Gerrit Noordzij
Encyclopedia
Gerrit Noordzij is a Dutch
typographer, typeface designer
, and author
.
and as a bookbinder's apprentice. Since then he has designed and authored dozens of books on typography and design. He also makes drawings, wood engravings, copper engravings, and inscriptions in stone and glass. In 1956 he was hired by the Amsterdam publishing house Querido, where he worked for two years designing many books and book covers. Most of the books published by Uitgeverij van Oorschot from 1978 onwards were also designed by Noordzij, and many of his type designs originated when designing these book covers. He has even written computer programs for Canon. Noordzij wrote and edited Letterletter, a journal in English for ATypI
on the subject of typography.
From 1960 to 1990, Noordzij was a professor of typeface design at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts
in The Hague
, The Netherlands. From 1970 to his retirement in 1990, he was the director of the writing and lettering programme at the graphic design department.
, a prize given to typographers and type designers for extraordinary contributions to the field, is named after him. He was also the first person to receive this prize in 1996.
This is only a selection of his publications.
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
typographer, typeface designer
Type design
Type design is the art of designing typefaces.- History :Although the technology of printing text using movable type was invented in China, and despite the esteem which calligraphy held in that civilization, the vast number of Chinese characters meant that few distinctive, complete fonts could be...
, and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
.
Career
Gerrit Noordzij began his career as a graphic designerGraphic designer
A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, printed or electronic media, such as brochures and...
and as a bookbinder's apprentice. Since then he has designed and authored dozens of books on typography and design. He also makes drawings, wood engravings, copper engravings, and inscriptions in stone and glass. In 1956 he was hired by the Amsterdam publishing house Querido, where he worked for two years designing many books and book covers. Most of the books published by Uitgeverij van Oorschot from 1978 onwards were also designed by Noordzij, and many of his type designs originated when designing these book covers. He has even written computer programs for Canon. Noordzij wrote and edited Letterletter, a journal in English for ATypI
ATypI
The ATypI or the Association Typographique Internationale is an international non-profit organisation dedicated to typography.-The organisation:...
on the subject of typography.
From 1960 to 1990, Noordzij was a professor of typeface design at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts
Royal Academy of Art (The Hague)
The Royal Academy of Art, The Hague is an art academy in the Netherlands. It is the oldest art academy in Europe. Known in Dutch as "Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten, Den Haag" it was founded on 29 September 1682 when its predecessor, the Haagsche Teekenakademie was dissolved.- External...
in The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
, The Netherlands. From 1970 to his retirement in 1990, he was the director of the writing and lettering programme at the graphic design department.
The stroke of the pen
He introduced his own method of teaching typography and type design at the Royal Academy of Art, based on his theoretical system ′The stroke of the pen′. He presented this system in a booklet called The stroke of the pen: fundamental aspects of western writing (1982), and further developed it in the Dutch booklet De Streek: Theorie van het schrift (1985) (which was translated to English in 2005, called The Stroke: Theory of Writing). Even though this theoretical model mostly concerns the written word, Noordzij applies it to printed type as well, as he defines typography as ′writing with prefabricated characters′. It is an analysis of the construction of letterforms, describing how most printing typefaces have their roots in handwriting (i.e. broad-nib pen, pointed pen). The method of teaching type design at the Royal Academy is still largely based on Noordzij's theoretical model today, as several of his former students are now the professors at the department.Award
The Gerrit Noordzij PrizeGerrit Noordzij Prize
The Gerrit Noordzij Prize is given to type designers and typographers for extraordinary contributions to the fields of type design, typography and type education. The prize is awarded every three years by the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague together with the Museum Meermanno, under the auspices...
, a prize given to typographers and type designers for extraordinary contributions to the field, is named after him. He was also the first person to receive this prize in 1996.
Publications
- The Stroke of The Pen: fundamental aspects of western writing, Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten, The Hague (1982)
- Das Kind und die Schrift, Typographische Gesellschaft, München (1985)
- De Streek: Theorie van het schrift, Van de Garde, Zaltbommel (1985, also published by Uitgeverij ICS Nederland B.V. in 1991)
- De staart van de kat: de vorm van het boek in opstellen, GHM, Leersum (1988)
- Letterletter (newsletters combined and reissued in book form in 2000)
- De handen van de zeven zusters, Van Oorschot, Amsterdam (2001)
- The Stroke: Theory of Writing, Hyphen Press, London (published in Dutch in 1985, translated into English by Peter Enneson in 2005)
This is only a selection of his publications.