daan

rietbergen

in CONVERSATION

Q. Who are you and what is your profession?

I’m Daan Rietbergen, a graphic designer and artist based in Utrecht.

Q. How’s quarantine been for you? What are some ways you’ve been staying sane and creative?

The first two weeks of the Covid-19 outbreak me and my girlfriend were on vacation in The Netherlands, to a little house in the dunes. A very surreal situation but also quite nice. The weather was great and we were able to go outside and enjoy the nature because there are not much people living around that area. The real quarantine started when we went back home. Since one year I work as a freelance graphic designer and artist, which means I often work alone in my studio. So in that sense things didn’t change that much. During the quarantine I started a project called ‘Daan’s Printshop iP2700’. I decided to fine-tune the printer I got from my grandmother, who sadly passed away recently. For the first print release I designed a new typeface called Rosdar; a grid-based monospaced typeface with friendly characters. People can choose any character, word or sentence and I’ll make a custom print for them on a nice A5 size paper for a small price. It’s really great to make all these custom cards with different characters, because it’s the perfect way to see if the typeface works and to see what needs to be improved.

Q. Talk to us about your background?

I studied Graphic Design at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam and AKV St Joost in Den Bosch. When I graduated I started working at Studio Dumbar, a studio specialised in visual identity. I currently work as a freelance graphic designer and artist. I’m completely addicted to typography and I also collect printed matter, from old matchboxes to large posters, as long as it has interesting typography.

Q. Where does your love for letters originate from?

I started writing graffiti when I was 13 years old. With graffiti it’s common to write the same name over and over again but after a few years I started to paint different words each time, because I wanted to try all the different characters. The fact that there are countless possibilities to write a letter made graffiti and later on typography interesting for me. There are so many different typefaces out there and that’s why it’s fun trying to come up with something new, thinking of a structure or system that nobody thought of before. When I design a typeface I work with one strong basic principle. This principle determines the graphic language and the rules I impose on myself sometimes outweigh the legibility.

Q. You worked at Studio Dumbar, how was that for you and what did you learn from your experience there?

Working for 5 years at the studio helped me to find out what kind of designer I am. Creative director Liza Enebeis is very good at bringing out your qualities and there is a good environment to develop your own style. At Studio Dumbar, I started to work with grids and systems that determine a visual identity. For me, designing a visual identity is not that different from designing a typographic system. It’s all about creating rules. Next to that the Studio Dumbar team is a fantastic group of people, I couldn’t think of a better place to start after my graduation.

Q. What’s the story behind Nespor, how did this idea come to mind?

Nespor is a grid-based typographic project. The characters are designed as one family, but also have the quality to stand on their own. The white space and margins are equally important as the shapes itself. Nespor is typographic research that started off on screen and was then further explored on paper. By drawing the different Nespor characters with fineliner and ruler, line by line, it becomes quite a meditative way of working. At that time I was completely overworked and really needed to get away from the screen. Eventually I started to place the characters in public spaces which makes them even more alive and alienating.

Q. What is your main source of inspiration?

Dutch graphic design legends like Wim Crouwel, Ben Bos and Jurriaan Schrofer.

Q. What’s the future of typography and graphic design?

It's not that difficult to see that digital and motion design are getting more important every year. Looking at the future of graphic design, I believe it is important that designers become an expert in one particular aspect of graphic design in order to collaborate with designers within other areas of expertise. For example, I work a lot with creative coder Sander Sturing. We both have a branding background and the combination of my typographic work combines well with his ability to make it dynamic and moving through code.

Q. Is there anything you would have done differently, given the knowledge and experience you have now?

No, actually all the steps I took made me the designer I am today and I wouldn’t do anything different. For example I studied two years at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam and after those two years they advised me to study somewhere else. Although the Gerrit Rietveld Academy was not the perfect fit for me, the first year was very important for me to figure out what kind of designer or artist I was.

Q. You are also a collector of printed matter, from stamps to books and poster, which ones are you favourite and why?

My collection of Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam catalogues by Wim Crouwel. Absolutely the best in creating typhography and using it as an image. Everything is just right, I can look at it for hours.

Q. What is your favourite playlist or song whilst working?

It changes every week, but most of the time it’s old and new school hip hop.

Q. So saying that if you had to pick a top three album in that genre what would it be?

Malibu by Anderson Paak, At.Long.Last. ASAP by ASAP Rocky and Channel Orange by Frank Ocean

Q. What are your longterm goals?

Keep playing football until my legs stop working.

Q. Current project you are working on?

This week I finally started working on my Nespor publication again. I started this a year ago, but in the meantime there were a number of projects to be prioritized. For the coming months I declined all incoming projects to really focus on finishing the book. The book contains almost 300 Nespor characters and 90% of all the different line drawings and murals I did over the past three years. For me this book is really special, it is a summary of three years of typographic research, which also helped me to see which direction I want to go as a designer/artist.

Q. Best piece of advice given?

Try to have a good balance between paid work for clients and personal work. I think it’s really important to not only work for clients, but also make independent work to figure out what kind of designer you are and to see what makes you happy. Working on personal projects can also influence your client work, in a good way.