The agency of New Creativity—decoding the futures I was once inspired to pursue.
2023—today’s world is built on stories and it made me reflect on my own story. I realized that to regain my sense of agency, I needed to decode the futures I once felt inspired to pursue.
Past Futures
With a background in filmmaking and a degree in Design & Communication, I’m a proud multidisciplinary Creative Director. After leaving my last job as the ↗Head of Brand/Creative Director at 2nd Best Studio, I took a few months off to focus on my young family, ride bikes, and carefully consider my next professional move. This paper synthesizes my viewpoints, creating a timestamp of my thoughts and where these might lead to—or not.
For over a decade, I’ve seen first hand that great stories can change the world. I’ve directed films and campaigns, built brands, led teams, co-founded a creative studio, and ↗Successfully failed in launching a career in the music industry. More recently, following a story that never truly existed in 2022, I took a career break—a pause that taught me to look at my own story through a different lens.
Inspired by the routes which lead to new places, New Creativity stands for an independent and fluid approach to creativity—embracing exploration with a sense of forward, non lineair motion.
A proud dad
Twelve years of solving various business issues for clients, peers, and leaders grew not only my body of work but also heightened my awareness of social and planetary matters. As I became increasingly frustrated with the disconnect between what was urgent at work and what truly mattered in life, I realized I needed a shift. Becoming a parent accelerated this transformation, turning my desire for recognition and success into a deeper need to challenge the very structures that defined my work—and, in doing so, to challenge myself.
From the beginning of my creative practices, I have had a particular interest in purpose-driven storytelling and concepts. In many ways, this was a result of what got me interested in storytelling in the first place: great storytelling inspired me to tell stories; aiming to inspire others; and to find meaning in life.
I looked at myself as an advocate for purpose-driven storytelling, aiming to create meaningful experiences for the respective audiences of my work. For instance, when I infused a business coaching tool’s campaign narrative with climate issues. Being opinionated about sustainability not just inspired but largely influenced my decisions when asked to set up a ↗tactical direction for the YouTube channel of a global food company. And already during my years at the Maastricht Institute of Arts, I approached my work as a platform to raise my voice on social issues.
But was I truly purpose-driven? Was I really using my platform to create stories that make us and our lives better?
No
I am the proud dad of two, Juna-Noé (6) and Anima (4). My 2022 career break, a choice of spending more time with my family, undoubtedly made me a better person. The precious months I spent with Juna and Anima, allowed me to reflect on what truly matters—both in life and my career.
Curious Explorer, Resilient Optimist, Fearlessly Committed
I don't consider myself someone to chase goals—nor miles 🚴🏻 Riding my bike is an ongoing journey to betterment, leading to an infinitely more alive version of myself.
Being on this #RoadToNowhere, is about being in my most whole purpose. The proud dad & partner, thankfully taking meaningful time for himself. The resilient optimist, committed to the cold wind on his face, the sweat on the skin, and the temporary pain throughout the journey. And the curious explorer, discovering new places without the fear of going in the wrong direction in finding the right route.
For the past decade, I believed I was on the right path, achieving career success while doing work I was passionate about. I had the chance to travel, collaborate with brilliant people, and work on exciting projects for global brands. It gave my family stability and a sense of freedom.
2022, the career break I took to consider my next professional move turned out to be a life-changing event, revealing that my career decisions were based on values that actually supported the broken system that eventually caused my dissatisfaction: recognition, praise, and money. I realized my work wasn’t shaping viable futures; it was merely adding noise to an already shattered narrative.
Sure, it felt good to amplify the voice of sports and how it ↗empowers diverse communities to break glass ceilings. To build a strategic roadmap, ↗celebrating being 2nd in a competitive world that thrives on winning. And it's great to use art as a tool to raise awareness for mental well-being, but ↗with the audience being a few classmates, it's not going to change the world.
In many ways, having agency is the evolution of what I have been working on for the past 12 years, but in a reimagined, more dynamic, less linear form.
Better stories
In today’s world, where wealth inequality grows while billions go hungry, and our demands on the planet outpace sustainability, stories have more power than ever. So, what if we tell a better one? But what does ‘better’ mean? And will it ever be good enough?
When I was invited to help shape the vision for 2nd Best Studio, these questions emerged constantly. We envisioned a studio built on the belief that “being second” could help us tell more meaningful stories—stories that make a real difference, focusing less on winning and more on creating work that benefits many.
Yet, the conversations about 2nd Best Studio revealed a story that never truly existed. Instead, these discussions taught me how I think, explain, and make meaning—giving me a new understanding of time and causality.
↗2+2=5
I’ve always been drawn to fiction—especially its power to build emotional connections with audiences. Maybe it can even do so more intensively than the truth itself. “Isn't the idea of fiction that it can provide an actual perspective amid all the facts around us?”
At 16, I was diagnosed with testicular cancer, and my everyday life flipped upside down. With the uncertain future and an urgency to understand what led to it, I started asking myself questions—leading to more questions, which led to the stories that populated my worldview.
Am I really sick when I'm actually feeling okay? Who's deciding I am sick? Can I choose when I die? Am I ready to accept death? If I get old, will I be able to be a parent one day?
With reality being too big and complex and deeply rooted in uncertainty and insecurity, life became an illusion of action—trying to find meaning and optimism in real life while stuck in a dark imagination.
My time at the Maastricht Institute of Arts was about reconciling with my past and present, with filmmaking allowing me to control the future. Maybe not over life and death itself, but at least over the worlds I imagined into reality: storytelling empowered me to project my fear of loneliness onto a silver screen, and it enabled me to express my notion of being trapped by society, artistically and literally. Storytelling allowed me to be the director of my funeral after having killed myself—again.
Now, knowing that futures are nothing else than stories→, I have come to believe the stories that the world needs more of are actually crafted without an urge for control—let alone killing oneself. And now, looking through a different lens, I see I was asking myself the wrong questions. It also revealed that my truth was impacted by the relationship I had with the stories I told myself—about myself. Better stories start with asking better questions: what has cancer taught me about being alive?
Good stories lead to self-reflection, emotional connection, increased empathy, and real-life impact. They transfer experience and meaning, giving us a deeper understanding of the world and allowing us to connect with ourselves and each other. Better stories serve a purpose beyond ourselves, they shape new myths, ignite new hopes, and reimagine prosperity—for both people and the planet
—New Creativity.
It’s about momentum, decision-making, and endurance—just like creative work that challenges norms and builds new paths.
Look around. The world has changed. The voices shaping this future are no longer the loudest, nor the richest. They are the ones who stood at the frontlines of change.
New Creativity
Started as a Google Document filled with a collection of thoughts, beliefs, and ideas, today, as a practice in the nonprofit network, A.N.C. stands as a testament to its evolution: an ever-evolving expression of my work and myself.
More than just the decision to move into the wild world of freelancing, New Creativity is a commitment to a new future: as an independent Volunteer Creative for Branding & Direction I partner with organizations in the nonprofit space—crafting stories that elevate their voices, give them the platform they deserve, and ultimately help them become the iconic brands of the future.
NGOs are tackling the world’s most pressing challenges, yet, many struggle to be seen, heard, and supported. New Creativity is a philosophy designed to change that. It’s a way of working built for those shaping the future—transforming charities into icons.
↗ mamvi.space
While my commitment to New Creativity drives my work in the nonprofit space, Mamvi gives me the freedom to explore projects beyond NGOs (because, let’s be honest, volunteer work alone doesn’t pay for family holidays). ↗Originally founded in 2011, this isn’t a nostalgic revival—it’s a natural evolution that makes everything else possible.