Years
2023–2025
Role
Full-time parenting/
Volunteer for branding & direction
Disciplines
Strategic reflection
Narrative strategy
Creative direction
Design and direction
Bob van Boven
Thanks
Jessica Sessinou, Mario Possen, Nick Smith, Carmen Díaz de la Rosa, Sandra Blank, Bülent Aktas
♡
Juna & Anima
Across fifteen years, bobvb.com changed alongside the practice it represented. What began as a personal portfolio for freelance art direction and film became an evolving space for testing different identities, positions, visual languages and ways of working.
Each iteration responded to a different moment in the practice. Freelance work developed into the co-founding of Mamvi Studio, followed by global in-house experience at adidas and Greator, and later a return to independent practice. Along the way, the role of creative direction expanded from making and directing individual pieces of work towards shaping narratives, brands, systems and new forms of creative practice.
Personal positioning became a way of exploring those shifts. Portfolios, showreels, websites and identities were repeatedly rebuilt as the questions around the work changed. What did I want to make? What role did I want to play? How could creative direction extend beyond execution into strategy, narrative and the conditions around the work?
This ongoing process eventually opened up new directions through New Creativity, Studio, FUTURESCRIPT and the wider bobvb ecosystem. The practice changed considerably over time, but the way of moving an idea from intention into expression remains a constant: finding the underlying idea, shaping the narrative, giving it creative form, bringing people around it, and translating it across mediums and contexts.
Years
2021–2022
Role
Executive Creative Director
Disciplines
Brand positioning
Narrative strategy
Messaging frameworks
Brand identity and expression
Creative direction
Audience journeys
Visual and verbal systems
New formats and pilotsn
Brand strategy & creative direction
Bob van Boven
Studio owners
Bülent Aktas, Marcel Aniol
Branding and expression (art & copy)
Bob van Boven
Webdesign and development
Bob van Boven
With
Jessica Lichtenberg, Devrim Aktas
Thanks
Carmen Díaz de la Rosa, Nick Smith, Gary Payn
2nd Best Studio required more than a strong identity. It called for a strategic foundation that could hold ambition, experimentation, and growth at the same time. The work focused on translating the studio’s values into a system that informed both creative output and internal rhythm.
As Executive Creative Director/Head of Studio, I developed a unified strategic vision that embedded purpose into creative operations. This included defining positioning, shaping narrative direction, and building a brand system that supported a wide range of work—from cultural projects to NGO collaborations—while remaining coherent and recognizable.
Beyond brand development, the role centered on enabling creative excellence at scale. I led and mentored the creative team, established frameworks for collaboration, and guided projects from concept to delivery across disciplines. Client work, internal initiatives, and self-initiated projects all fed into the same directional logic: clear intent, strong storytelling, and consistency across expression.
The outcome was a studio that operated with alignment and confidence. Creative work became both expressive and strategic, while the underlying systems ensured adaptability. The chapter demonstrated how creative direction can function as infrastructure—supporting growth without diluting identity.
Years
2020–2021
Role
Creative Director Film & Motion
Disciplines
Narrative strategy
Creative direction
Messaging frameworks
Campaign concepts
Interactive storytelling
Art direction and look & feel
Greator
Alexander Müller (CEO), Sven Ripper (CMO)
Gedankentanken Pictures
Bülent Aktas (CEO)
With
Marcel Aniol, Carmen Díaz de la Rosa, Nick Smith, Gary Payn, Nina Berzbach, Jessica Lichtenberg, Devrim Aktas
Thanks
Kerstin Müller, Daniel Velkovski, Timm Kloevekorn, Christian Balke, Dennis L. Wilson, Stefan Frädrich
At Greator, creative direction operated inside a high-velocity environment with diverse stakeholders and constant output demands. The challenge was to ensure that film and motion content functioned as more than isolated assets, becoming part of a larger narrative system that supported brand growth and audience trust.
As Creative Director Film & Motion, I led the strategic and creative direction for all branded moving-image content. This included defining narrative frameworks, guiding concept development, and overseeing execution across campaigns, products, social channels, and live events. Creative decisions were shaped in close collaboration with senior brand, marketing, product, and event leadership, as well as executive stakeholders.
The role required orchestration as much as authorship. I led multidisciplinary teams and external partners, aligning creative ambition with operational reality. Concepts were designed to scale, narratives were built to travel across formats, and execution was calibrated to balance clarity, emotion, and performance.
This chapter reinforced the importance of systems thinking in creative work. It showed how direction, when clearly articulated, allows creativity to move fast without fragmenting—turning complexity into coherence and volume into meaning.
Years
2016–2020
Role
Global Lead Employer Brand Design Film
Disciplines
Narrative strategy
Messaging frameworks
Campaign concepts
Multi-platform content narratives
Creative direction, film & motion
Platform direction
Global Head Employer Brand Strategy
Nanci Hogenboom-van het Hof
Leadership Team
Steve Fogarty, Kerri Arman
With
Jennifer Schäufelin, André Reyes Prosdocimi, Katia Stephanou, Sarah Sellars, Sandra Blank, Pranav Chadha, Nicole Hunt Harvey, Verena Stark, Michael Lejman
Thanks
Stewart Angus, Michael Stopps, Laura Ruprecht, Kadie Casey, Yonel Ilieva, Shaba Mohseni, Thorsten Konrad, Nadjim Tsouli, Ruud de Groot
At adidas, creative work existed inside one of the world’s most recognized brand ecosystems. The responsibility extended beyond individual campaigns to shaping experiences that aligned with global brand principles while resonating across markets, cultures, and audiences.
As Global Lead Employer Brand Design for Film & Experience, I led the development of on-brand film and experiential content from concept to global rollout. Work was informed by market data and audience insight, translating strategic objectives into narratives that supported the full employer brand journey. Creative concepts were developed with longevity in mind, designed to be activated across regions while remaining adaptable to local context.
The role required close collaboration with brand communication, brand design, corporate communications, and senior leadership, including executive stakeholders. I led internal teams and external creative partners, ensuring consistency in quality, tone, and intent across a wide range of touchpoints.
This chapter sharpened an understanding of governance as a creative condition. It demonstrated how strong systems can enable clarity and scale when direction is precise, and how storytelling can humanize large organizations without diluting their identity. The experience reinforced the value of structure as a platform for meaning, rather than a constraint on creativity.
Years
2011–2016
Role
Co-founder/Creative Director
Disciplines
Brand positioning & expression
Narrative strategy
Creative direction
Campaign concepts
Interactive storytelling
Art direction and look & feel
Founding partner
Jessica Sessinou
With
Mario Possen, Rob Truijen
PRESIIDENTS (by Mamvi)
Concept & creative direction
Bob van Boven
Concept partners
Leon de Jager, Paul van Boven
Branding (identity & expression)
Bob van Boven
With
Mario Possen, Rob Truijen, Remy Kooi
Thanks
Alain Dortants, Kees van den Berg, Richard de Maaré, Laurien Verstraten
Co-founding Mamvi meant constructing a studio from first principles. Positioning, visual identity, tone of voice, client relationships, and operational structure were shaped simultaneously. Every decision carried weight because there was no established framework to inherit, only belief, taste, and ambition.
As Co-founder and Creative Director, I defined the studio’s narrative foundation and led its creative output across branding, film, and digital projects. Client work required balancing vision with viability, translating strategic thinking into expressive systems that could perform in real-world contexts. Projects spanned multiple industries, each demanding clarity of direction while reinforcing the studio’s own identity.
The experience exposed the full spectrum of creative leadership, from concept development and execution to client dialogue, financial responsibility, and team collaboration. It introduced the ongoing tension between creative conviction and commercial reality, a dynamic that later informed more structured leadership roles.
Mamvi established enduring patterns: independence of thought, belief in narrative as a strategic instrument, and a commitment to building frameworks rather than following trends. It laid the early architectural foundations of a practice that would later evolve into a more defined ecosystem.
bobvb.com
Narrative + Direction
Agency
Narrative strategy and creative direction for mission-led organizations
Studio
Creative collaborations across art, music, and culture
bobvboven.com
Stories for screen, fiction, and future worlds
