The best branding agencies in Amsterdam

Amsterdam has one of the strongest graphic design traditions in the world, and its studios still show it: bold typography, flexible systems and a habit of treating public institutions as serious design clients. The city’s own identity, its airport and its museums were all branded locally. These five are based in Amsterdam and have identity work you can check.

See the 5 agencies Updated 2026

Quick list

#	Agency	Known for	Best for
1	Thonik	Bold, socially minded identity systems	Cities, airports, broadcasters and cultural institutions
2	Momkai	Brands and platforms built with a purpose	Media and mission-driven companies
3	Vandejong	Brand concepts that become campaigns and formats	Cultural brands and purpose-led organizations
4	Lava	Dynamic identities and editorial design	Festivals and organizations that change often
5	Mainstudio	Typographic identities and books	Architecture, art and cultural clients

1. Thonik

Website: thonik.nl
Location: Amsterdam
Guides: Brand Experience & Environments
Visual Identity Design
Professional Services
Signature project: Schiphol Airport identity (2025)

Nikki Gonnissen and Thomas Widdershoven founded Thonik in 1993, and the studio’s work is part of Amsterdam’s daily life. Its 2025 identity for Schiphol Airport is meant to be “the calm in the storm” for stressed travelers. Thonik also created the City of Amsterdam identity that replaced more than 50 department logos, later adding Amsterdam Sans, a typeface built to be easier to read. It has designed for broadcaster VPRO and Dutch Design Week.

Clients: Schiphol Airport, City of Amsterdam, VPRO, Dutch Design Week
How they work: Identity systems, typography, motion and wayfinding
Budget signal: Upper mid-market to enterprise
Skip if: You want a quiet, conventional corporate look. Thonik’s systems are designed to be noticed, even when restrained.

Last verified 2026

2. Momkai

Website: momkai.com
Location: Amsterdam
Guides: B2B & SaaS
Visual Identity Design
Launch Branding
Signature project: De Correspondent brand and platform

Momkai is an Amsterdam strategic design studio that has spent more than 20 years building brands and the platforms behind them, often for organizations with a mission. Its best-known work is De Correspondent, the member-funded Dutch news platform Momkai co-founded, where brand and product were designed together from the record-breaking 2013 crowdfunding to a new app ten years later. Recent clients include The School for Moral Ambition and Giving What We Can.

Clients: De Correspondent, The School for Moral Ambition, Giving What We Can, Universiteit van Nederland
How they work: Brand, digital product design and development
Budget signal: Mid-market to upper mid-market
Skip if: You need packaging or retail design. Momkai’s work lives on screens.

Last verified 2026

3. Vandejong

Website: vandejong.com
Location: Amsterdam (NDSM)
Guides: Visual Identity Design
Launch Branding
Climate & Energy
Signature project: Unseen photography fair launch brand

Vandejong was founded in 1989 by Pjotr de Jong and has a long history with Amsterdam’s photography museum Foam, including publishing Foam Magazine together. In 2012 it co-founded Unseen with Foam and Platform A, positioning it as a photo fair with a festival feel. The agency builds brand concepts that turn into campaigns, formats and products, works from the NDSM wharf it also branded, and has been a certified B Corp since 2019.

Clients: Foam, Unseen, NDSM
How they work: Brand concepts, identity, campaigns and new formats
Budget signal: Mid-market
Skip if: You want a purely visual identity project. Vandejong starts with concept and positioning.

Last verified 2026

4. Lava

Website: lava.nl
Location: Amsterdam, with a studio in Beijing
Guides: Visual Identity Design
Brand Experience & Environments
Education & EdTech
Signature project: Smeerboel festival identity

Lava has been designing identities in Amsterdam since 1990, with a focus on systems that change over time. For Dutch festival Smeerboel it built an online Smeer Tool that simulates brush strokes, so the identity could literally be smeared into new shapes, plus an Instagram filter for visitors. Instead of starting from a logo, the studio starts from how an organization behaves. Its clients include broadcaster KRO-NCRV and NEMO Kennislink.

Clients: Smeerboel, KRO-NCRV, NEMO Kennislink, Spring Performing Arts Festival
How they work: Creative strategy, dynamic identities and editorial design
Budget signal: Mid-market
Skip if: You want one fixed logo and strict rules. Lava’s identities are built to move.

Last verified 2026

5. Mainstudio

Website: mainstudio.com
Location: Amsterdam
Guides: Visual Identity Design
Professional Services
Education & EdTech
Signature project: De School visual identity

Edwin van Gelder founded Mainstudio in 2005, and the studio takes an editorial approach led by typography. Its identity for De School, the former Amsterdam club and culture complex, was built on the grid of the building’s floorplan. It has also designed the identity for the Strange Sounds From Beyond festival, the Amsterdam Art Week campaign and the Academy of Architecture’s graduation week.

Clients: De School, Amsterdam Art Week, Amsterdam Museum, Academy of Architecture
How they work: Identity, books and digital media
Budget signal: Mid-market
Skip if: You’re a consumer brand looking for packaging. Mainstudio works in art and architecture.

Last verified 2026

Hiring a branding agency in Amsterdam

Typography is taken seriously.
Many Amsterdam studios build identities around custom type and strict grids. Expect detailed rules.
Public clients set the bar.
The city, the airport and the national broadcasters all work with local studios. That experience suits any brand serving a wide public.
Ask about motion.
Several studios here design identities that move and change. Make sure your team can run a flexible system after launch.