The Four-Letter Word (Nits Design Part One)

A few days ago I received this cd in the mail with three Beatles covers by Nits. Nice to listen to, but I found myself very taken with the way the small blue thing looks and I realised that no series of reflections on Nits could ever be complete without some attention to their wonderful sense of designing cover sleeves, booklets accompanying their songs, with photographs, drawings and paintings, and words. 

Especially the way they have managed to let the “NITS” word shine and become – to use some ugly words – almost like a brand or an institution or a trademark, is exceptional. It’s easy to see why they dropped the definite article after some time: let’s face it THE NITS needed to change into NITS for design reasons only. 

Four letters is just perfect, in balance, compact, five, six or seven would be a crowd…You have to admit it’s just such a photogenic word and of course the Nits men and women with their trained eye for beauty couldn’t fail to notice this. I don’t know who came up with the idea to drop the “THE” – maybe it was Henk’s wife Riemke, who has always been involved in the designing of their work – but it sure was a brilliant idea! 

And the Nits typography is one of simple elegance, always. Moreover their cover designs are sweet, playful and good-looking with forms, shapes and elements that often house a childlike sense of wonder, naive forms and figures.

Therefore collecting Nits records, cassettes, cd’s, minidiscs and what have you, is not just about the music. Nits have such a fine sensibility for “the thing of beauty”, it defines who they are on the musical stage. All these things are pretty, well-thought out objects to cherish and enjoy having around your house. I wouldn’t go as far as to state they are very decorative (another ugly word) pieces, but the truth is they are and I love seeing them appear through an open door in my home, displayed on a cupboard (among other favourite things), on my bedside table for a lovely view when I wake up in the morning and go to sleep at night. 

Music also needs a home for protection and safeguarding; music is a part of our material world – with musical instruments and tools for me being some of the most wonderful objects mankind has ever made, works of art really – and so it is only natural that it should come in a beautiful sleeve or box. So you can touch it and be touched by it…

Joke Roelandt, May 2023