Motion Design Print Design Branding

Karel Martens: Design Hero

In his ever-evolving creative practice, Karel Martens remains an enigma. Through print and digital mediums, I explore Karel’s visual language, interdisciplinary career, and life story.

After Effects, InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop

9 Weeks / Spring 2025

Sole Designer

01 / Karel Martens on Color and Curiosity

Honoring an icon through playful motion.

Animation Process Blog
Animatic

Karel Martens is a printmaker at his core. This narrative traces Karel’s practice back to his monoprinting roots, playing with type and illustrative assets to convey his story in expressive, unexpected ways.

It felt fitting to honor Karel’s identity with ink-and-paper visuals. To reflect his meticulous craftsmanship, I gave this animation a hand-drawn feel using constant jitter and scratchy linework. The voiceover, a synthesis of many Martens quotes, was read by my dad -- special thanks!

GIF Snapshots

Reflecting on my animation
process.

It has always been a dream of mine to animate a short story with type and image, and finally, a school project gave me the opportunity to do so. My learning outcomes:

Pushed myself out of my comfort zone with kinetic type and human hands.

Tested my limits in Adobe software, moving between After Effects, Photoshop, and Illustrator while picking up new skills in each program.

Completed my most ambitious motion project to date, maintaining consistency with the visual language established in my other Karel Martens tribute work.

02 / Poster

A digital tribute to traditional
techniques.
Poster Process Blog

“Nederlands Grafisch Ontwerper Karel Martens - Dutch Graphic Designer Karel Martens.” This poster is a synthesis of Karel Martens’ signature visual motifs. To pay homage to a unique Martens line-printing style, I designed a custom typeface using layered lines. Since Karel is known to print on repurposed graphs, charts, and tables, I created a delicately marked-up backdrop, featuring small pencil notations and smudges.

03 / Booklet

An eight-decade story in 16 pages.
Booklet Process Blog

Full Booklet Essay

Through vibrant spreads, this booklet chronicles Karel Martens’ life story and multifaceted practice. Each page highlights a different side of Karel: artist, designer, collector, teacher, and luminary. I pay homage to his vibrant visual style through color blocked forms, more line printing, and a typeface he designed himself: JL Pirelli. A great learning experience in creating a consistent, yet playful, visual language.

Closing Thoughts

Closing thoughts on my booklet
and poster.

Compiling a palette of type, color, and image treatments for application across mediums was challenging. This project took weeks of trial and error, but I’m very proud of the final result! Key takeaways:

Developed a consistent visual system that unifies each asset of my Karel Martens collection.

Successfully paid tribute to Karel’s life and practice while preserving my own design voice, a goal that felt daunting at the start of this project.

Through plenty of experimentation, gained valuable new design skills that will inform my future branding work!