'Word of Image' was originally published under the title 'Double Dutch; The Word as Image' by the San Francisco chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) on the occasion of a seminar in July 2004. As the first edition was only available to a select group, it is with pleasure that Nijhof & Lee in association with Spinhex-Industries and Max Kisman can now offer a revised second edition of this little gem of metaphorical thinking to a much wider public.
"This book neither pretends to represent the full scope of historical developments in Dutch graphic design and typography, nor defines the values and responsibilities of graphic design. It merely provides a snapshot of thoughts, visions and impressions of an informal selection of graphic designers, typeface designers, visual artists and writers."

Max Kisman, award-winning, Dutch born, graphic & typeface designer and pioneer in digital technology in the mid-1980's invited a variety of Dutch and American graphic designers and artists to contribute visual interpretations of the underlying theme of the book: metaphorical thinking.
Their images and designs together with the textual contributions from Frans Oosterhof, Jan Middendorp, Max Bruinsma and Max Kisman "express the styles, attitudes, opinions, views, qualities and imagination of contemporary design thinking, showing that the cross-pollination of which Jan Middendorp reports in 'California and the Dutch Connection' seems to bear fruit over an even larger area than just California, stretching to the east coast of the U.S.
"How writing shifted from the hand to the eye, as Frans Oosterhof argues in his essay 'The True Face' finds its conclusion in the digital instant imagery and eclectic mixes of lost & found objects, recycled in a constantly renewed context.

"The Word of Image is the poetry of the visual. The description of the visual in words, where words can be images. In a language that stimulates the imagination and changes the rules of reality, creating its own." (Max Kisman).