Irma Boom

Irma Boom
Irma Boom presenting her book Grafisch Nederland 2005 Kleur/Colour at the University of Amsterdam, November 2004
Born	(1960-12-15) December 15, 1960 (age 56) Lochem, Gelderland, Netherlands
Nationality	Dutch
Education
Known for	Graphic design
Awards	Gutenberg Prize, 2001
Website	www.irmaboom.nl

Irma Boom (born (1960-12-15)15 December 1960 in Lochem, Gelderland, Netherlands), is a Dutch graphic designer—who specializes in book making. Boom has been described as the ‘The Queen of Books’, having created over 300 books and is well reputed for her artistic autonomy within her field. Her bold experimental approach to her projects often challenges the convention of traditional books in both physical design and printed content.

Boom has been noted as the youngest recipient of the Gutenberg Prize, an award recognizing outstanding services to the advancement of the book arts. A selection of Boom’s books are exhibited in the permanent collection of MoMA, and a personalized Irma Boom Archive has been set up at the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands, showcasing Boom’s work.

Born in Lochem, The Netherlands in 1960, Boom was the youngest child of nine in her family. Her venture into book design came by accident while pursuing painting at art school. Boom had walked into a lecture on book design, and so profound was its impact that it inspired her to drop painting and join the graphic design department. Here she found a love for Swiss typography and began developing her creative voice.

Boom attended the in Enschede, Netherlands, where she pursued a B.F.A in graphic design. During this time she interned at various offices including the Dutch Government Publishing and Printing Office in The Hague, Studio Dumbar, and The Dutch Television (NOS) design department. Boom had applied to intern at Total Design in Amsterdam, where Wim Crouwel was director, but had been rejected by his colleagues for mixing too many typefaces. Her work was far too experimental for a firm that was used to strict typographic convention.

Boom experienced her first job as both an editor and designer during her time at the Dutch Government Publishing and Printing Office. It was here that she was noticed by Ootje Oxenaar, a designer of Dutch banknotes, who invited her to design two catalogues for special edition postage stamps between years 1987–1988. To him, she was the ‘designer of the crazy ads’. The annual Dutch postage stamp books was considered a prestigious opportunity with previous designers had including Wim Crouwel, Karl Maartens and Gert Dumbar. Boom's experimental style was evident in this particular publication, through the rich layers of information and imagery. Boom structured the book in a Japanese style binding and had text crossing multiple pages with printed folds and translucent paper. Though well received by Oxenaar, this project drew a lot of public outcry for being overtly experimental in comparison to previous editions. Boom received much hate mail, particularly from stamp collectors. However, this controversy brought her name into the public stage and established her name as a designer.