Alrik Koudenburg

"Alrik doesn’t ‘do’ a project. He lives a project and he cares. He asks questions and he tries to understand what’s happening while looking you straight in the eyes just to make sure you are aware he’s in. But more important: he makes you ask questions, he makes a client wonder what it’s all about and he has got the power to shift the mindset of everybody involved without rocking the boat. He has the ability to challenge in a gentle way, apparently always in a good mood. It’s interesting that after a while the boundaries between working with him and talking in private with him are completely gone. I’m afraid you can’t hire him without the magic."

"I was looking for a brand agency or a freelance concept designer for my newly founded frozen yoghurt brand.
When I was introduced to Alrik who in just a few moments of briefing could capture the experience and feeling I had in my mind on a sketchpad. It was such a relief. Alrik gave our frozen yoghurt form in such an inspiring way, he helped us with our vision, created the concept, gave Frozz it’s identity and brought it to life in our first tastinglab.
Within 2 years we were running a business of 2 food concepts, 3 sales channels, 14 own and franchised shops and 1000 points of sale. Based on my intensive working with Alrik in the past 5 years, I can truthfully endorse Alrik Koudenburg to be a one-of-a-kind inspirer. I could write a book about all our experiences that would show what an extraordinary talented creative, resourceful and beautiful human being Alrik is."

"I have known Alrik for the past 15 years and have worked closely in a few design projects. His professional standards and design knowledge, makes him unique and one of the most prestigious designers in the Netherlands. Anyone that has the chance to work with him will quickly see what an extraordinary asset he is to deliver on the highest of designs around the world."

"Working with Alrik is a refreshing experience. He avoids the 'usual suspects' but at the same time he is not afraid to do the obvious when needed. He thinks big and makes things simple. And vice versa. He taught me how to play again, to step out of that hard decision-making strategic structure and be surprised by all the possibilities in creation. Free thinking, free shaping. You can't pin him down to just one trick like most designers. He's an all-darer, an all-doer. Hell, he's All-rik! Let him surprise you!"

"We demand a lot of our Creatives. They must be able to translate their creative ideas into 2D, 3D and 4D concepts. Alrik is a fine example of someone who can do this with finesse and ease. He is able to perform both in a team environment and alone. Alrik is a critical, poetic perfectionist with a healthy passion for everything he does. You could call him an all round creative specialist. In addition to all of this, he is a straightforward, sincere, nice guy."

"Most of our projects are on the edge of time (yesterday), money (limited budget), content (out of the box, suprising en state of the art) and therefore almost impossible. I worked on several of these challenges with Alrik and with great results. He is a great team player, will never say no and will keep striving to the highest possible result. Pressure on time and money will not interfere with his creativity and he will make his hands dirty when it comes to production. Beside that he is a fine human being with a great hart,  a global citizen and somebody with no preconceptions."

"Alrik really immerses himself in a project. He lives and dreams together with the people that must live in the building. He absorbs their culture and becomes one of them. Based on this he created for us a powerful future vision that we use as compass for all future changes.
He really drives for great results, and voices this strongly. This is very important to get the best results. Next to that he is a very inspiring person to work with."

"Thanks to Alrik, I became aware of going Next Level. Always continue sharing, never stop playing!
I know Alrik as an extremely skilled Design Director with a passion for creating inspiring interactions and environments.
During my entire international career, I have not met many people like him with the same skills set and smarts."

"Alrik is a true genuine, open and positive person, with a great heart and eye for design. More importantly he is a really nice guy. I remember that I was positively intimidated by Alrik’s presence and his really decisive attitude towards creative solutions. He can make the impossible possible, within time and budget, while exceeding expectations, including mine. Alrik is a passionate perfectionist, handles any challenge with a big smile and makes beautiful work while smiling. It is and has been a pleasure working with him on the projects we we involved in up to now. It's great to see that his passion and enthusiasm is contagious to individuals to let them make better work. "

"Working with Alrik isn't like working. He's such an open, friendly but most of all talented guy that we didn't once argue with him during the process. Of course we're not half as stylish as him, so we couldn't argue with him on lots of things anyway. But when you look at the end result of our working relationship I think our cardboard office is a quite functional piece of art. Which has given our company a great start as far as free publicity goes as well as attract loads of international designers wanting to work for us. We'd recommend Alrik to anyone (but our wives of course)."

"Alrik has a knack for taking emotional ideas and helping to dimensionalize them.
For Nike, he took a core idea and brought it to life in a very imaginative way, which really helped take the creative work to a new level."

"In this day and age everybody graves for imagination and conceptual power. Alrik can deliver you just that and more.
A broad conceptual mind, not bound to the barrieres the trade has invented. And even more crucial in a creative process: he's a nice guy to work with."

"What impressed us the most about Alrik during our first meeting, was how different he was to other architects and interior designers with whom we’ve worked with in the past. Besides being uncommonly humble, he turned out to be the most practical designer we’ve met. Questioning us on everything that remotely related to our business needs, routings and the like. Essential things that artists of his caliber often see as secondaire. Once we gave the go, Alrik let loose and stayed within our merger start-up budget to deliver an unbelievably office.
This office went on te receive international attention in design magazines and blogs around the world. Often design looks great in a magazine, it’s likely to be less that impressive in daily use. The office designed by Alrik is definitely an exception. The convivial atmosphere and acoustic qualities this office provided, was an unexpected bonus for us. We never for a minute regretted our 9-5 home (except maybe for the relentless guided tours given by our landlord). His uncommon gift of combining sincere humbleness with natural talent, is not often encountered in this world."

"Our complex world, the business, and the fast moving field of advertising demands a completely different way of working
with just only three leaner, meaner and more agile departments. When I met Alrik the first time it was beyond dispute that he was the man for the job for our new office. Before even setting foot in our new building, he wanted to know all aspects from our business, what makes the people at JWT Amsterdam tick. Alrik’s interior design not only unified the people of JWT Amsterdam - it also gave a whole new meaning to our office’s vision to be Seriously Surprising."

"I have worked with Alrik on several projects. Especially projects that require conceptual thinking, detailing, and vision are good for Alrik. He's analytical, focused and topical in his designs work. And besides that he's a good team player and aware of what's really important in life. Yin Yang."

"We wanted someone who could similarly transform the first impression of visitors to our campus from an uninspiring façade
- into a vibrant and exciting gateway. Alrik was just the person to succeed with that challenge. When our redesigned main entrance opened to widespread acclaim and appreciation by our entire school community.

Alrik gave personal attention to all aspects of the project, from getting to know what is special about our school, to involving equally talented associates and proposing a range of colours and materials that would echo the multi-national tapestry of our school community. Part of our design needs included an upgrade to security of our main entrance; here too, Alrik was able to blend high-technology security equipment into his design of a warm and welcoming “living room” atmosphere of our new foyer.

We feel that his work on our campus has helped redefine the combination of security and welcome that should characterise any great 21st century educational institution. We would certainly engage him again for any similar campus renovation that required the merger of both practical and artistic excellence."