About Test Press

The publications in the archive have been collected as a byproduct to many years of teaching and balance on the fine line between the classroom and the world beyond education. They highlight a transition from what in the late 90s was referred to as ‘Dutch Design’, becoming more international and open, removed from an imposed national style.
The archive is currently made up of more than 700 publications (often unique or produced in small print runs) and has a large variety of methods, aesthetics and topics ranging through language, typography, and contemporary visual culture to name a few.

In close cooperation with The Palace of Typographic Masonry, Test Press manifested itself at first through an exhibition called ‘Test Press 20 Years of Student Publications 1999-2019‘ at ‘Le Palais de la Maçonnerie Typographique’ at Le Bel Ordinaire, Pau[F] January 2019, accompanied by the fabulous fanzine ‘Test Press Magazine’.
After this initial show, Test Press became an exhibition traveling Europe, to Pristina, to Amsterdam, to Sofia and lately to Turino, generating many talks and meetings between visitors, students and professionals.
This resulted in spin-off events like the poster exibition ‘Radical Play‘ and combined exhibition, booksales & events ‘Test Press Books‘ [since 2021], presently organized for the third time at KO-OP Sofia [BG] and online at this website.