Daan Koolstra

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  • daankoolstra@gmail.com
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  • Daan Koolstra

    Design & visualizing

     

    Born in Amsterdam, raised in Utrecht, I’ve probably spent most of my life making, well… Anything.

     

    Whether it was drawing as a kid, painting in art school or working for agencies as an adult, it is in my nature to try and make something pretty to look at. In my career I’ve never been able to limit myself to just one craft and I probably never will. I see design, illustration and art direction as a tool; merely as a way to visualize an idea.

     

    It does not take a lot to set me off either, a small marker sketch on the back of a beer coaster is pretty much all I need to spark my imagination. Heck, the idea doesn’t even have to be that good. I’ve been known for being able to “Turn shit into gold”. But you don’t have to take my word for it, this is just an obligatory paragraph of self-promotion you’ve come to expect from a portfolio site.

     

    Give me a call and let’s create something awesome. I am currently employed at True Ideas.

     

  • Grolsch

    Grolsch

    Grolsch
    Design, art direction

    A classic ad campaign introducing the all new Grolsch bottle. ‘Our new pride’, the headline reads. Well I’m pretty proud myself! Grolsch might not be my favourite beer taste-wise, but it is definitely my favourite beer brand. I look forward to working in more Grolsch projects in the near future.

  • Concept visuals

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    Concept visuals

    Some of my favourite concept visuals for various clients. Creating something with maximum ‘oomph’ in a minimal amount of time is the name of the game here.

  • Day For Change

    Day For Change

    Day For Change
    Art Direction & Design

    A non-profit ad campaign made to inspire kids to be an entrepreneur for one day. The money raised is then given to entrepreneurs in developing countries as micro financing. The goal was to visualize several fun and creative ways to raise money for charity.

  • Rabobank

    Rabobank

    Rabobank, MyOrder
    Design

    I’ve done quite a lot of campaigns for Rabobank, a lot. It’s very satisfying to see your visuals in these mass media campaigns, all over the country and perhaps beyond. After seeing them so much it’s tough to judge which is best for your portfolio… So I just went for the ones that we’re the least conventional visually. This campaign features the ease-of-use of their new mobile paying service ‘MyOrder’.

  • Rabobank

    Rabobank

    Rabobank Utrecht
    Design & art direction

    Rabobank believes that pretty much anything can be accomplished if you work together. So when asked to think of a campaign to celebrate Rabobank Utrecht’s 100 year anniversary, True Ideas introduced the ‘Samen Spel’. A competition where everyone can pitch their ideas to make Utrecht an even better place to live in. The prize was actually making that idea a reality, with Rabobank’s experience and our marketing expertise.

  • Logo Designs

    Logo Designs

    Various Logo Designs

    A random selection of designs made at several agencies, as a freelancer or just for kicks.

     

  • Lipton

    Lipton

    Lipton Various Print
    Design, illustration & art direction

    Over the last two years, Unilever has asked us to develop several ad and outdoor campaigns for their various Lipton brands. From twenty meter high banners of people jumping into an ice tea bottle, to a children’s book explaining what the Rainforest Alliance’s role is in the production of their tea (currently in development).

     

  • Human Rights

    Human Rights

    Right Now Festival
    Design, illustration & art direction

    Being a festival lover myself, one of the most satisfying projects was being hired to help organize a festival to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the the universal decleration of human rights. I was pleased to help with the overall identity, design and even programming of the event which was held in the Paard van Troje in Den Haag.

  • Grolsch

    Grolsch

    Design

    The master brewers at Grolsch are asking us for some feedback on their two latest creations. This in itself is an awesome and unique proposition, so we were happy to develop the tools and media to help make this the most successful taste test ever.

     

     

  • EYOF

    EYOF

    European Youth Olympic Festival
    Pitch design

    Probably one of the most fun and challenging brief a designer could wish for; create a visual identity for the Olympics. The youth Olympics in this case, where Europe’s future sports talent perform for their very first time. In the end our client went for a look and feel that was ‘less high end’. No medal this time, but lot’s of fun nonetheless.

  • Getronics

    Getronics

    Getronics Future Ready Workspace
    Illustration & Design

    A movie poster for the film ‘Is er nog Koffie’ directed by Kees Prins, where an IT professional spent his days doodling and drinking coffee since the introduction of Getronics new online desktop service. He was pretty bummed about it, no idea why. That’s pretty much my core business.

  • Lipton

    Lipton

    Lipton Tea Fusions
    Visualizing & design

    Lipton Tea Fusions combines two great flavors to create one that’s even better. So we thought it would be cool to give away T-shirt’s that compliment that idea. Inspired by the holi festival India, the shirt is created by models walking over a catwalk in a plain white T. We invite young fashion designers to then throw paint powder at them to create a cool ‘tye dye’ like effect. Make’s for a great photoshoot too, shown are some of the concept sketches for the promotion.

  • Dolhuys

    Dolhuys

    Het Dolhuys
    Design

    Absolutely nuts, the museum of the mind is one of Holland’s weirdest places you could visit. For these ads we used quotes from schizophrenic patients in combination with some of the museum’s craziest installations. The die cut for one of the folder almost drove me insane. Pretty rad.

  • VU Amsterdam

    VU Amsterdam

    Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
    Design

    An ad campaign for the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, with quotes teasing what science could accomplish by 2030. With a little imagination offcourse.

  • Unilever

    Unilever

    Croma Mini Masterclass
    Concept & design

    Before Masterchef was cool, we imagined that the only way we could make Croma’s product taste better was to teach people to prepare their food like a pros. So we did. With superchef Leon Mazairac as our star, we developed an online course for evey possible type of meat, live ‘classrooms’ at trade shows, banner ad’s, print and television. We even taught people in supermarkets how best to prepare what they had in their shopping basket. Huge success, and even I learned a thing or two about preparing the perfect steak.

  • ASR

    ASR

    ASR Bank
    Design

    The ASR Bank asked if we could make their sponsorship of footballclub Feyenoord more relevant. So we made ASR buy ad space in their stadium boarding and let fans write support cheers. Through an online voting process the fans chose the best and for an entire season the boarding lit up with their support. Pretty simple, awesome idea.