Animation
“Dag, lieve kijkbuiskinderen”
2025/03/23 18:13
Meneer de Uil is a character in the popular Dutch television series ‘De Fabeltjeskrant’. He is a somewhat long-winded and forgetful owl who often interrupts his sentences with “Eh…” and ends with “Jawel!”. Well-known sayings: “Dag, lieve kijkbuiskinderen” and “Oogjes dicht en snaveltjes toe”. In 2022, this permanent farewell greeting was included in the Dutch Dikke Van Dale [dictionary].
I’ve drawn this pixel character for my family social media group [named ‘From the archive’] and as an icon for my digital archive [extended hard disk].
A Close Shave
2025/02/08 11:37
Since his first appearance in ‘A Close Shave’ with Wallace & Gromit, Shaun the Sheep has become a global superstar, whose TV adventures are enjoyed in 170 territories. He has a huge following on social media, with over 5 million Facebook fans and 1.7 billion views on YouTube. He’s also appeared on the big screen in two acclaimed feature films.
In 2020 I went to the international exhibition ‘The Art of Aardman’ at Forum Groningen in the Netherlands following successful runs in Paris, Melbourne, Frankfurt and Seoul. The popular exhibition gave a masterful insight into the work of Academy Award-winning Aardman Studios. The exhibition took visitors on a journey of discovery past original versions of Gromit’s famous vegetable garden, the flying machine from ‘Chicken Run’ and the spectacular five-metre tall galleon from ‘The Pirates! Band of Misfits’.
I made this screensaver (2560 × 1664 px) for my happy Mac. :)
Ceci n’est pas une pipe
2025/02/08 06:53
The cigarette was one of a collection of ‘bad habits’ icons designed by Susan Kare (an American artist and graphic designer, who contributed interface elements and typefaces for the first Apple Macintosh personal computer from 1983 to 1986) for the bookstore at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York. They were featured on magnets, sticky notes and stationary. Other bad habits were represented by a frosted doughnut, television, cake, pill, cocktail, pizza and dice.
Add another 4 slightly different layers, refresh them in 0.1 seconds … et voilà: there you have a smoking chimney! ;)
Evolution of a logo
2024/11/17 18:31
Design is an iterative process: explore, try, share, test, reject … and start over again. This cycle approach stimulates progressive insight.
The concept ‘design = fijn’ [Dutch for ‘fine’] has become an integral part of the philosophy underlying all my work: for people who appreciate fine design. My fascination for mechanical typewriters, monospaced fonts, ASCII art and emoji, led to the logo design.
An early version from 2015 to 2018 and now (early) in 2024.
Good luck to you
2024/07/02 20:36
I simply love this concept: maneki-neko is a common Japanese mascot which is often believed to bring good luck to the owner. The figurine depicts a cat—traditionally a Japanese Bobtail—with a paw raised in a beckoning gesture. They are often displayed in shops, restaurants, pachinko parlors, dry cleaners, laundromats, bars, casinos, hotels, nightclubs, and other businesses, generally near the entrance, as well as households. Some maneki-neko are equipped with a mechanical paw which moves back and forth. My collection started with this one, which I bought for Arda a few years ago.
