Melle Hammer lives his convictions. During a career that has spanned
two decades, Hammer’s beliefs have compelled him to turn his back on
his original profession, battle and engage big business and donate his skills
to causes he thinks are important. From his studio in Amsterdam, Hammer
makes work for the passion of design, for love … and for money.
Hammer’s creative process has little in common with the frenetic
pace that characterizes many design
studios. There never seems to
be so much to do that he cannot
accept an invitation to lunch with
a friend in one of Amsterdam’s numerous
cafés or prepare a gourmet
dinner for an out-of-town guest.
And yet Hammer is always working.
Committed equally to paid
and unpaid work, projects large
and small, Hammer balances an
almost laissez-faire lifestyle with
a consuming belief that it is a designer’s
responsibility to make
work that is fitting for both the
client and the audience.
(LEFT) BOOK COVER, CALLAHAN EN ANDERE GEDAANTEN, 2004,
THREE-COLOR, CLIENT: UITGEVERIJ (CONTACT). ALTHOUGH
THE DIMENSIONS OF EACH WORK IN THE POETRY SERIES
PUBLISHED BY CONTACT STAY CONSISTENT, HAMMER CONTINUALLY
REINVENTS HIS ASSIGNMENT, AND THE INTERIOR
TYPOGRAPHY, PAPER CHOICE AND LAYOUT DIFFER
FROM BOOK TO BOOK.
(CENTER) BOOK COVER, OERA LINDA, 2005, THREE-COLOR, CLIENT:
UITGEVERIJ (CONTACT). WITHIN THE BOOK IS AN EXTRAORDINARY
TYPOGRAPHICAL LANDSCAPE—LAYERS OF TEXT
SEDUCE THE READER INTO DIGGING FOR WORDS. HAMMER
ADMIRES THE WORK OF WRITERS WHO CAN TAKE YEARS
TO COME UP WITH THESE 48-PAGE FOLIOS AND IS AWARE
THE READER WILL BUILD A RELATIONSHIP WITH THE POETRY
WITHIN: “THESE KIND OF BOOKS ARE NOT READ ONCE
AND THEN PUT ASIDE, BUT COME BACK TO YOUR LAP EVERY
NOW AND THEN. SO IT MAKES SENSE TO TAKE THE TIME TO
CREATE AN OBJECT THAT IS WORTHWHILE.”
He switched jobs, working for companies that were supposedly
more socially conscious. But a decade before Kathie Lee
Gifford’s clothing line was pulled from stores because of child
labor concerns, Hammer was unable to find employers whose business
practices bore up under scrutiny. In a decisive move, he left
both advertising and full-time commercial employment. He didn’t
completely rule out working for large corporations, but decided
to limit the projects he took on to those where his creative output
would not be used by enterprises that he disagreed with. “In
the past, I invented happenings for the new Levi’s or Nike models,
and now I use the same skills for causes that matter to me—that
seduce me with a question,” he says. “That’s happiness.”
Hammer has, by choice, made a life in the margins. Rejecting
pressure and fame for relative anonymity allows him to make the
kind of work he wants and to conduct creative experiments without
predetermined expectations. Hammer is adamant that the
ability and willingness to fail is necessary to make better design
and believes that, “if one constantly wants only to be recognized
for the work they do, the pressure will eventually cause them to
make safe work, and their solutions will no longer fit the project,
nor will they be timely or interesting.”
From the belief that failure is useful, and even necessary, has
come a unique way of recycling less-successful outcomes into new
assignments. Hammer often prefers to “live” with the evidence of an
unhappy experience, embracing rather than discarding that which
has fallen short.
To cut costs and minimize waste—even for paying jobs—
Hammer will rummage through the ends from print runs and
choose a stock that complements his design and utilizes existing,
often free, materials. Such ingenuity has allowed him to produce
award-winning book designs, objects and promotional materials
for clients ranging from cultural institutions and publishers to
neighborhood eateries.
CASE IN POINT #1
When a client rejected a Hammer-designed jewelry display system
for being too experimental, the moving blankets that wrapped
the shelving system were left in Hammer’s studio—detritus of a
rejected project. After several months Hammer became convinced
that he could give the pile of cheaply made and poor-quality fabric
a second life. Drawing on his previous association with groups
advocating for immigrants’ rights, Hammer began to see parallels
between the disposable cloth in his studio and the challenges
faced by displaced people.
Joining forces with a jewelry designer and a jailed immigrant
tailor from Iran, the three collaborated to create a small line of
couture suit jackets and trench coats from the leftover moving
blankets. The resulting stylish, expertly cut coats will be exhibited
and sold in galleries and store windows throughout Amsterdam,
and the proceeds will help the Iranian tailor begin a new life
in Holland.
BOOK COVERS, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP CENTER: BANJOMAN,
2006, TWO-COLOR; VOLLE MAAN, 2003, THREE-COLOR;
LIEDJES, 2006, THREE-COLOR (TWO PASSES OF WHITE,
ONE OF BLACK); DE KARPERS EN DE KRAB, 2003, THREECOLOR;
OP DE KOP, 2003, TWO-COLOR; EBDIEP, 2006,
TWO-COLOR. ALL WERE PRODUCED FOR FOR THE DUTCH
PUBLISHER UITGEVERIJ (CONTACT). HAMMER BELIEVES
THAT FOUR-COLOR OFFSET PRINTING IS OFTEN A WASTE OF
TIME AND RESOURCES, AND HE OFTEN LISTS THE NUMBER
OF COLORS USED IN A PROJECT AS EVIDENCE OF HIS LABOR-
AND COST-SAVING EFFORTS.
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