Design systems that carry a brand, not just structure
Design systems have been the core of my work for years — the foundations and component libraries that let large brands stay consistent across a lot of teams, platforms and markets. I've built and rebuilt them for KLM, Odido and Philips, and I'm currently doing design system work for Heineken with Code d'Azur.
I care about the part most systems skip: making the brand survive the system. It's easy to build a tidy component library that feels like nobody's brand. The harder, more useful work is translating a brand's foundations — colour, type, shape, motion — into something teams can actually reuse.
What I do
- Foundations: type scale, colour, shape language, iconography, motion
- Component libraries mapped to clear principles and intended usage
- Accessibility built into the system, not bolted on afterwards
- Translating expressive brand work into reusable, maintainable logic
- Bringing consistency to a platform that has grown fragmented
Why teams bring me in
Usually one of three situations: a platform that has grown inconsistent across teams and markets (Philips), a rebrand that needs a system to scale across web, app and TV (Odido), or a brand that needs stronger foundations so it stays recognisable everywhere at once (KLM). In each case the job is the same — a system that's clear enough to use, and robust enough to hold together beyond individual screens.
Where I've done this
Odido — Design Lead, design system
Over roughly nine months, as part of a team from Code d'Azur / Hypersolid, we rebuilt the foundations and redefined the component library for the T-Mobile → Odido rebrand: type scale, colour, component definitions and the logic behind the library, translated into a system that worked across web, app and TV. Because the timeline was short, we were pragmatic — reusing and redesigning existing patterns rather than reinventing everything. The rebrand went on to win a Diamond Sabre Award for Brand-Building.
KLM — Creative & design direction
With Laurens Beil in a small core team, we started KLM's refresh from the foundation: an expanded, more accessible colour palette, a type system that behaved across contexts, a soft rounded corner as a distinctive shape principle, and an icon set of 400+ icons across five sizes in outline and filled variants — plus a fully redesigned email design system.
Philips — Senior designer
On the philips.com e-commerce redesign at Code d'Azur, we built a colour system rooted in the brand: a core palette plus functional and category-specific roles, so teams across very different product categories could stay on-brand with confidence.
How I work
- Start with the foundation
Before scaling anything across pages and products, I get the essentials right: type scale, colour, shape, iconography, motion. - Map components to principles, not just pixels
Every component ties back to a clear principle and an intended use, so people know not just what it looks like but when to reach for it. - Keep the brand in the system
I work closely with brand and concept teams and translate their more expressive work back into something reusable and maintainable. - Be pragmatic
Timelines are real. Reusing and adapting a good pattern usually beats reinventing it.
FAQ
Do you build a system from scratch or work with what's there?
Both, but usually the latter. On Odido we rebuilt the foundations during a rebrand; on Philips we brought a system to a platform that had grown inconsistent over years. When the timeline is tight, I'd rather adapt and redesign what exists than reinvent everything — that was a big part of how we kept Odido moving.
What does 'foundations' actually mean?
The core building blocks a system scales from: type scale, colour, shape language, iconography, and motion, plus the component library and the logic behind it. On KLM we started there before touching individual screens — a soft rounded corner, an accessible colour palette, an icon set across five sizes. Get those right and the rest holds together.
Do you work with the brand or concept team too?
Yes, and that's often where the real work is. On Odido the concept team pushed the brand into expressive directions, and my job was to translate that back into a system that could actually be reused and maintained. A system that ignores the brand ends up generic; a brand with no system ends up inconsistent.
Need a design system that scales without losing the brand?
Let's talk.