Keek, Twinstraat, Utrecht

Above and below are pictures of the window signage for Keek, an independent bakery on Twinstraat in Utrecht. This approach of simple, mono-tone graphics, hand rendered in white paint seems, I noticed, to be favoured by a number of businesses in Utrecht. These ones in particular being painted by a friend of the business owner. I really love the effortless feel of these illustrations.

60 years of Miffy – The Miffy Parade

Utrecht is the home of graphic artist, dick bruina, and 2015 is the 60th anniversary of his most famed creation, Miffy the Rabbit. I also visited the dick bruina huis whilst in Utrecht, was amazing to see more of his work and also the technique and process when he creates images of Miffy. More on that in another post though...

Miffy, or Nijntje in Dutch, was created in 1955 whilst bruina was on holiday in the north of Holland. He sketched a little rabbit that kept hoping into the garden of the family’s holiday home and each evening would make up stories about the rabbit to entertainment for his young son.

To celebrate 60 years of Miffy, 60 artists were approached and asked to decorate a statue for the Miffy Parade. The artists, working in many disciplines, drew their inspiration from the world of the Miffy and each decorated a 1.8m high statue of her. The status are on display throughout The Netherlands and Japan and below are some of the statues I found on display in Utrecht. The statues will eventually be auctioned to raise money for Unicef.

On the Tourist Trail 2

Whilst visiting Utrecht I also climbed the famous Dom Tower. The Dom Tower’s bells ring out across Utrecht every hour, each time playing a different sequence so that the residents can tell what time of day it is. On the weekend the official bell ringer is in residence and treats the town to a campanological concert; I Love to Hate You by the Pet Shop Boys being amongst the choice chimes on the Saturday I was there.

Instead of a ticket for Dom Tower you get a little passport and some badges to take away. I’m unsure why you’d need a passport, as such, to climb a tower however as examples of collateral I think the Dom Tower’s artwork is nicely considered and much more fun than plain, old admission tickets.

The view from the top: Utrecht from above with Dom Tower's shadow

On the Tourist Trail

Walk into any tourist information centre and there’s a myriad of leaflets for activitites, all competing for your attention.  These flyers, for Utrecht Centraal Museum’s different attractions, caught my eye in particular.  As well as the Rietveld Schröder House, the dick bruna huis is another one of the Centraal Museum’s attractions. dick bruna is graphic designer, famous for being the creator of Miffy. 

I love the strong layout of information on these pamphlets as they highlight how white space is effective on designs. In addition they fold out into a poster showcasing the respective attractions. In a sea of tourist pamphlets these leaflets, with their graphic layout, are attention grabbing. 

Garage Project Beer Cans

Garage Project, what great beer and what great artwork. I think there is hardly a beer in the Garage Project line where I don't adore the artwork. Their approach seems to have been to just take inspiration from the beer name; as opposed to a fixed look for the entire range that gets adjusted accordingly for each product. 

The result is a plethora of brilliant and often humourous designs with influences that include vintage advertising, Jamie Reid, Film Noir, vintage computer games, Arts and Crafts, and Godzilla.

As well as being seduced by the beautiful artwork I chose these two cans due to their contents; particularly La Calavera Catrina which is brewed with maize, habanero chilli, watermelon and rose water!

That's whole lot of creativity in a can.

On the Dutch Craft Beer Trail

One thing I’ve definitely developed during my five and half years in NZ is an appreciation for good beer. Where ever I go if I feel like a beer, it's fun to seek out the good, local stuff. One night whilst visiting Utrecht, my brother and I headed out on our bikes and after zipping around taking in the sights of Medieval Utrecht at twilight, we pulled up at great little bar, parked our bikes and headed in to sample a brew or two. I intended to take a quick snap of the pumps so I’d have a record of what we were drinking – I was never going to remember after two glasses 8% beer! However I forgot, so the names of those flavoursome brews will remain a mystery; though I can definitely recommend the Cafe Derat on Lange Smeestraat.

Two days later I was on the hunt for some more Dutch beer so ventured into the awesome Burt's Beirhuis on Twinjestraat. The beers in the images, from Maximus Brouwerij, caught my attention with their beautifully illustrated labels and not only that, they were brewed in Utrecht! Perfect! I got to appreciate the fantastic design of the beer labels as well as some local craft beer.