Karel Martens

5x graphic design for the home

Guide

May 2026

Fig 1. © Mals Media

Designer Karel Martens (1939) is one of the most important post-war Dutch graphic designers. He is known for his playful, colourful and experimental approach to typography, his love of old printing techniques and his idiosyncratic eye. Recognisable are his lettering on buildings, the 30 km/h markings on roads in Amsterdam, book covers, posters, telephone cards and wallpaper.

Martens sees himself more as a laboratory technician than as an artist, as evidenced by his interest in everything he sees around him and finds in the street: things that other people throw away can be very valuable to him and become part of his designs. Martens uses, for example, newspaper and annotated archive cards as the basis for his colourful monoprints.

Here you will find a selection of works and products by Karel Martens, compiled by See All This, available to buy in the shop.

'I love tinkering, trying things out, doubting, starting over again.'
‒ Karel Martens

1. Birthday Calendar

1. Birthday Calendar

by Roma Publications

A timeless calendar that combines functionality with an iconic graphic design based on a concept originally developed in 1968. Through the layered, multicoloured compositions built up from a single die-cut shape, a powerful visual rhythm is created across all pages. Each month features a different unique composition, making the calendar not only practical but also a collectible design object.

Buy the Karel Martens Birthday Calendar in our shop

2. Tear-off Calendar 2027 | Every day is a new day

by Roma Publications

by Roma Publications

‘The number 1, the number 2, the number 3, they are as changeable as the metamorphoses of Ovid. The calendar is sold out,’ wrote Nicole Ex about Karel Martens’ Tear-off Calender 2026.

Fortunately, the Karel Martens Tear-off Calender 2027 is now available. Once again, each day features a unique composition, originally made using Martens’ characteristic method of creating monoprints in letterpress with found metal shapes, and subsequently digitalised into a total of 365 compositions. Every day is a new day!

Buy the 2027 Tear-off Calender in our shop

3. Set of 12 postcards

3. Set of 12 postcards

by Roma Publications

Set of 12 postcards, released on the occasion of the major Karel Martens retrospective at Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam in 2025.

You will find the postcards in our shop

4. Bath mat

by SUITE702

by SUITE702

Bath mat from the Karel Martens textile collection, developed in collaboration with SUITE702 Amsterdam, based on the art project Colors on the Beach.

The bath mat (pink/olive) is 50 x 80 cm and made from soft organic cotton. Thanks to the combed yarns, the bath mat not only feels compact but is also exceptionally soft. The bath mat is reversible, with one side in pink and the other in olive, so you can alternate between colours.

Buy the Karel Martens bath mat here

5. Guest towels

5. Guest towels

by SUITE702

These guest towels are from the Karel Martens textile collection, developed in collaboration with SUITE702 Amsterdam, based on the art project Colors on the Beach.

What makes this set of 3 guest towels unique is that the front and back of each towel differs. The guest towels are 30 x 50 cm, made from soft organic cotton. Thanks to the combed yarns, the guest towels not only feel compact but are also exceptionally soft.

The set of guest towels is available to buy in our shop