JAN TOMSON

Jan Tomson is a graphic designer and artist based in Amsterdam and Tallinn. He teaches at the graphic design department at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie and in the interior architecture department at the Estonian Academy of Arts. Tomson works on visual identity projects in the cultural, commercial and public sector. Alongside commissioned work he collaborates with musicians, artists, architects, entrepreneurs and designers on various projects including printed matter, sound design, spatial research and product design, constantly refreshing perspectives on design practice and its shifting conditions. Questioning the formal and material qualities of commercial graphics, Tomson works as an artist and has exhibited work in various galleries in Estonia and abroad. He’s also running the independent record label Rets Records and is a recording artist.

HANNES PRAKS

Hannes Praks is an interior architect and beekeeper based in Tallinn. Since 2014 he’s running the Interior Architecture department at the Estonian Academy of Arts. His recent projects include the exhibition Kaamos on Estonian fashion in Tallinn and London (2013) and interior architecture for Narva College (2012), which has won many awards. Praks has been part of the organising committee for the music festival Schilling (2010–2012) and is the founder of Kohvirecords (1998), record label that exports local electronic music. He describes himself: ‘I am a fourth generation beekeeper, our family traditions don’t allow accepting that Twitter and smart refridgerators have made their way into this world.

Hannes and Jan Tomson have collaborated on various projects, including album covers, set design for Schilling festival, interiors and graphics for a number of cafés, and are both in the committee for the educational plan of the Interior Architecture department in Tallinn.

SAM DE GROOT

Sam de Groot (Amsterdam, 1985) works as a freelance graphic designer, mainly designing books. Since 2011 he teaches typography at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam. Under the name TRUE TRUE TRUE he publishes books. Since 2007 he has collaborated with Paul Haworth on books, performances, prints and music. Their debut album, Illegal Emotions, was released in 2015. www.samdegroot.nl, www.truetruetrue.org, www.illegal-emotions.xxx

PAUL HAWORTH

Paul Haworth (Lancaster, 1982) is an artist who works with words and performance. He recently self-published Deeply Emotional, an essay about theatre and art. His trilogy of novels, Silk Handkerchiefs, and ANDY DE FIETS: LETTER TO ROBIN KINROSS, co-written with Sam de Groot, were published by TRUE TRUE TRUE. He has performed at Battersea Arts Centre, the Barbican Centre, Victoria and Albert Museum and the Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam. www.homelovin.co.uk

KAREL MARTENS

Karel Martens is a freelance graphic designer, specializing in typography. Alongside working for clients, he has always made free non-commissioned graphic and three-dimensional work. Next to designing books and other printed items, he has designed façades for a number of buildings. Several books have been published about his work, including Printed Matter (1996,  2001, 2010), Counterprint ( 2004), Full Color (2013) and most recently Reprint (2015). Karel Martens has taught graphic design since 1977, among others at the Jan van Eyck Academie in Maastricht (1994-99) and since 1997 he is teaching in New Haven at Yale University School of Art. In 1998 he co-founded the postgraduate programme Werkplaats Typografie in Arnhem as part of ArtEZ Institute for the Arts. In 2014 he left the WT.

JUNGMYUNG LEE

Jungmyung Lee is an freelance graphic designer based in the Netherlands mainly focusing on types and project-based performances. She currently studies at the Werkplaats Typografie in Arnhem (2013-2015) while running Jung-Lee Type Foundry (2015). In 2010, she co-founded Helsinki Type Studio with four other type designers in Finland experimenting with the visual stream of contemporary culture by redefining typography.

WILL HOLDER

Typographer Will Holder organises writing around cultural objects. He sees conversation as model and tool for a mutual and improvised set of publishing conditions whereby the usual roles of commissioner, author, subject, editor, printer and typographer are improvised and shared, as opposed to assigned and pre-determined.

Holder is editor of F.R.DAVID, a journal concerned with reading and writing in the arts (published by de Appel, Amsterdam, since 2007). In May 2009 he co-curated TalkShow (with Richard Birkett) at the ICA, London. Together with Alex Waterman, he edited Yes, But Is It Edible?, the music of Robert Ashley, for two or more voices (New Documents, 2014). Holder is currently developing a protocol and interface for a collectively compiled catalogue of the Bob Cobbing archive.

ISLA LEAVER-YAP

Isla Leaver-Yap works with artists to produce essays, books, exhibitions, and events. Collaborative projects recently include work with Giles Bailey, Ericka Beckman, Stan Brakhage, Elaine Cameron-Weir, Moyra Davey, Maria Fusco, Laura Guy, Pat Hearn, Fatima Hellberg, Florrie James, Derek Jarman, Park McArthur, Conal McStravick, Lucy McKenzie, Charlotte Prodger, James Richards, Scott Rogers, Mary Simpson, and Dena Yago. She is based in Glasgow where she is Project Director of LUX Scotland, and Minneapolis where she is the Walker Art Center’s Bentson Film Scholar. leaveryap.wordpress.com