kai udema

We’re proud to present: Bird shaped vinyl, a 208 page, dust jacket covered book by Kai Udema. Compiling nine formal exercises, Bird shaped vinyl is a nearly completely visual book based on a collection of shapes found in the negative spaces of broken windows. In an attentively edited research on holes, repetition, and typographic character, this title explores the metaphysicality of the flat image through the 4-dimensional aspects of the book as printed art-object. Copies are available through our website (in bio), or on personal demand through [email protected]. Soon available in shops in The Netherlands, France and Belgium. Edited in collaboration with Johanna Himmelsbach (@johanna_himmelsbach ), printed in an edition of 300 by Libertas Pascal (@libertaspascal ). Realised with the support of Heij Konijn Fonds, Jaap Harten Fonds, Igepa Nederland (@igepa_nl ) and Stimuleringsfonds Creatieve Industrie (@stimuleringsfonds ) Many thanks!

Driftwoods, a research publication by Bart Lunenburg, questions the differences between reference and finished work, with a layered design that applies structured chaos to found footage, research material and finished works. Mixing 6 types of paper, 8 typefaces and various printing techniques, the book consciously obscures what came first, what was found, and what was made. Duplicates of historic images echo on studio walls, accompanying reproductions of reproductions of Lunenburg’s photographs. 88p, 19x36cm, digital printing and riso Copies available through Jesse Presse @jessepresse and Idea Books @ideabooksnl ‘’From the wooden foundations beneath Amsterdam, extending upstream to rural timber traditions in the German Rhineland, Driftwoods presents the artistic research of Bart Lunenburg, foregrounding the featured photographic series Nocturnes. Through an essay that touches upon architectural excavation, medieval timber frames, colour archaeology, rural shadows, carpentry traditions and abandoned tools, Driftwoods reflects on the relations between local wooden architecture and the landscapes that supply their materials. Layering international with personal perspectives, Lunenburg introduces us to the seemingly disappearing knowledge and traditions that still shape the landscapes and houses we inhabit. In an assemblage of various papers, inks and typography, the book embraces the notion of ‘driftwood’ as artistic framework, bundling washed-up historical references, personal observations and finished artworks that appear simultaneously adrift and fixated, decayed and restored, found and created.’’ Driftwoods was published on the occasion of the solo exhibition ‘The Sound of Night Falling in the Other Room’ at @galeriecarolineobreen (Amsterdam, NL), 14.02.26 - 11.04.26 Design by Kai Udema @__kai___________ Published by Soft concern hard concern @softconcernhardconcern Copyediting and translation by Michiel Huijben @michielhuijben Riso printing and binding by Nokiss? @nokiss___ Text editing by Annabelle Binnerts, Lieneke Hulshof and Maurits de Bruijn @annabellebinnerts @lienekehulshof @maurits_de_bruijn

📚Drijfwoud (NL) / Driftwoods (ENG), 2026 Research publication and essay 88p, 19 × 26cm, digital printing and riso 📬Copies available / distribution: Idea Books @ideabooksnl and Jesse Presse @jessepresse 🪾🪵🪜 ‘’From the wooden foundations beneath Amsterdam, extending upstream to rural timber traditions in the German Rhineland, Driftwoods presents the artistic research of Bart Lunenburg, foregrounding the featured photographic series Nocturnes. Through a textual and visual essay that touches upon architectural excavation, medieval timber frames, colour archaeology, rural shadows, carpentry traditions and abandoned tools, Driftwoods reflects on the relations between local wooden architecture and the landscapes that supply their materials. Layering international with personal perspectives, Lunenburg introduces us to the seemingly disappearing knowledge and traditions that still shape the landscapes and houses we inhabit. In an assemblage of various papers, inks and typography, the book embraces the notion of ‘driftwood’ as artistic framework, bundling washed-up historical references, personal observations and finished artworks that appear simultaneously adrift and fixated, decayed and restored, found and created.’’ The essay (NL/ENG) is also available online for free at the website of @mistermotleymagazine Thanks to @cinqsix Driftwoods is the result of my artist-in-residence at Künstlerhaus @weilermattes (Brohl, DE), a big thanks to Wilfried Lentz 🙌 and was published on the occasion of my solo exhibition ‘The Sound of Night Falling in the Other Room’ at @galeriecarolineobreen (Amsterdam, NL), 14.02.26 - 11.04.26 ❤️ Graphic design: @__kai___________ Published by: @softconcernhardconcern Copyediting and translation: @michielhuijben Riso printing and binding: @nokiss___ Text editing: @annabellebinnerts @lienekehulshof @maurits_de_bruijn Special thanks to: @afk020 for their financial support to my research project

Yesterday we were at the launch and reveil of James Beckett’s ´Graft 1-5’: a series of works for the neighborhood of Cruquiuseiland in Amsterdam, and the corresponding booklet under the same title. Knowing they extend not only 15m in the sky, but 20m into the ground as well, they’re such a unique example of public art. Congrats James! 3000 copies have been distributed around the inhabitants, of which a remaining 1000 we will proudly publish and distribute. The books elaborate on the local and colonial histories, as well as the contemporary contexts of the area that have been incorporated into the sculptures as visual references. Acting as an informative object about the area, while setting an example of what art in a public form can be. Artist / author: @james_beckett73 A project by the municipality of Amsterdam @gemeenteamsterdam Design: Kai Udema @__kai___________ Printing: Printon @printon_as Distribution will soon be online through @jessepresse and @ideabooksnl

A grasp of some exhibition posters from the past 3 years, developing @platform_post ‘s visual identity. Can’t believe it’s been 3 years! The last 12 posters are always on view at location POST Arnhem, and the wall is updated with every new affiche. After two years of working with a renewed ‘P-dash-OST’ logo, derived from the previous identity, we went for a simple as it gets approach beginning of 2025 and removed the variable line, putting more emphasis on the directness and multi-interpretational quality of the word ‘post’. This lead to the graphic identity as it is now: a one-size, centered typographic approach that shows directness over hierarchy. Shoutout to all artists I had the honor to represent, and the POST team for the collaboration @youriappelo @liekew0uters @veravannuenen @neeltjerijpkema @fennesaedt and others that were involved, thanks for everything so far! (POST is a bilocated contemporary art space in Arnhem and Nijmgen, NL)

Rural animals, deserted sites, misplaced architecture. Beginning this year I finished the design for ‘The Mountain Speaks to the Sea’ by Tekla Aslanishvili. Exploring how to represent the moving image in printed form, the book shifts between two different reading orientations. Focussing both on the photographic quality of the work of Aslanishvili (spreads in color) and the time-based aspect of film (spreads in black and white), the editing of the visual chapters was done in direct correspondence with how the book is printed: each section of the book is printed in full color on one side, black on the other. Positioned between an artist’s publication and a reader, the book features contributions from writers and scholars in visual culture, political science and critical geography, and experiments with ways of translating film into printed matter. ‘The Mountain Speaks to the Sea’ is edited by Tekla Aslanishvili (@tekelson ) and Silvia Franceschini (@silvifranceschini ), with contributions by Alexandra Aroshvili (@martyr.loser.king ), Ifor Duncan (@iforduncan ), Silvia Franceschini, Evelina Gambino, and Timothy Mitchell (@timothymitchell_landscape ). Published by Onomatopee (@onomatopeenet ) Printed by Printon, Estonia (@printon_as ) Lithography by Alex Feenstra (@alex.feenstra ) Typeface: Geigy, Lineto (@lineto_com ) Thanks to everyone involved for the trust!

Following up last year’s catalogue, I was invited again to design the 2024 version for the Slow Writing Lab. Mixing 6 different papers, each with a respective typeface, the book is a ordered chaos that questions the reader experience through its physical aspects. Weaving together 12 writers and their writings, their names, texts and bios have been chopped up and reassembled into patterns. Treating chapter names, bodies of text and background information with equal importance, the result is a non hierarchic approach. Thanks to all the writers and editors for their trust! Commissioned by @letterenfonds , stapled into something coherent by @nokiss___

Back to its origin, in black and white: the last issue I will have designed for @tubelight_mgz . Almost already more than half a year ago, but still worth showing. What a great series it has become, what a great project to have been part of! Tubelight is a one of a kind in its field, still managing to stress the importance of independent and physical publication. Thanks again to everyone from the team, the editors, the writers, the printers: @mmhvanvliet @mirificare @jelmerwijnstroom @veerledrie @jiphinten @marjoleinfvandeven @puckkroon @floorvanluijk_ @haikosleumer @stefanovanderknaap @erwinvork This latest issue, 125 on partying, features texts by Tereze Liba Tiesniece, @lisannelouisebedaux @annaandrejew Mirza Bruggenwert and Zazie Duinker Vrijplaats by @mirellevantulder Printed by @zwaanlenoir

An unposted Tubelight magazine issue from last year: #124, on gifts. With texts from @segbarsjack @marie_ilse_bourlanges Charlotte Fijen, @mmhvanvliet @noellevandendungen @laurevanrijckeghem @veravannuenen @kylienbergh Vrijplaats by @gijsass Typeface by @orangeslicetype Printed by @zwaanlenoir @tubelight_mgz

For sharp and slow eyes only, an oblong book for the graduating writers of this year’s Slow Writing Lab. Using the variable font Times New Arial (by @liebermannkiepereddemann ) in correspondence with the height of the book, on each spread the text shows a slow and even transformation from serif to sans. In the subtlety of this visual intervention the reader is every now and then made conscious of their own looking as an inherent part within the activity of reading. Containing a broad range of formats in writing such as proza, theatre and fiction, the constant typographic metamorphosis binds the various texts into a collective gesture to visualize the development the writers have made during the program. Big thanks to all the talented writers for their trust to visualize their work: @toughandvulnerable @tine_decraemer @heyhas @mila.maakt @seforasam @joachimschoones @tinetabak @thijsmona @emma.j.wiersma @yahyasumai Big shoutout to @liebermannkiepereddemann , authors of Times New Arial. Printed by @drukkerijraddraaierssp Linnen cover screenprinted by @terry.bleu Bound by @agia.2.0 Supported by @letterenfonds Published by @slowwritinglab

ircle crcle cicle cirle circe circl (mantra), Kai Udema, 2022  Riso-printed on a 1:1 scale, the publication features 16 images of analogue distorted variations of a black circle on A4s. Like a visual meditation, the booklet documents an open-ended exercise in printing, abstraction and metamorphosis. Each copy is bound in a different order and contains a different cover image.

Proud to have worked on the design of ‘Hereafter called: Subject’ together with Jeremy Jansen last year, which is selected for the Best Dutch Book Designs 2023 ✨ Extra happy it is recognized since the design and making proces happened in a collective and interactive manner between Jeremy, Samuel and me, using plastic folders to physically design and edit the book as a whole, leading to the eventual printed version being a reproduction of one physical cliche. Hereafter called: Subject, by Samuel Otte, comprises a body of photographic work exploring authorship, power, roles, and the written and unwritten rules underlying social relationships and constructs. Published by @fw.books , copyediting @taco.hidde , lithography @marcgijzen , printing @drkkrijtielen @jeremyjansen.studio @the.best.dutch.book.designs