“Ooit ’n normaal mens ontmoet?” poster
“Ever met a normal person? And…, did you like it?”
Between 1973 and 1974, stichting Pandora developed several posters related to psychiatry in which the question of normality was central. Especially the posters and stickers printed on mirror paper with the slogan “Ever met a normal person?”, Taken from Simon Carmiggelt’s Kronkels were a real hit.
Most online sources, like Museum van de Geest in the quote above, date this poster in 1973/74 but fail to credit a designer. Delpher (formerly “Het geheugen van Nederland”) has the designer credit – Eric de Vries – and claims 1980 as a publication date. Given that this poster was a popular asset for waiting rooms and class rooms, the poster had many print runs, and both dates could be right.
Judging by the font in use, 1980 may be more likely than 1973 for this poster: it is Neo-Jenson, tightly set and slightly stretched. This slabserif/oldstyle mix was featured in the 1978 Headliners catalog, without naming a typedesigner.
The small type on the bottom translates to “This mirror is held up to you by the Pandora Foundation”.
A worn-off copy photographed by blogger Laila, with different copy at the bottom.
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In 2015, on the occasion of the opening of De maakbare mens (“the makeable human”), museum Het Dolhuys reused the Pandora poster. With red letters, the original text was adjusted to read “Ever met a perfect human?”