Maarten Renckens is a multidisciplinary person. He combines several functions in graphic design (design researcher, designer, Linotype technician), as landlord (facilities manager), as Environment Expert (urban planning & building permissions), and carillon player. Above all, he does the things he likes to do.
As a design researcher, and as someone who used to have light reading difficulties himself, he took the task to enlarge the knowledge about the design parameters that could influence the reading comfort of texts. Within this context, he tests different design parameters with different audiences create more awareness of proper text design. He has an interest in typesetting technology, for which he wrote several courses and started the Linotype.wiki project. This website collects all possible information about mechanical typesetting machines.
Maarten further maintains several buildings by himself, smoothly navigating requirements in architecture, urban planning, and building quality regulations. As an 'expert environment' (urban planner) for the city of Damme, Belgium, he provides advice regarding urban development, evaluates building dossiers, developed the retribution regulations, improved the digital archive of the city, designing an programming all the templates for the Environmental Office, purchasing and selling buildings, and worked on the establishment of the 'urban renforcement' (handhaving).
And while not a very active carillon player anymore, he still involves himself with those instruments, currently focussing on the restauration of the carillon in the city of Damme, Belgium.
- RENCKENS, M.; RENCKENS, S. (second submission). "Preserving the Linotype. Matrix dimensions and production".
- RENCKENS, M.; GOOSSENS, P.; ØVERGÅRD, J.E.; & BRANDSNES, M. (submitted). "Hot metal typesetting machines: their state in the 2020s and their future. A focused assessment.
- RENCKENS, M.; BESSEMANS; A.; PEREZ MENA, M. (submitted). "Visual prosody: defining terms and analysis of existing visualizations. Formulating the Expressive Reading Axes: a framework to support reading expressively through visualizations of intensity, duration, and pitch".
- RENCKENS, M. (2024). "An Exploratory Study Evaluating the Influence of Taller Stripe Patterns on Reading Comfort Using Ranking Tests, Reading Tests, EEG’s, and Eye Tracking." In: Visible Language 58(1). DOI: 10.34314/w29ewx38
- RENCKENS, M.; DE RAEVE, L.; NUYTS, E.; PEREZ MENA, M.; BESSEMANS, A. (2021). "Visual prosody supports reading aloud expressively for deaf readers." In: Visible Language 55(1). DOI: 10.34314/vl.v55i1.4603
- RENCKENS, M.; DE RAEVE, L.; NUYTS, E.; PEREZ MENA, M.; BESSEMANS, A. (2021). "Preliminary study exploring the relation between visual prosody and the prosodic components in sign language." In: Visible Language 55(1). DOI: 10.34314/vl.v55i1.4604
- RENCKENS, M. (2021). "Consequently Positioning the Rhythm in Type Based on the Letters’ Longest Continuous Black Mass." In: Visible Language 54(3): 32-47.
- BESSEMANS, A.; RENCKENS, M.; BORMANS, K.; NUYTS, E.; LARSON, K. (2020). "Visual Prosody Supports Reading Aloud Expressively." In: Visible Language 53(3): 28-49. DOI: 10.34314/vl.v53i3.4653
- RENCKENS, M. (2018). "Letter variations to train social skills. Expression in speech transcriptions." [Peer reviewed Conference Paper] Second Conference in Graphic Design, Bilbao, Spain.
- WALKER, S.; BLACK, A.; BESSEMANS, A.; BORMANS, K.; RENCKENS, M.; BARRAT, M. (2018). "Chapter 2. Designing digital texts for beginner readers: Aspects and processes". In: thompson, J.; SCHROEDER, S., BARZILLAI, M. & VAN DEN BROEK, P. (2018). "Learning to Read in a Digital World." John Benjamin’s • e-read Book Project • https://benjamins.com/catalog/swll.17
- RENCKENS, M. (2024). Een analyse van “Woonkwaliteit” in de wetteksten ‘Codex Wonen’ en ‘Codex Ruimtelijk Ordening’ [An analysis of "living quality" in the regulations 'Codex regarding living' and 'Codex regarding urban planning].
- RENCKENS, M,; DELEU, F.; HAUTEKIET, J-P. (November 2023). Adviesrapport voor de restauratie van de beiaard van Damme [Report with advices for the restoration of the carillon of Damme]. For the city of Damme.
- RENCKENS, M.; PULMANS, S.; GOOSSENS, P.; VAN DEN BERGH, S. (2022). "Waarderingsdossier Mixer-letterzetters (Appraisal file of the Mixer-typesetter)", written for the Industriemuseum Gent (Industrial Museum Ghent).
- RENCKENS, M.; PULMANS, S.; LUYTS, N.; & VERBOVEN, M. (2022). "Waarderingsdossier voor de Linotype letterzetter van het speelkaartenmuseum (Appraisal file of the Linotype Typesetter from the Playing Cards Museum)", written for the Speelkaartenmuseum Turnhout (Playing Cards Museum Turnhout).
- De goede toepassing van typografie [The good application of typography]. One of my own courses, which I also used at Syntra Genk.
- Digitale lettertypes tekenen [Drawing Digital Typefaces]
- Typografie: theorie [Typography: theory]. I collaborated on the course provided at Hasselt University.
- Sketchup
- De iPad Leren kennen en begrijpen (get to know and understand the iPAD). a guide formulated by all teachers at Vormingplus Limburg.
- 2022: The Flemisch Government provided a grant for a master-pupil traject to transfer the knowledge as a Linotype Technician, preserving this knowledge for the future.
- 2020: Fameus funded the project Type Platform, an educational platform to provide insights in how other designers are using type. (The project was for the largest part cancelled due to Corona).
I didn't do this work all alone. I received support from:
C 2021-2024 Maarten Renckens.
