Eye Magazine

Dutch graphic designer Karel Martens has long been prolific in his visual examinations of form, process, colour and reproduction. Small Prints is yet another example of his explorative printing practice, presenting a sequence of letterpress monoprints made between 2014 and 2022. This tactile book presents old tickets, library index cards and other ephemera reproduced in their original size and overprinted with luminous shapes and patterns on uncoated paper.

As Robin Kinross wrote in ‘Let the object speak’ in Eye 11, Martens’ preference is for ‘materials that are a bit rough, not too perfect; if they wear visibly through use, well, that is what happens in life.’ The majority of the prints are based on basic geometric forms – squares, rectangles, circles – while others are more complex, such as the distinctive Meccano shapes (above)Martens has used in the past.

Present in the printed constellations are both chance and rigour, as none of the pages appear to provide any specific answers. Rather, these monoprints are explorations of how relationships can be captured, whether through harmony, dominance, fluidity or play.

Martens’ unapologetic curiosity is inescapable; the monoprints dance across the pages in different formations and densities.

In publishing these prints, Martens offers readers a chance to make their own discoveries. He invites us to be part of the process.

Gabriela Matuszyk, designer, writer, London