De Groot has also published books under his True True True imprint, which evolved out of his experience of translating and producing the English edition of Nescio’s Little Titans. Published in 2008, the book displayed its share of qualities typical of designers’ self-publishing at that time: small format; mimeographed pages and its characteristic blue ink; nonchalant typography; and an evident sense of do-it-yourself (including the custom typeface he created for the project). Unlike many of its contemporaries, however, True True True has been fueled by a real desire to share content (in the case of Nescio’s, with English-speaking friends) rather than mere capacity for production, and benefited from its literary focus.

For example, one of the early publications, Andy de Fiets: Letter to Robin Kinross (2009), takes the form of a fictitious letter by Andy, a 22-year-old design student, to his hero, the typographer, writer, editor and publisher behind Hyphen Press. In this “typographic comedy,” Andy “offers unsolicited advice, seeks much-needed guidance, and shares his thoughts on matters such as typography, the Smiths, Islamic fundamentalism, proper clothing, the homeless, dust covers.” This hilariously irreverent homage speaks of the sentiments of newcomers—anxious sense of belatedness—with astute observations uniquely available to a typographic designer.