Past Futures

With a background in filmmaking and a degree in Design & Communication, I’m a proud multidisciplinary Creative Director. After leaving my last job as the Head of Brand/Creative Director at 2nd Best Studio, I took a few months off to focus on my young family, ride bikes, and carefully consider my next professional move. This paper synthesizes my viewpoints, creating a timestamp of my thoughts and where these might lead to—or not.

For over a decade, I’ve seen first hand that great stories can change the world. I’ve directed films and campaigns, built brands, led teams, co-founded a creative studio, and successfully failed in launching a career in the music industry. More recently, following a story that never truly existed in 2022, I took a career break—a pause that taught me to look at my own story through a different lens.

A proud dad

Twelve years of solving various business issues for clients, peers, and leaders grew not only my body of work but also heightened my awareness of social and planetary matters. As I became increasingly frustrated with the disconnect between what was urgent at work and what truly mattered in life, I realized I needed a shift. Becoming a parent accelerated this transformation, turning my desire for recognition and success into a deeper need to challenge the very structures that defined my work—and, in doing so, to challenge myself.

From the beginning of my creative practices, I have had a particular interest in purpose-driven storytelling and concepts. In many ways, this was a result of what got me interested in storytelling in the first place:  great storytelling inspired me to tell stories; aiming to inspire others; and to find meaning in life.

I looked at myself as an advocate for purpose-driven storytelling, aiming to create meaningful experiences for the respective audiences of my work. For instance, when I infused a business coaching tool’s campaign narrative with climate issues. Being opinionated about sustainability not just inspired but largely influenced my decisions when asked to set up a ↗tactical direction for the YouTube channel of a global food company. And already during my years at the Maastricht Institute of Arts, I approached my work as a platform to raise my voice on social issues.

But was I truly purpose-driven? Was I really using my platform to create stories that make us and our lives better?

No
I am the proud dad of two, Juna-Noé (6) and Anima (4). My 2022 career break, a choice of spending more time with my family, undoubtedly made me a better person. The precious months I spent with Juna and Anima, allowed me to reflect on what truly matters—both in life and my career.

Curious Explorer, Resilient Optimist, Fearlessly Committed

I don't consider myself someone to chase goals—nor miles 🚴🏻 Riding my bike is an ongoing journey to betterment, leading to an infinitely more alive version of myself.

Being on this #RoadToNowhere, is about being in my most whole purpose. The proud dad & partner, thankfully taking meaningful time for himself. The resilient optimist, committed to the cold wind on his face, the sweat on the skin, and the temporary pain throughout the journey. And the curious explorer, discovering new places without the fear of going in the wrong direction in finding the right route.

For the past decade, I believed I was on the right path, achieving career success while doing work I was passionate about. I had the chance to travel, collaborate with brilliant people, and work on exciting projects for global brands. It gave my family stability and a sense of freedom.

2022, the career break I took to consider my next professional move turned out to be a life-changing event, revealing that my career decisions were based on values that actually supported the broken system that eventually caused my dissatisfaction: recognition, praise, and money. I realized my work wasn’t shaping viable futures; it was merely adding noise to an already shattered narrative.

Sure, it felt good to amplify the voice of sports and how it empowers diverse communities to break glass ceilings. To build a strategic roadmap, ↗celebrating being 2nd in a competitive world that thrives on winning. And it's great to use art as a tool to raise awareness for mental well-being, but ↗with the audience being a few classmates, it's not going to change the world.

Better stories

In today’s world, where wealth inequality grows while billions go hungry, and our demands on the planet outpace sustainability, stories have more power than ever. So, what if we tell a better one? But what does ‘better’ mean? And will it ever be good enough?

When I was invited to help shape the vision for 2nd Best Studio, these questions emerged constantly. We envisioned a studio built on the belief that “being second” could help us tell more meaningful stories—stories that make a real difference, focusing less on winning and more on creating work that benefits many.

Yet, the conversations about 2nd Best Studio revealed a story that never truly existed. Instead, these discussions taught me how I think, explain, and make meaning—giving me a new understanding of time and causality.

New Creativity

Started as a Google Document filled with scattered thoughts, fragments, and beliefs, New Creativity became a practice within the nonprofit space—a place where narrative and creative direction could be rooted in purpose rather than aesthetics. It began as a commitment to work alongside organizations that deserve stronger voices, and it continues as a living practice: an evolving search for how stories can carry the weight of what matters most.
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Yet over time, it became clear that New Creativity was only one expression of a larger whole. Different threads of my work—strategic, collaborative, and artistic—needed their own space to grow. What emerged is not a company or a singular brand, but an ecosystem:
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Agency (New Creativity)
A practice dedicated to NGOs, foundations, and mission-led organizations, crafting narratives and creative directions that serve social and planetary impact.
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Studio
A space for collaborations with brands, artists, and cultural institutions, exploring the tension between culture, commerce, and creativity.
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bobvboven.com
A home for my filmmaking practice, where narrative, imagination, and cinema intertwine.

bobvb.com
The connective hub, where everything converges, including individual-focused work such as FUTURESCRIPT™.

This ecosystem wasn’t designed in advance. It emerged from reflection, trial, and lived experience—shaped by moments of doubt as much as by conviction. Each branch is distinct, but all are rooted in the same soil: storytelling, experience, and innovation. Together, they form a structure that allows exploration without losing direction, a way to navigate futures without needing to control them.
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And it is not only professional. The proud dad who chose to take time with his children, the partner learning how to balance family with ambition, the cyclist embracing headwinds and wrong turns—all of these lives run through the same roots. The ecosystem is as much personal as it is professional: a rhythm of persistence, resilience, and curiosity. It mirrors the same lessons learned on the road and at home—that better stories aren’t written in straight lines, but in the detours, pauses, and unexpected climbs.

Looking back, the question that started it all during my 2022 career break—What futures am I truly inspired to pursue?—has not found a fixed answer. Instead, it gave shape to an ecosystem that keeps unfolding, one that mirrors life itself: layered, unfinished, and alive. What began as a pause became a framework for continuity, not to chase recognition or applause, but to keep building better stories—stories that help us imagine and move closer to the futures we need.