VrijFormaat (FreeFormat) is collaboration between Dutch graphic designers Joke van de Fliert and Esther van de Visch. The duo’s first contact was made at the Utrecht School of the Arts, where by chance their easels were standing side by side at a painting seminar. They soon discovered they had more in common than a fairly outspoken opinion about clothing and music; behind the tough appearance, both turned out to be quite shy and in terms of art and design still extraordinarily green.
Having survived the academy, Joke and Esther settled into a classroom of an old school building from 1897 in the centre of Utrecht. This is where their collaboration became official. Omniafausta, their graphic design studio, was born and raised from this base. Over the coming years they worked on a wide variety of projects, mainly on commission, and like all small businesses, they went through both good and bad times both morally and financially. But one way or another, they always managed to stay afloat.
However, Esther suddenly became seriously ill and their whole world turned upside down. “Tough times, that’s for sure. And the road to recovery seemed endless. This made us evaluate everything we had done, and all we wanted to do in the future, through different eyes. We had to, the old times were gone.” Esther started drawing, painting, writing, and embroidering a variety of new work to make sense of her new reality. And this sparked something in Joke too.
“We realised that just doing commissioned stuff wasn’t enough anymore. Our love for graphic design work, making logos, posters, websites and what more, was still there. But more of our own artwork had to find their way into the world. Abstract or figurative, highly personal or just for fun. Anything was possible, as long as it was truly our own.”
The need to distinguish between the commissioned work and this new, free work, made them come up with the name VrijFormaat, which translates to FreeFormat. In the years that followed they worked on a wide range of projects, and are currently operating with a focus and captivation on Riso printing. “Just two months before the great pandemic started raging through the world, we were lucky enough to have purchased our own Riso machine and some colour drums. So we could start experimenting and get to know all the whims, deviations and sensitivities of our new best friend”.
At the moment they are looking forward to a new chapter, and will shortly be starting a screen printing workshop at a local printing studio.
www.vrijformaat.nl
@vrijformaat
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