Irma Boom

Quick Facts

Full Name	Irma Boom
Occupation	Graphic Designer
Date Of Birth	Dec 15, 1960(1960-12-15)
Age	64
Birthplace	Lochem
Country	Kingdom of the Netherlands
Horoscope	Aquarius

Irma Boom Biography

Irma Boom is one of the most popular and richest Graphic Designer who was born on December 15, 1960 in Lochem, Kingdom of the Netherlands. 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 the AKI Academy of Art & Design. 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 has over 50 awards and honors and nominations received between 1989 and the present.

This book was the landmark book of Boom’s career. The 2,136 page book was worked on for a span of five years before being published in 1996. Three and a half years were dedicated to intense research in Amsterdam, Paris, London and Vienna. It contains no index or page numbers and is anti-chronological. This was to encourage readers to approach the book without constraints, but rather surprise and discovery. Tulip fields and a Dutch poem were incorporated into the edges of the book, viewable depending on the direction in which each page is flipped. It is an unusually thick book measuring 22.5 x 17 x 11 cm. It started with Boom being asked to ‘look for the unusual’. It was created with the editorial of art historian Johan Pijnappel. Initially there had been consideration in publishing the content as a CD-ROM, but a book proved to be a more timeless and opportunistic option. The book’s entirely white cover reveals a title as it dirties with use over time. An alternate version comes in black. Transparent adhesive had been typographically applied to collect dust and fingerprints. Creating a book with a blank cover alarmed publishers at the time but their unease presumably disappeared after the book’s release, as it elevated Boom to international design stardom. The anniversary book was one of her biggest and communicated a narrative on the history of that company. It was designed to be distributed worldwide, yet Boom has calculated that it will take five hundred years for the book to spread to all the corners of the globe. Four thousand copies were printed in English and five hundred in Chinese. It has been described as an international icon of Dutch design. It is part of the permanent collection of MoMA.

Boom was commissioned to create a book on the American textile and fiber artist Sheila Hicks to accompany a solo exhibition on Hicks’ work at Bard Graduate Center entitled “Sheila Hicks: Weaving as Metaphor”. The book was published in 2006 and was awarded a gold medal as ‘The Most Beautiful Book in the World’ at the Leipzig Book Fair. This book again troubled publishers for its blank cover, warning that an image is needed or it would not sell. Boom rejected a request to have the artists work on the cover stating that Hicks is an interesting artist who deserves a bigger audience, therefore is in need of a more abstract cover. The book was designed with a simple layout: text on the left, image centred on the right. Of particular note on this book are the edges, which are jagged and frayed. A circular hacksaw was introduced into the production process to create these edges, which mimicked the selvedges of Hick’s textile work. It measures at 22 x 15.5 x 5.6 cm and is part of the permanent collection at MoMA.

Boom experienced her first job as both an editor and designer during her time at the Dutch Government Publishing and Printing Office in The Hague. 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.

Irma Boom Net Worth

Irma Boom is one of the richest Graphic Designer from Kingdom of the Netherlands. According to our analysis, Wikipedia, Forbes & Business Insider, Irma Boom 's net worth $5 Million. (Last Update: December 11, 2023)

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 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.

Upon graduating during the 1980s, Boom decided to return to the Dutch Government Publishing and Printing Office where she worked for another five and a half years. It gave her the opportunity to jump right into the shoes of a designer rather than an assistant designer. During this time she became acquainted with Paul Fenter van Vlissingen who would invite her to design the SHV Think Book—a book which eventually elevated her status to a design star.

Boom founded the Irma Boom Office in Amsterdam in 1991. She continued to tackle projects nationally and internationally in both the cultural and commercial sectors. Since 1992, she has been a critic at Yale University, and has both lectured and given workshops worldwide. She had also tutored at Jan van Eyck Akademie, Masstricht in the Netherlands between 1998–2000. Her work has been shown at numerous international exhibitions, including her own solo exhibition in Amsterdam in 2011. She had been a member of the Supervisory Board Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam between 2004–2011 and has been a member of the board Premsela Foundation, Amsterdam since 2008.

Height, Weight & Body Measurements

Irma Boom height Not available right now. Irma weight Not Known & body measurements will update soon.

Who is Irma Boom Dating?

According to our records, Irma Boom is possibily single & has not been previously engaged. As of December 1, 2023, Irma Boom’s is not dating anyone.

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Boom also makes use of various finishing in her printed material such as embossing and die cuts. In her commissioned book for Chanel, Chanel N ͦ5, Boom printed an entire 300 page book devoid of ink, using instead embossed text and image to create a semi-invisible narrative of Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel. The book is completely white and housed in a black box. The concept behind the book was inspired by the nature of perfume—it is best understood in an olfactive, not visual, manner—and relies on lesser dominant senses to tell the story.

Facts & Trivia

Irma Ranked on the list of most popular Graphic Designer. Also ranked in the elit list of famous people born in Kingdom of the Netherlands. Irma Boom celebrates birthday on December 15 of every year.

Boom introduced the idea of a ‘fat book’; that is, books that are remarkably thick. When asked what would make her create a book that was two inches tall and half as thick, she replied:

Top Facts about Irma Boom

1. Irma Boom is a renowned Dutch graphic designer.
2. She has won over 50 international awards for her work.
3. Boom has designed over 300 books, including the United Nations’ “Mondial”.
4. Her designs are known for their innovative and experimental approach.
5. She was named Designer of the Year in 2014 by Design Miami.
6. Boom’s clients include Chanel, Rijksmuseum, and Vitra International AG.
7. She studied at AKI Art Academy in Enschede and Yale University.
8. Boom is also a professor at the University of Amsterdam.
9. Her work is featured in collections at MoMA and Centre Pompidou.
10. In 2020, she was awarded the Johannes Vermeer Award for her contributions to Dutch culture and artistry.