De Roos was born in Drachten to a cobbler, but moved to Amsterdam at an early age.

Later he studied at the Teekenschool voor Kunstambachten (The School of Drawing for the Arts and Crafts), part of the Rijksakademie.

As a supporter of Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis, De Roos attempted to create the ideal of ‘Art to the People’.

During this period he designed, a new type face, the Hollandsche Mediæval, the first Dutch made typeface for 150 years.

[1] Archive material, as well as the Tetterode Collection both attributed to De Roos, are available at the Library of the University of Amsterdam.