, are more free and alive, compared to what goes on in the United Kingdom or United States (Norman, 2008). Where books seem to be more defined by the book’s genre and traditional market ideologies. Books designed and produced in the Netherlands, seem to be more the result of the designer’s intentions, rather than what the publisher and printer have available, specifies, or mandates. Design quality it left to the designer, and not what is, or is not, available along the production process. In the Netherlands they excel in design, concepts, typeface design, binding, printing, use of colour, it is like it is in their DNA. They have a long history of design quality, and The Best Dutch Book Designs 2017 is evidence of that.

This 2017 annual is very interesting, amazingly inspirational and a full-of-life product. It is a long way away from many unloved mass produced books, that have been subject to the economies of people involved in a book’s default profit supply chain journey.

They really know how to make a good book in the Netherlands! Dank je (thank you in Dutch).

The book can be ordered from any up-to-date bookshop worldwide. If you live in the United Kingdom, you can find your local bookshop via the Hive bookshop finder, or if they are a member of the Booksellers Association via the Booksellers Association bookshop finder. If you live in the USA, you can find your local bookshop using the Bookshop.org store locator. More information can be found on The Best Dutch Book Designs website.

References

van de Griendt, M. (2017). Maria I Need Your Lovin’. Amsterdam: Martijn van de Griendt.

Huizing, A. & Westermann, M. (2017). De Zweetvoetenman (The Sweaty-Feet Man). Rotterdam: Lemniscaat Uitgeverij.

Kinross, R. (2007). Books that lie open. https://hyphenpress.co.uk/2007/05/02/books_that_lie_open/.

Norman, D. (2008). Why are your books so badly designed? https://jnd.org/why_are_your_books_so_badly_designed/.

Püschel, A. (2017). Layers of reality. Breda: The Eriskay Connection.

Sless, D. (2018). Designing documents for people to use. She Ji, 4(2), 125–142. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405872618300194.

Sparreboom, M. & Teunis, B. (2017). Salamanders in art and science. Sinderen: Bas Teunis Zoological Illustrations.

Steenhuis, M. & Meurs, P. (2017). Voorbij de dijken: Hoe Nederlnd met water werkt (Beyond the dikes: How the Dutch work with water). Rotterdam: NAI Publishers.

Stichting De Best Verzorgde Boeken. (2010). The best Dutch book design 2010. Amsterdam: Stichting De Best Verzorgde Boeken.

Stichting De Best Verzorgde Boeken. (2014). The best Dutch book design 2014. Amsterdam: Stichting De Best Verzorgde Boeken.

Stichting De Best Verzorgde Boeken. (2017). The best Dutch book design 2017. Amsterdam: Stichting De Best Verzorgde Boeken.

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About the author

Thomas Bohm studied graphic communication design at college (BTEC, Leicester College, U.K.) and university (BA, Norwich University of the Arts, U.K.). Runs User Design, Illustration and Typesetting, a graphic communication design, illustration, text editing and production service. He helps book publishers, organisations and businesses, design and communicate better with their users, focusing on graphic communication design that works well for all involved. Occasionally does self-initiated research, writing and publishing. Has published papers in Baseline, Slanted, Boxes and Arrows, Typography.Guru, Information Design Journal and Usability Geek. Has won international design awards and is a fellow of the Communication Research Institute.

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