Projects per year
Personal profile
Curriculum vitae
Joost Grootens is a graphic designer, educator and researcher. Based in Amsterdam (NL) and Biel/Bienne (CH), his studio SJG designs books, maps, typefaces, spatial installations and digital information environments for publishers like Lars Müller Publishers, nai010 publishers, Phaidon press, educational and research institutes like ETH Zürich, Future Cities Laboratory Singapore, TU Munich, and museums like Astrup Fearnly Museet Oslo, Serpentine Galleries London, Van Abbemuseum Eindhoven. SJG won numerous prizes for their designs. Among them the Golden Letter and two gold medals in the Best Book Design from all over the World competition, and twice the Dutch Design Award for Graphic Design. A monograph about SJG’s work titled I swear I use no art at all was published by 010 Publishers in 2010.
He is Professor of Artistic Research in Visual Design at the Royal Danish Academy in Copenhagen, and has a teaching position at the Master Editorial Design of the Istituto Superiore per le Industrie Artistiche, Urbino (Italy). He is formerly head of the Master programme Information Design at the Design Academy Eindhoven, and assistant professor at the Academy of Creative and Performing Arts of Leiden University.
He studied architectural design at Gerrit Rietveld Academy Amsterdam and obtained his doctorate at Leiden University. A public edition of his dissertation Blind Maps and Blue Dots: The Blurring of the Producer-User Divide in the Production of Visual Information was published by Lars Müller Publishers in 2021. Grootens’ research addresses the transformation of the fields and practices of graphic design and mapmaking resulting from technological changes in tools to record, create, edit, produce and disseminate visual information.
Education/Academic qualification
Artistic Research, PhD, Blind Maps and Blue Dots, Leiden University
1 Jan 2015 → 23 Apr 2020
Award Date: 23 Apr 2020
Architectural Design, Gerrit Rietveld Academy
1 Sept 1990 → 30 Jun 1995
External positions
Assistant Professor, Leiden University
1 Sept 2019 → 31 Dec 2021
Academic Tutor, Higher Institute for Artistic Industries
1 Sept 2018 → …
Head Master Programme Information Design, Design Academy Eindhoven
1 Jan 2011 → 31 Aug 2022
Research area
- Graphic design and visuel media
- Map design
- Mapping
- Cartography
- non-specialist practices
- editorial design
- graphic design
- Graphic Design History
- Aesthetics and form
- Artistic Research
- Post-representational cartography
- Graphic Design History
- Technology and digital design
- GPS
- digital cartography
- digital aesthetics
Publication collaborations within the past 5 years.
Projects
- 1 Finished
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Atlas of the Copenhagens
Simpson, D., Gimmel, K., Lonka, A., Jay, M. & Grootens, J.
01/09/2011 → 30/03/2018
Project: Research
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Taiwan Strait Atlas
Grootens, J., 1 Apr 2024, Taiwan Strait Conscious City Incubator. Bunschoten, R. (ed.). Prinsenbeek, the Netherlands: Jap Sam Books, p. 25–47 23 p.Publications: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Book chapter › Research
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The best way to make a map is by walking and measuring the land
Grootens, J., 16 Feb 2024.Publications: Contribution to conference › Paper › Research
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The Insurgency Tactics of Amateur Conflict Mapmakers
Grootens, J., 28 Jun 2023, p. 16–17. 2 p.Publications: Contribution to conference › Paper › Research › peer-review
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The Politics of Bookmaking
Grootens, J., 1 Jul 2023, Future Book(s): Sharing ideas on books and (art) publishing. Pol, P. & Vorstermans, A. (eds.). Amsterdam: Valiz, p. 366 1 p.Publications: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Book chapter › Communication
File21 Downloads (Pure) -
This Way: Expressive Self-Tracking as Creative Practice
Grootens, J., 1 Jun 2023, Datapolis: Exploring the Footprint of Data on Our Planet and Beyond. Cournet, P. & Sanaan Bensi, N. (eds.). Rotterdam: nai010 publishers, p. 195–204 10 p.Publications: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Book chapter › Research › peer-review
Open AccessFile51 Downloads (Pure)
Prizes
Activities
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Investigating cities through mapping: making and questioning maps
Joost Grootens (Lecturer)
18 Jan 2024Activity: Talk or presentation › Lecture and oral contribution
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Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung Karlsruhe (External organisation)
Joost Grootens (Member)
5 Jan 2024Activity: Membership › Membership in review committee
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Designing Books for the Digital Age
Joost Grootens (Lecturer)
14 Nov 2023Activity: Talk or presentation › Lecture and oral contribution
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Jury member BNO Piet Zwart award 2023
Joost Grootens (Participant)
6 Jun 2023Activity: Other activity types › Other
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Graphic Matters 'Balancing between the designer's identity and client demands'
Joost Grootens (Lecturer)
2 Jun 2023Activity: Talk or presentation › Lecture and oral contribution