A typographic poster featuring the name “Esther de Graaf” in large, bold letters. The text and background are composed of dense, vibrating red, white and blue diagonal lines.

Hansje van Halem is back with yet more intricate magic-eye-esque typographic posters

Words: Emily Gosling
—
Date: 13 April 2016; Work
Graphic Design

Hansje van Halem has become something of an It’s Nice That perennial favourite, and when she keeps making work this good, that’s not likely to change soon. Our MD Alex Bec recently popped over to Hansje’s Amsterdam hometown and was wowed by her poster work. Since we last featured the designer back in November, her site boasts a wealth more superb, eye-teasing typographic work. Like a magic eye poster, each work managed to combine legibility with strangeness. The works here include a poster for Esther de Graaf at Galerie Block C, using risograph printing to build up each letter and form something that feels both strikingly futuristic and equally retro.

Another eye-catching piece is Hansje’s contribution to the Dutch Alphabets series published by Uitgeverij de Buitenkant, discard adroitly by Hanse as “a freakishly beautiful assembly of lettersheets.”

A typographic poster with a purple and black wavy background. Large, distorted 3D lettering reads “Elisa Tonnard”, with the text appearing to melt or warp across the page. A light blue border at the top and bottom contains event details, including the venue “Kunstruimte Galerie Block C” and the exhibition title “The Library”. — Above
Left
Hansje van Halem

A typographic poster for an exhibition by Elisabeth Tonnard. Large, distorted green letters with white dot patterns are set against a background of wavy pink and dark green lines. Text at the top and bottom reads “Kunstruimte Galerie Block C” and “Expositie Elisabeth Tonnard “The Library””.

A typographic poster on a pale orange background reads “DE CONTEXT” in large, distorted letters. The text is rendered as a series of fine green and orange lines that create a woven, vibrating effect. A decorative border of similar linear patterns frames the image. Text at the top reads “Museum Flehite” and the bottom reads “20 feb t/m 1 mei”. — Above
Left
Hansje van Halem

A graphic poster with orange and green linear patterns and a decorative border. It features the title “DE CONTEXT” above a list of names, including “René Daniëls” and “Stefan Peters”.

An illustration of four abstract, white shapes formed from dense, intersecting lines on a red background. The shapes resemble the letters “A”, “O”, “C” and “D”. — Above
Left
Hansje van Halem

An illustration of the letters “A”, “D”, “C” and “O” rendered as dense, white spirograph-style patterns. The letters are set against a black background filled with a network of thin, pink geometric lines.

An animation in which a list of names morphs through various distorted, typographic styles. The text evolves into a poster for “Museum Plehnite” featuring the title “De Context” and the dates “20 februari t/m 1 mei 2016”.

Three purple posters lie atop a stack of turquoise paper in a metal drying rack. The posters feature bold, textured typography that reads “ELISA BETH TON NARD”. — Above
Hansje van Halem

A typographic poster for an exhibition at Museum Flehite. The left side lists artists including “René Daniëls” and “Stefan Peters” under the heading “DE CONTEXT”. On the right, the words “DE CONTEXT” are rendered in a distorted, 3D effect. The dates “20 feb t/m 1 mei” appear at the bottom. — Above
Hansje van Halem

A hand holds a peach-coloured card with a decorative border. It reads “DE CONTEXT” at the top, followed by a list of names including “René Daniëls” and “Stefan Peters”. — Above
Hansje van Halem

Further Info

www.hansje.net

About the Author

Emily Gosling

—

Emily joined It’s Nice That as Online Editor in the summer of 2014 after four years at Design Week. She is particularly interested in graphic design, branding and music. After working It's Nice That as both Online Editor and Deputy Editor, Emily left the company in 2016.

Hansje van Halem is back with yet more intricate magic-eye-esque typographic posters

Share Article

Further Info

About the Author

Related content

From Form’s Amsterdam Museum Night campaign draws on surrealism and 17th century dioramas

Polar’s logo for bakery P.A.C. is just typed out, and all the better for it

A lived-in approach to sportswear shapes Figur’s graphic systems for brands like Hoka, Sap and Unna

Never eaten a whole fish? This beautifully designed magazine will show you how to

It's Nice That Newsletters