Type Around the World – Get to Know Randwijk, Netherlands

Tell us a bit about yourself and your foundry. 
Right now My foundry is Hanoded Fonts. Hanoded means “the wanderer” in Hebrew, which describes my life well.

David works exclusively from his kitchen and moves his drawings, computer, and ink bottles every day to make room for dinner with his family. 

I didn’t find my way to typography right away. When I finished high school and had to choose a subject to study in college, typography wasn’t in my top ten. It wasn’t in the top 100 either! 

After my studies, I set off to explore the world, living in various countries and taking on all kinds of jobs to keep traveling. When I eventually ran out of money, I became an adventure tour guide for Dutch groups. The photos I took during these trips were sold as stock photography, which complemented my meagre $35 per day income. 

I then decided to build a photography website, for which I needed a nice font. It may have been the first time I had EVER looked for a font other than the ones that were living in my computer! I couldn’t find what I was looking for, so I made one myself — which ended up being quite ugly, and also not what I was looking for. I parked the font at a “free fonts” website and forgot about it, until one day someone offered me $10 for it! 

That was the turning point in my career. I couldn’t believe someone would willingly part with a good tenner for something I had created — and if one person would willingly part with money, then there just might be others as well. That first $10 catapulted me into the hitherto unknown world of typography, and I haven’t looked back since! 

Tell us about your city. What do you love about it? What’s distinctive about it? 
When Monotype invited me for this series, I had a brief moment of doubt; the stories I read were all about people hailing from glamorous cities like Paris, Vienna, Athens… Then enter David from Hanoded Fonts, who lives in a sleepy Dutch village called Randwijk, with a population of 1,500. It has no shops, not even a supermarket, but it does have a 13^th-century church that houses a couple of storks who have so far produced four storklings.  

The historic Church of Randwijk, with a stork’s nest in the chimney. 

It may be a sleepy hamlet, but Randwijk’s history goes way back. When the Romans halted their conquest of Europe here, it became a border town. During World War II, Randwijk was sandwiched between the Germans and the Allied forces and was therefore shelled beyond recognition. The “Band of Brothers” TV episode “Crossroads” takes place in and around Randwijk. Bet you didn’t know that! 

A memorial for the 101^st Airborne Division. 

It is nice and quiet here — sometimes a bit too quiet. I often go to Wageningen, which could probably be called a city, but is still quite small. Getting there involves a bicycle trip along the dike and a ferry ride across the Rhine River. 

The Randwijk dike. 

Wageningen is home to one of the world’s leading agricultural universities: the WUR (Wageningen University & Research). Because of the university, Wageningen has a very international vibe. You hear more spoken English than Dutch when you stroll around the center, and you see people from all over the world.  

A sign in English in Wageningen. 

All these students need to drink and dance, so there are a lot of bars around the city. The city itself has an interesting blend of architectural styles, but 1930s buildings make up a huge chunk of the skyline. If you look closely, you’ll find some typographic gems hidden on the facades! 

The typography in Wageningen reflects its character; on the one hand you have the elegant Art Deco typefaces gracing the facades of the older buildings. On the other hand, because of the influx of students from all over the world, you’ll find a lot of handmade signs, no-nonsense protest flyers, and hip and happening invites to dances and meetings.

Eclectic signage across Wageningen.

Where would you take someone visiting your city for the first time to explore its creative heart? 
When people ask me what to see in Randwijk, I’d tell them to look a bit beyond the village. They could visit 13^th-century Doorwerth Castle and have a stroll in the woods surrounding it.

Doorwerth Castle, a short 15 minute drive or half hour bike ride from Randwijk.  

The peaceful grounds surrounding Doorwerth Castle. 

The Blauwe Kamer is a small but beautiful nature reserve, and getting there involves yet another ferry ride! Fans of the TV show “Band of Brothers” can visit Landgoed Schoonderlogt, which was the HQ of the American 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment. 

The Schoonderlogt Estate near Randwijk. 

What’s a typeface that you think represents the spirit of your city and why? 
My typeface Mariken, which is based on medieval typefaces and has a “ye olde” feeling about it, represents Randwijk fairly well. It also seems to be one of those fonts that gets overlooked, which is what describes my neck of the woods best. 

The Mariken typeface, designed by David Kerkhoff.