Gerben Dollen studied graphic design in Groningen, the Netherlands. During a study exchange at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco he became interested in typeface design whilst attending Max Kisman’s FontLab class. Dollen specialized this practice at the University of Reading, England, where he completed an MA in Typeface Design. Type family Actium has its roots there, as it was one of his graduation projects.
Today he works from his studio Type Mafia in Amsterdam, finding a fifty-fifty balance doing both typographic and typeface design. Dollen likes to solve problems and make client’s lives easier, rather than inventing for the sake of it. This means he always designs with one or several purposes in mind, like reading flawlessly. Dollen is also driven by an obsessive attention to detail and aesthetics; ranging from perfecting the smoothest curve, to developing new features like Smart Capo™.