Book making as an art form: exploring the boundaries

In this episode of Book Making as an Art Form, I speak with Jeremy Jansen, a graphic designer based in Haarlem working across book design, exhibition design, and visual identities for cultural institutions.

Alongside his design practice, Jeremy has taught at ArtEZ for over a decade, focusing on image authorship and storytelling through found materials. His work often moves between designing and editing, building new narratives from archives, fragments, and existing imagery. In 2023, he also co-founded Blind Finch Books, a publishing house dedicated to photography-related projects.

In our conversation, Jeremy reflects on finding his own way into books without growing up surrounded by them, how film editing continues to shape his design process, and why intuition often plays a central role in making books.

Together, we spoke about:
Building concepts from found materials and existing archives
How rhythm, sequencing, and editing influence book design
Teaching image authorship and storytelling at ArtEZ
Google-scanned library books and unexpected beginnings in publishing
Why books do not need to feel perfect to feel alive

Tune in now for a conversation on intuition, image-making, teaching, and constructing books through rhythm, fragments, and storytelling.
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Produced and hosted by Justina Nekrašaitė | ⁠The Book Photographer⁠
Audio productions: ⁠Drexhage Media ⁠| Jasper Drexhage
Design: ⁠Thom Niessink⁠
Recorded at Stedelijk Museum Library
Communication & promotion: Chana Levy

❤️ Season 2 is supported by Pictoright, Het Cultuurfonds and many big-hearted individuals via Voordekunst.
With particular appreciation to our principal supporters:
Ruth Higgins, Luminosity Lab, Eleonoor Jap Sam / Jap Sam Books, Silvia Robertelli, Wilco Art Books Amersfoort, and Marc Gijzen.

In this episode of Book Making as an Art Form, I speak with Jochem Öfner, Director of Printing at Drukkerij Raddraaier, an Amsterdam-based printing house with roots in activist print culture.

Founded in the late 1970s during the Dutch squatting movement, Drukkerij Raddraaier emerged from a network of independent print shops producing books, posters, pamphlets, and political materials when mainstream printers would not.

In our conversation, Jochem reflects on the radical history of the press, his own journey from wanting to “make the revolution” in Central America to working in print, and how the politics of publishing remain embedded in the act of printing itself.

Together, we spoke about:
The activist roots of Drukkerij Raddraaier

Freedom of the press before and after the Internet

The environmental realities of print and digital publishing

Why sustainability in printing is more complex than it seems

The importance of keeping independent print production alive

Tune in now for a conversation on activism, sustainability, and the politics of print.

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Produced and hosted by Justina Nekrašaitė | ⁠The Book Photographer⁠
Audio productions: ⁠Drexhage Media ⁠| Jasper Drexhage
Design: ⁠Thom Niessink⁠
Recorded at Stedelijk Museum Library
Communication & promotion: Chana Levy

❤️ Season 2 is supported by Pictoright, Het Cultuurfonds, and many big-hearted individuals via Voordekunst.
With particular appreciation to our principal supporters:
Ruth Higgins, Luminosity Lab, Eleonoor Jap Sam / Jap Sam Books, Silvia Robertelli, Wilco Art Books Amersfoort, and Marc Gijzen.

“The first moment you actually hold it in your hands… the smell of the printer ink comes out, and that’s a unique moment in the history of an object coming to life. When it’s first being opened, it reveals itself.”
In this episode of Book Making as an Art Form, I speak with Minke Vos, publisher of ArtEZ Press at ArtEZ University of the Arts.
For over 20 years, Minke has been working within the institute to develop publications where design and content strengthen one another. Alongside ArtEZ Press, she is also involved in APRIA, a platform for artistic research across text, sound, image, and experimental formats.
In our conversation, Minke reflects on her long-standing role within the institution, the importance of sharing knowledge beyond its walls, and the unique position of publishing between education and the wider public. We also talk about the book as a sensory object, the value of slowness in the process, and how experimentation plays a role in shaping new forms of publishing.
Together, we spoke about:
Publishing as a bridge between education and the public
Sharing knowledge from within the institute with the world
The book as a sensory and performative object

Tune in now to the conversation on publishing, research, and the life of a book.
__________
Produced and hosted by Justina Nekrašaitė | ⁠The Book Photographer⁠
Audio productions: ⁠Drexhage Media ⁠| Jasper Drexhage
Design: ⁠Thom Niessink⁠
Recorded at Stedelijk Museum Library
Communication & promotion: Chana Levy

❤️ Season 2 is supported by Pictoright, Het Cultuurfonds and many big-hearted individuals via Voordekunst.
With particular appreciation to our principal supporters:
Ruth Higgins, Luminosity Lab, Eleonoor Jap Sam / Jap Sam Books, Silvia Robertelli, Wilco Art Books Amersfoort, and Marc Gijzen.

Welcome back to the podcast!

In this episode, opening season 2 of Book Making as an Art Form, I speak with graphic designer and publisher Remco van Bladel about books, systems, and cultural memory.
From growing up around a record shop and punk music, to co-founding Onomatopee and Archival Consciousness, Remco reflects on collaboration, the relationship between music and typography, and how publishing can become a tool for archiving knowledge.
The conversation explores how books, archives, and digital systems shape the way culture is produced, organised, and remembered.

Together, we spoke about:
- Growing up around punk music, record sleeves, and drawing
- Bookmaking as collaboration, just like playing in a band
- Translating musical rhythm into typography and design systems
- Building Archival Consciousness and new tools for cultural archives
- Rethinking the book as both publication and archive

Listen now to tune into the discussion about the significance of books outlasting people!

__________
Produced and hosted by Justina Nekrašaitė | ⁠The Book Photographer⁠
Audio productions: ⁠Drexhage Media ⁠| Jasper Drexhage
Design: ⁠Thom Niessink⁠
Recorded at Stedelijk Museum Library
Communication & promotion: Chana Levy

❤️ Season 2 is supported by Pictoright, Het Cultuurfonds and many big-hearted individuals via Voordekunst.
With particular appreciation to our principal supporters:
Ruth Higgins, Luminosity Lab, Eleonoor Jap Sam / Jap Sam Books, Silvia Robertelli, Wilco Art Books Amersfoort, and Marc Gijzen.

In this last episode of Season 1 of Book Making as an Art Form: exploring the boundaries, I sit down with Michaël Snitker, Amsterdam-based graphic designer working across books, visual identities, and exhibitions for cultural institutions.
Michaël’s practice blends clarity and complexity, modernist traditions and experimentation. Besides commissioned work, he initiates research projects and designs his own publications, often rooted in poetry and language.
In our conversation, we explore:
Growing up surrounded by art and poetry
Fluxus as a lasting and intuitive influence
Working across four pillars
Trust, collaboration, and play as foundations of creative practice

Inspired by the idea of tradition and sabotage, this episode reflects on bookmaking as a practice that balances rules with intuition, precision with imperfection, and legacy with experimentation.

Produced by Justina Nekrašaitė | The Book Photographer
Audio productions: Drexhage Media | Jasper Drexhage
Design: Thom Niessink
Recorded at Huis van het Boek

Supported by Mondriaan Fund, L. van Heek Textiles, Luminosity Lab, Marc Gijzen, n.k.g. publications, Jeremy Jansen, Jesse Presse, Jap Sam Books, Michaël Snitker