for Dutch newspaper Trouw we designed a series of 4 cookbooks that feature acclaimed Michelin star chef Ron Blaauw.

a book for every season, with very nice recipes and background stories on ingredients. in every book Ron is also seen exploring something that fits the season (i.e. in autumn he is gathering mushrooms).
just some digital mock-ups here, as we are eagerly awaiting the real volumes here so that we can photograph them!

Trouw’s promotional site for these books can be found here (warning: flash).

the magazine is a call for more quality and a wider choice for students and the providers of housing for students.

twenty imaginary students are profiled, alongside ten housing products that should appeal to both the students as to the providers. lavishly illustrated, the magazine also takes the reader through five centuries of student housing and offers some thorough analysis of the obstacles facing developing for this market.

read Class of 2020 here, see an impression of the presentation here.

client: PostNL
what: series of postage stamps
print: Koninklijke Joh. Enschedé

PostNL, the new name of the Dutch Post, approached us to design an edition in a series of stamp emissions on the theme of the Netherlands and its ties with other countries. titled ‘Grenzeloos Nederland’ (‘Netherlands without borders’) the series explore the ties that the Netherlands have and have had with Brazil, Surinam, and in our edition, South-Africa.
the subjects we explored are the VOC trading company, that created a trading post in Africa on Cape Good Hope, which became Kaapstad / Cape Town, South-African wine and the Cape-Dutch building tradition, and the similarities between Afrikaans and Dutch. the themes are shown within the silhouettes of six animals (the ‘big five’ plus our friend the pinguin) that can be found in South-Africa.
in one of the stamps we’ve used Ingrid Jonkers’ poem Die kind wat doodgeskiet is deur soldate by Nyanga that Nelson Mandela has read during his inauguration as the first president of the New South Africa.

you can order the stamps here.

we developed a series of animations to introduce the CO2 ladder during a presentation held at Pakhuis de Zwijger. the CO2 ladder is a tool to reduce CO2 in the construction industry and the Dutch railways. it is initiated by ProRail and represented by Stichting Klimaatvriendelijk Aanbesteden en Ondernemen (SKAO).

the animations were projected on 9 giant screens (3 screens per animation) in Pakhuis de Zwijger’s main hall. for a blasting viewing experience activate full screen mode and turn on your speakers at high volume!

blok 1 - inzicht (understanding)

blok 2 - ambitie (ambition)

blok 3 - transparatie (transparency)

blok 4 - samenwerking (collaboration)

we were asked to develop an identity for the Creative Amsterdam 2011 conference, Open Studio Night and Creative Amsterdam Award, including logos and website elements.
the basic idea behind the identity is that the conference functions like a hub, it’s like an airport terminal with planes docking on and off.

what: campagne for ‘Zingen bij De Nederlandse Opera’
client : De Nederlandse Opera, DNO

if yes – but not only – you are welcome to apply to take part in singing with one of two choirs in the Muziektheater Amsterdam during their ‘Open Dag’ on may 21st. For more information click here.

last week we joined Nina Zulian at supperclub, where she won a prize for a competition she participated in as a part of her internship at mannschaft.

purpose of the competition was to design a “cards welcome” sticker for American Express with the theme Amsterdam DNA. 15 designs were selected for the second round, where each designer had to present their concept to a jury. last thursday at supperclub, four winners were selected from the final 15. in december, the winning designs will be used by stores accepting American Express.

we think the presentation Nina gave best describes her concept:

I’m Nina, a graphic designer from Brazil, and I have been living here in Amsterdam for a year and a half. I designed this American Express Sticker during my internship at Mannschaft, a graphic design studio in Amsterdam. They participated in this project by helping me think about design solutions and giving me feedback. From that partnership we combined two different points of view: the Dutch perspective and my foreign perspective. This collaboration was very important in guiding me to define and design the Amsterdam DNA.

My concept is: Amsterdam - the windows of cultures.

When I arrived in Amsterdam, I was really impressed by the urban landscape: old buildings, the canal, the windows and the light reflecting in the canal’s water. You can always see inside in the shops, houses, offices: all through the windows. Each culture, each house, each shop you can try to identify the personality just looking the window’s details. They have strong shapes and colors. Just walking in the street you are part of this life for seconds. In the night the lights from that house become part of the landscape, showing colors and life.

How I can show that feeling? and express that feeling for for everybody?

I did a abstract design using the Amsterdam scenery as my inspiration. Using the geometric shapes, I designed the environment with strong forms that every person can connect to. it was important to me that the interpretation be universal and every culture can identify the forms. I use friendly colors so the design was warm and expresses the different types of life, friendly family homes and inviting shop windows. But to attract the attention of the viewer, I also made the colors vibrant.

The shapes and colors combine to become the typical Amsterdam setting: the window of cultures!

the jury consisted of Kunstenaar van het Jaar 2010 Ans Markus, Vice-president Merchants van American Express Marjolein Gerritsen, grafisch ontwerper Herman van Bostelen, Peter van Kuijk van Ogilvy Amsterdam, Janine Fluyt, hoofd PR en Voorlichting Van Gogh Museum en Bert van der Leden van de Supperclub in Amsterdam.

News articles:
Winnaars Amsterdam DNA Ontwerpwedstrijd, Adformatie

client: Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst
year: 2010
what: identity, website, animation, shop window, flyer
print flyers: Drukkerij Elco
copy animation: Mo Veld

voordekunst is a crowdfunding platform for the arts initiated by Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst. mannschaft was tasked with creating an integrated identity system, designing their micro-patronage website, and developing a compelling campaign to help educate potential donors, companies and partner funds about the new platform.

the identity system was designed with the website in mind - we liked the idea that the logo itself could immediately indicate a project’s progress to the viewer, while the color system marks the stage the project is in. green for projects in the funding stage, pink for projects in danger of ending without being funded, and yellow for projects with 100% of the funds needed to proceed.

in addition to the website (which we posted about previously), we designed email campaign templates, presentation templates, letterhead and print collateral.

while creating the animation to explain crowdfunding and how it works within the voordekunst platform, we designed a several maps of holland in the voordekunst house style to be used in the animation as well as across different media.

at the launch event last week in the Hirschgebouw, we saw all the pieces of the campaign come together. congratulations Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst, we’re proud to have taken part in such a great initiative.