Page 5 - Demo

BOOM’S
BEGINN
INGS
Irma Boom is a successful book designer in a world full of technology. But being surrounded by the internet wasn’t the case when she first started out. Boom was born in Lochem, Netherlands December 15, 1960. She studied at the AKI Art Academy in Enschede originally wanting a degree in painting, but after meeting a professor who gave talks about books and poetry, she fell in love with book design.
“I was looking for an internship in my third year and I loved Swiss typography. So, I applied to Total Design in Amsterdam, where Wim Crouwel was director, but I got rejected by his colleagues. ‘Do you always mix that many sans serif typefaces?’ they asked, and I said yes, because I thought it was an advantage” (Boom).
After her internship at the Staatsdrukkerij, she worked for three months at avant-garde Studio Dumbar, where she discovered her true love of graphic design. Her first job out of college was at the Dutch government publishing and printing office. She worked there for 5 years. This is where she made her name. While working here she was assigned a prestigious task. To edit and design a catalog of postage stamps of the years 1987 and 1988. Her approach to the design of the book was very unconventional.
Irma Boom, Nederlandse Postzegels, 1987/88.