Irma Boom: Biography in Books

by Irma Boom

Irma Boom has become one of the most widely renowned and laureated book designers in the world today. Her often ingenious solutions to individual book productions have gained her international fame and her work is now collected by many leading museums such as the MoMa in New York. Besides book designs she also creates corporate identities, postage stamps and posters. The Special Collections of the University of Amsterdam Library will honour Irma Boom with a major retrospective exhibition of her work. Her studio archive was donated to the Library in 2003. To accompany this exhibition she produced an exceptional catalogue; this miniature book (38 X 50 mm) contains a complete overview of her work, with commentary and more than 450 full colour illustrations in 704 pages with printed edges.

Genres: Design

704 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2010

About the author

Irma Boom is a Dutch graphic designer—who specializes in book making. Boom has been described as ‘The Queen of Books’,[1] 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.[2] A selection of Boom’s books are held in the permanent collection of MoMA,[3] and a personalized Irma Boom Archive has been set up at the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands, showcasing Boom’s work.