The Brand IdentityInterview, written by Ritupriya Basu

Ain’t the new kid on the block: Ozon Studio is a young practice, backed by years of experience



Although they didn’t know it at the time, growing up, Tim Tijink and Brent van den Elshout were interested in the same things. Music had a great influence on both their lives – when Tijink was creating album covers while in primary school, van den Elshout was making his own compilations of electronic music and crafting custom artworks for them. These interests in music and design grew over time, and when they met in 2020 and began collaborating, they became common strands that brought both their creative worlds together. Having worked as freelancers for many years, they first joined forces to create an identity for Minimal Collective, a music, art, and technology-focused publication and events platform co-founded by van den Elshout. What followed was a slew of collaborations, until they decided to set up shop together. And so, they founded Ozon Studio in Amsterdam, where Tijink is the Designer & Art Director, while van den Elshout oversees creative direction, strategy and communication.⁠
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In a sense, the studio was long in the making. Launched in 2024, Ozon is where the duo showcase their recent projects, and also carve out a space for the kind of collaborations they’re looking for. Sifting through their work, it’s not hard to see that music and art – and culture at large – continue to inspire them, and the projects they shape. Together, they’ve created identities for many festivals, organisations and clubs, each dipped in the kind of clarity, grit and honesty that only comes with years of experience. We sat down for a conversation with the two Co-founders to learn why starting Ozon was the “logical next step” for them, how applying a “cultural lens” helps them to grasp deeper meanings behind brands, and what the future holds for the young, yet experienced studio.⁠ Read more...
OQADIdentity, vinyl design, artwork
Exploring the dimensions of space and time through a graph-based identity for Loek Frey’s OQAD label. By combining motion, transparent materials, and gray scales, we mapped out Frey’s conflicting relationship with the minimalistic and the complex.
2024
De School Amsterdam x Minimal CollectiveEvent concept, visual identity, sound design, exhibition design, programming
Minimal Collective took over De School for a day-and-night event at the intersection of music, art, and technology. Taking place on Thursday 19th October during the venue’s final Amsterdam Dance Event, visitors were guided through a multi-sensory network spread across the building where body and mind were challenged in club and non-club settings alike.
2023
Amsterdam Dance Event x RijksmuseumVisual identity
Event identity for the official Amsterdam Dance Event Opening Event in collaboration with Rijksmuseum, happening October 18 2023 at the Rijkspassage w/ Theun Mosk, upsammy and Valentina Magaletti. ‘Breathe, Walk, Die’ is a theatrical performance consisting of three acts that bring the exhibition Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen at Rijksmuseum to life.
2023
Jonge Harten TheaterfestivalCampaign, identity
Campaign design and identity re-fresh for Jonge Harten 2023, a nine-day festival for young people filled with theater, performance, dance, workshops and more. Themed ‘Stay with the Trouble’, this edition is an invitation to pause at times when things are challenging. Jonge Harten 2023 takes place from 17—25 November throughout the city of Groningen.
2023
Horst Arts & MusicDocumentary, photography
Broadening horizons at Horst Arts & Music Festival: A revival of the chill-out room. During the year 2022, the deep characteristics of Horst Arts & Music’s experimental attitude are clearly rooted within the curatorial team, as a new listening space called Turning Circles was added to the program. Although the Japanese listening bar culture has been gaining popularity over the past few years, a dedicated listening space at a festival or club hasn’t been that common in the past decade. We moved over to Belgium to document this development towards a new listening experience.
2022 & 2023
RADION AmsterdamIdentity, website, campaign
Identity, website, and campaign for Radion Amsterdam, one of Amsterdam's longest standing club venues. In close collaboration with the team behind the club, we created a new identity that revolves around the multi-layered architectural structure of the building. The mission was to shed new life within the iconic ‘R’ symbol that has been around for almost a decade while unifying the variety of events that take place at the cultural venue. Through a grid-based system, an animated visual language, and a holistic web-experience, we built a future-proof fundament for the years to come while staying true to first-day recognizability. 

RADION is located in the former dental centre ACTA, better known as Broedplaats ACTA. In the night, RADION is a club with a 24h license and by day, a vegan cafe. They regularly host cultural events in the Expo space and Cafe and are a home base to festivals such as Fringe Festival, Front Row and Brainwash Night. Creativity runs through their veins, with the club as the beating heart. Over the past 8 years, RADION has proven itself to be a place where this correlation between club and cultural program challenges and strengthens each other. RADION creates value for (Night) Culture with the 3 C’s: Club, Culture and Cafe.
2023
Amsterdam Dance EventTram, campaign
Full wrap design for the 2023 Amsterdam Dance Event tram, which has been cruising around the streets of Amsterdam prior to and during the event.
2023
Shoal x orah ‘Terugblik’
3D design, live a/v
Commissioned by FIBER, Shoal and Orah, themed on looking back whilst creating the new. “Terugblik ‘’ is a sonic timeline through Shoal’s memories from the past 5 years. A performance that goes deeper into the fragments of these memories, creating a dream state or déjà vu. Orah (visual artist Deborah Mora) visually supported Shoal by creating new worlds where reality and illusion blend together into new memories that intersect their artistic experiences at a deeper dimension.
CreditsCommisioned by FIBER Festival
2023
Lumus Instruments at Monopol BerlinPhotography
Martijn captured the installations of the duration 01 exhibition at Monopol Berlin, including the work of Lumus Instruments, Boris Acket, Maarten Vos & Elsemarijn Bruys. Works: Polynode 1, Oculus, Einder & Warp. Published by Het Parool.
2023
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last update: 02/05/24