Hi, I’m Rens - I help innovative companies, advertisement agencies and production houses translate complex solutions into visual clarity that triggers decisions.
While I hold an official degree as an interior designer, I have nearly all my career worked in crafting stories.
These stories help people sell their products, like in the advertisement world. But these stories also helped people lean into important subjects, like safety on the streets. Or have been making people aware of different opinions or ways of looking at things, like our environment.
🌍
Years ago, when I was contracted at an ad agency (Kunstmaan, part of Accenture), I wanted to convince my manager and design colleagues to chase more motion brand guideline clients. (This is setting up a big motion design system for a whole brand).
I spent weeks crafting a massive, agency-branded PowerPoint to convince my manager to chase motion branding clients. I packed it with every fact, funny GIF and chapter I could find. But by the end, I realized I’d created a monster. It was too long, too dull, and I knew nobody would actually listen.
It was a complete disaster.
Therefore, I took a risk and ditched the 35 page slide deck entirely.
Instead of holding my team hostage for an hour, I showed them a 5-minute motion principles video from Google and one of IBM.
So, I could tell them in 5 minutes what I wanted them to know. It was short, memorable and everyone knew immediately what I was striving for.
Even more, I showed them what I too was making every day. Good motion and the power of a well crafted video.
You could tell in their eyes now they too wanted to make motion brand guidelines.
The funny thing was, my manager and design colleagues were starting to see me as a different person. Somebody who has a vision and can inspire others.
That’s when I got the chance to work on a huge project afterwards, an explainer video series about the power of storytelling. This was spread all over the global company of 500K people. People were raving over it. Proving once more that clarity and storytelling beats complexity.
Even though we did not go full on into brand design guidelines (a whole niche in the motion world). This was my lightbulb moment.
While making 6 to 30 second ads is still big fun and challenging, realizing that a single explainer video can channel thinking patterns and streamline entire organisations is just mindblowing.
Anyone can make a video these days. AI is a great tool. But you need a well crafted, powerful and emotionally connecting video tailored just for your needs and your story.
Why is this important? Our time and attention span is short. We are visually aimed creatures, wired for storytelling. No one wants to look dull in front of investors, board meetings or your potential clients.
It removes the financial risk of being misunderstood during a funding round.
A company can scale because sales teams all have the same strong story to tell.
A complex product can convert because it is understood.
My work is trusted by folks at BBDO, TBWA, Mutant, Dallas, Accenture, itsme and many more.
When I’m not chasing keyframes and syncing shots on the beat, you can find me painting in oils or playing the bass guitar. Or watching the sun set in my garden in between my chicks, cats and blueberry shrubs. Or hiking and camping somewhere in Europe with my wife and daughter.
🌳While I hold an official degree as an interior designer, I have nearly all my career worked in crafting stories.
These stories help people sell their products, like in the advertisement world. But these stories also helped people lean into important subjects, like safety on the streets. Or have been making people aware of different opinions or ways of looking at things, like our environment.
🌍
Years ago, when I was contracted at an ad agency (Kunstmaan, part of Accenture), I wanted to convince my manager and design colleagues to chase more motion brand guideline clients. (This is setting up a big motion design system for a whole brand).
I spent weeks crafting a massive, agency-branded PowerPoint to convince my manager to chase motion branding clients. I packed it with every fact, funny GIF and chapter I could find. But by the end, I realized I’d created a monster. It was too long, too dull, and I knew nobody would actually listen.
It was a complete disaster.
Therefore, I took a risk and ditched the 35 page slide deck entirely.
Instead of holding my team hostage for an hour, I showed them a 5-minute motion principles video from Google and one of IBM.
So, I could tell them in 5 minutes what I wanted them to know. It was short, memorable and everyone knew immediately what I was striving for.
Even more, I showed them what I too was making every day. Good motion and the power of a well crafted video.
You could tell in their eyes now they too wanted to make motion brand guidelines.
The funny thing was, my manager and design colleagues were starting to see me as a different person. Somebody who has a vision and can inspire others.
That’s when I got the chance to work on a huge project afterwards, an explainer video series about the power of storytelling. This was spread all over the global company of 500K people. People were raving over it. Proving once more that clarity and storytelling beats complexity.
Even though we did not go full on into brand design guidelines (a whole niche in the motion world). This was my lightbulb moment.
While making 6 to 30 second ads is still big fun and challenging, realizing that a single explainer video can channel thinking patterns and streamline entire organisations is just mindblowing.
Anyone can make a video these days. AI is a great tool. But you need a well crafted, powerful and emotionally connecting video tailored just for your needs and your story.
Why is this important? Our time and attention span is short. We are visually aimed creatures, wired for storytelling. No one wants to look dull in front of investors, board meetings or your potential clients.
It removes the financial risk of being misunderstood during a funding round.
A company can scale because sales teams all have the same strong story to tell.
A complex product can convert because it is understood.
My work is trusted by folks at BBDO, TBWA, Mutant, Dallas, Accenture, itsme and many more.
When I’m not chasing keyframes and syncing shots on the beat, you can find me painting in oils or playing the bass guitar. Or watching the sun set in my garden in between my chicks, cats and blueberry shrubs. Or hiking and camping somewhere in Europe with my wife and daughter.
