Online magazine Fontanel, a purveyor of Dutch creative culture since 2006, recently published its first book, a hardcover tome titled Dutch Design Talents 14. Touted as ”the definitive showcase of the best design graduates of 2014”, the book highlights the talents of a select group of individuals graduating from the Netherlands’ many influential art schools.
In all, nineteen talents from such revered institutes as Eindhoven’s Design Academy, Amsterdam’s Rietveld and The Hague’s Royal Academy of the Arts, feature across 208 colourful and expansive pages. Furthermore,Dutch Design Talents 14 incorporates additional themes that are both perceptive and useful for the reader.
They include: several insightful and personal short stories written by leading creative individuals, a series of studio visits that chronicle the range and diversity of Dutch creative spaces, and ”a dialogue on the dynamic between (design) education and work” that involves individuals from various Dutch creative professions. This conversation focuses on ”the gap” that exists between graduating from art school and working within the creative industries.