Education
Royal Academy of Art & Design/Den Bosch (graphic design), University of Utrecht (sonology)

Partner/creative director of Koeweiden Postma, 1987- May 2013

With Koeweiden Postma, Jacques Koeweiden was creatively responsible for visual identities including those of the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, the Van Gogh Museum, the Amsterdam MusicTheatre and the Netherlands Judiciary, and also for the complete restyling of HEMA (retail and corporate) and – his crowing achievement - the City of Amsterdam during the investiture of 2013. His work is characterised by a direct, colourful and powerful way of communicating: “From pure intuition - and with an appropriate distance - watching a brand or organisation always provides unexpected insights, which allow me to arrive at powerful design solutions. These, above all, must communicate.”

In the late 1980s and 90s, Jacques Koeweiden and Paul Postma were prominent figures in the fresh generation of graphic design outfits which gave colour to the image of Netherlands. Unlike their modernist predecessors, who were often strongly geared towards the cultural sector, Koeweiden and Postma quickly chose a commercial focus for their work as graphic designers. Therefore they were among the first to expand the graphic design profession to cover the broader area of ‘visual communication’. For Jacques Koeweiden, it is clear that there remains a greater challenge in addressing a broad audience, than in working for a niche market: “Distinctive design, realised for a large audience, is ultimately more relevant to society than design for design’s sake,” he says. In recent years, he has applied his vision to various social organisations, including the Dutch ‘Council of Children’, the Laurentien van Oranje Foundation, ASVZ, the Ramadan Festival and the Catalpa childcare organisation, his rather different design and communication principles leading to some innovative visual communication strategies. As an independent designer and creative strategist, Koeweiden will mainly focus on those areas where design adds real value. For this, direct commissioning is essential. As he says himself: “Direct contact with the client works in the most inspiring way for me and ultimately provides the best results.”

Jacques Koeweiden has won many national and international awards for his work, for example for his projects for Nike, HEMA, the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, the Ramadan Festival and the Van Gogh Museum. Recently he won the principal German design prize, the Red Dot Award, for his work for the 2013 investiture. Jacques Koeweiden is the chairman of the Dutch delegation of the Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI).

Mind the gap
Koeweiden and Postma are co-founders of Mind the Gap, a series of lectures which investigates the (new) role of design, art-direction and new media in a changing world of communication
mind the gap > co-founder of Mind the Gap, a series of (visually compelling) lectures which investigates the (new) role of design, art direction and new media in a changing world of communication. Mind the Gap 6 will take place in Amsterdam 2011 and London 2011, and will feature 4 designers/agencies who created the visual language for the Olympic Games in 1968, 1972, 1986 and 2010

Awards
Koeweiden Postma associates received numerous awards and nominations at national and international festivals like the Art Directors Club Holland; Dutch Theatre Year-prize; Dutch Design Prize; British D&AD; Art Directors Club New York; Type Directors; Club New York; Art Directors Club Tokyo; Type Directors Club Tokyo; The 100 Show (USA); German Design Prize; London STD (UK); TIA (USA); Chaumont Poster-Festival (France); Hong Kong Poster Triennal (CHINA). In 1997 Koeweiden Postma was chosen as
one of the Graphis 10 Best Agencies worldwide. 1999 Koeweiden Postma received the Dutch Stationary Prize. Gold Award at The Hong Kong Poster Triennal. 2005; 2 Awards at the ADC/New York; 2 Silver Awards at the ADCN. 2007; European Design Prize (Gold); Red Dot Awards; Cedar Leadership Award 2014

Articles & publications
Articles on, and work of Koeweiden are published in magazines and books like: IDEA(Japan); Direction(UK); Graphics International(USA); Items, Credits and Adformatie(NL); Creative Review(UK); Graphis(USA); Axis (Japan) and Typography Now(UK); The Graphic Edge (UK); Eye (UK); Typography now#2; New Typographics (Japan); Dutch Posters 1960-1996; Graphis
Poster(USA); Graphis Letterheads 4(USA); Magazine (Australia); Type.Image.Message (USA); The Anatomy of Design(USA); A History Of
Graphic Design (USA, 2006)