Dutch Digital Design, the core of DDW's new online platform

Vruchtvlees?

We are happy to welcome you on the first result of our ambitious collaboration: the innovative content platform. In the coming years, we will increasingly improve your online experience with DDW.

Vruchtvlees is a design-driven digital agency that realises the potential of ambitious brands. We see that as Dutch Digital Design: award-winning (digital) solutions that people love and help brands grow. “We were looking for a real partnership: experts that think with us, but also want to grow in our ambitions, says Mark de Greeff, Chief Marketing Officer at DDW. “Vruchtvlees can do this, they are both strategic as pragmatic. Vruchtvlees is brutally honest in their Dutch Digital Design. Just recently, they were awarded European Design Agency of the Year by the European Design Awards. Those are the qualities that we were looking for in our digital partner.”

Design Time

To realise the potential of Dutch Design Week, we asked ourselves: how do we present the content of Dutch Design Week in a way that is both interesting and relevant for the visitor? The time factor in the name of Dutch Design Week appealed to us, which resulted in the concept of Design Time. “The briefing stated five different focus points over the year,” sr. Designer Niek Kessels explains. “We took these five focus points to build a dynamic website that changes over the year. In every phase, a different call to action is highlighted. The focus points range from building the DDF community, to buying tickets.”

Design Time also functioned as the base of the technical development. Sander Hidding, Lead Development: “We developed an algorithm that shows the program and content in a dynamic way. The editors of Dutch Design Week can prioritise certain content, but also the way visitors interact with the website influences what is shown. To help the Dutch Design Week visitors the best way possible, we increased the user experience on mobile during the festival itself.”

According to De Greeff, “DDW wants to be relevant throughout the year by presenting Dutch Design content in a both functional and friendly user interface.” So from now on, more in depth content will be published on the Dutch Design Week website throughout the year. The DDW content staff can present content in many different forms, ranging from design moments in Dutch Design history to, o.a., long reads, podcasts, live streams, videos. 

Those who look closely at the background of the homepage discover moving elements of the Dutch Design Week logo. Sander Hidding: "We also translated the concept of Design Time into a digital form. We turned the Dutch Design Week logo into an atomic clock that ticks in the background.The different elements of the logo revolve around an axis of a week, day, hour, minute or second. Every last week of the month the complete logo comes together."

Both Dutch Design Week as Vruchtvlees share great ambitions for the DDW-website. Roman Stikkelorum, Managing Director of Vruchtvlees: “The new platform offers great opportunities to strengthen the position of Dutch Design Week on an international level. We see a lot of opportunities to enhance the algorithm to serve more personalised content. By analysing the data and learnng from the experience of the users, we look forward to building the most innovative festival website of the planet.”

Want to know more about Dutch Digital Design?

We look forward to building an innovative platform that suits the international ambitions of Dutch Design Week and its visitors. We like to tell you more about our vision on and the process of designing the Dutch Design Week website on Friday the 26th of October at Klokgebouw. Find out more about our Dutch Digital Design on www.vruchtvlees.com. Share your thoughts via @vruchtvlees or send an e-mail to info@vruchtvlees.com.