In Alphabetical Order File Under: Graphic Design, Schools, or Werkplaats Typografie

This is a schizophrenic book. Between its covers are: a book about typography and graphic design, arranged around recent work from a single source and incubator, the Werkplaats Typografie (Typography Workshop/WT) in Arnheim, the Netherlands; a book about a specific approach and pedagogy, the methods that the WT uses to study and practice graphic design, in which students integrate all aspects of the discipline and its forms in their own expressive vocabulary; a book that presents a broad selection of work from a "school-in-progress," the WT, along with texts that articulate their common foundations and ideas. Actually, perhaps it suffers not so much from schizophrenia as from multiple-personality disorder. In any case, the WT was founded five years ago as a postgraduate course in graphic design; it functions both as a training site and a studio where professional commissions are executed for a varied clientele.