About
Treasure-hunting in stories about nature, culture or history, and examining, ordering, depicting and designing these, is what I do out of personal interest as well as on commission. With dedication and delight I make complex subjects accessible.
I am fascinated by built environments, maps (from globe to street plan), historical concurrences of events, timelines, stairways and food. I fancy museums with cultural or natural treasures, have an eye for the mundane, and love the city.
I like working with and for other explorers, writers or mavericks, to help structuring and to illustrate their subjects. It may be about archiving and exhibiting a remarkable collection, but also about exploring and depicting a family or company history. Through illustration or design I add allure to scientific research, and I make (practical) objects tell a tale. I have a preference for unclassifiable projects!
My visual language distinguishes itself by functionality and careful execution. Hallmarks of my working method are patience, accuracy, finishing my work to the last detail, and a constant search for truth and readability. My work serves the content, I listen carefully and I enjoy to be inspired by the ideas of the client.
My tools vary from Adobe to Stanley knife, from paintbrush to saw. The proper form may sometimes be a book, sometimes a mural, an object, or a series of informative graphics. I enthusiastically keep looking for unique and preferably exceptional forms or techniques to match a particular subject or intended purpose.
Let’s get going together to design your content.
I look forward to the fresh challenge!
Please contact me at hello@josjemarievrolijk.com
Follow me on instagram.com/josjemarie
Connect with me on linkedin.com/in/josje-marie-vrolijk
I have loved working as a graphic designer, illustrator and maker of unclassifiable things for the past 30 years. For the next 30 years, I hope to find a better balance between creating, researching, and contributing to preserving beauty and planetary well-being. That’s why I’m now doing –and enjoying!– the master's programme in Applied Museum and Heritage Studies at the Reinwardt Academy in Amsterdam.
Based in Amsterdam (The Netherlands)
2023-PRESENT • Master's Applied Museum and Heritage Studies - Reinwardt Academy, Amsterdam
1996-PRESENT • Self-initiated visual arts & research projects
1996-PRESENT • Design & illustration work commissioned by a variety of clients
1996-PRESENT • Employed as a designer at Urhahn | urban design & strategy
2023 • English Academic Writing course - University of Amsterdam (certificate: CEFR level C1)
2020 • Illustratie Expeditie (education for refreshing my illustration skills)
1992-1996 • Fine Arts - KABK Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten (Royal Academy of Art), The Hague (diploma)
1991-1992 • Theatre design - HKU Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht (HKU University of the Arts)
contact: hello@josjemarievrolijk.com