she studied graphic design at the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, The Netherlands. her vision on the craft was shaped by her internship at the studio of Richard Niessen and Esther de Vries. since her graduation in 2018 she runs a one-woman studio based in Amsterdam.
she makes books, exhibitions, identities, typefaces & other things
nóra works across various formats and media, using her expertise in typography and visual storytelling. whether she designs a scientific publication or a festival campaign, her design process is rooted in engagement with the content, and develops through research, analysis, conceptual thinking – sprinkled with a pinch of humor.
she is a visual puzzle solver
and she likes to play with complexities. she likes untangling jumbled texts and making order among messy ideas. she is keen on creating fluent navigation, engaging reading experiences, layered typographic hierarchies. in her work system thinking and playfulness complement each other to create exciting designs.
she is a graphic archeologist
nóra finds undepletable source of inspiration in old stuff. be it a flee market or an archive of medieval manuscripts, seeing traces of human creativity and design thinking makes her heart beat faster. beyond personal interest, she uses archival research both in her commissioned work and in her self-initiated design research practice. she is most interested in understanding visual forms in their socio-cultural context.
she is a typographic tree-hugger
a mother, an environmentalist, a long-distance walker, a gardener, a neighborhood community organizer. her environmental engagement and interest in the workings of care labour are also themes of her design work. she particularly likes to work on assignments related to nature, care, children’s literature and play. she creates autonomous works inspired by these personal positions and experiences.
she presented her work
at exhibitions, conferences and festivals like the Chaumont Graphic Design Festival, Chaumont (2015), Declaring Reason, Meermanno Museum, The Hague (2017),KABK Graduation Show, Royal Academy of Art, The Hague (2018), AtypI Tokyo 2019, Miraikan MuseumTokyo (2019), Reviving Type Book Launch, Museum Meermanno, The Hague (2019), Other Ways of Watching Together, MAMA, Rotterdam (2020), ZineCamp, Worm Rotterdam (2022), Graphic Matters Palace Talks (2023), Library of Narrative Types Launch, KIOSK Rotterdam (2024), Drawing Letters, Telling Stories, Letterspace Amsterdam (2024). she received the Talent Development Grant from the Creative Industries Fund NL in 2022-2023.
she worked with
amazing artists, delightful designers, witty writers and interesting institutions. among her comissioners were the Valkhof Museum (Nijmegen), the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam, the Nieuwe Instituut (Rotterdam), Graphic Matters (Breda) and the Palace of Typographic Masonry and Brutal Types. she has collaborated with ARK (Atelier Roosje Klap), Céline Hurka, Mark S. Mullee and Géza Sipos.
she is looking forward to hearing from you
you can reach her by email at norabekes@gmail.com or by phone at number +31 623 485 691. you can find her foundry called Library of Narrative Types at libraryofnarrativetypes.xyz and her publishing project with Mark S. Mullee called Oakmoss Press at oakmosspress.eu.