♥
info@koenarbouw.com
+61 490 770 597
Born The Hague, The Netherlands 1989
Lives and works on the South Coast NSW, Australia
Koen Arbouw is a multidisciplinary designer whose practice sits at the intersection of commercial design and emerging artistic inquiry. Born in the Netherlands and raised in New Zealand, he has developed an international perspective that underpins a career spanning leading studios and global brands. Over more than a decade, Arbouw has worked across agencies and in-house roles—including positions at studios such as Landor, Maud and M35, and as design lead at Bear Meets Eagle On Fire—building a body of work that moves fluidly between strategy, identity and form.
Trained within the discipline of graphic design, Arbouw’s early and ongoing work reflects a deep engagement with visual systems and communication. His portfolio spans corporate identity, digital platforms, publications, packaging and spatial environments, often developed as cohesive brand ecosystems rather than isolated outputs. Projects for clients such as Nike, Google and AFTRS demonstrate a capacity to translate complex ideas into refined visual languages, while his time as in-house design director for cycling brand Attaquer expanded this approach into product and material outcomes.
Central to Arbouw’s design methodology is an understanding of the designer as both author and mediator—someone who constructs meaning through typography, image and system, while responding to the needs of clients, audiences and contexts. This grounding in applied design has resulted in a practice defined by precision, clarity and an attention to how ideas circulate in the world through both digital and physical forms.
More recently, Arbouw’s work has begun to shift beyond the conventions of commercial design into a more self-directed artistic practice. This evolution is particularly evident in his exploration of print and object-making, where the outcomes are no longer purely communicative but also material and experiential. Through limited-edition prints, publications and sculptural objects, he extends graphic design’s formal language into three-dimensional space—treating typography, repetition and production processes as subjects in themselves rather than simply tools.
These works often draw on the logic of reproduction and iteration—echoing the systems-thinking inherent in branding—while embracing imperfection, tactility and variation. Series-based objects and prints suggest an ongoing investigation into how meaning shifts when design is removed from its commercial function and repositioned within an artistic context. The move from screen to surface, from client to author, marks a subtle but significant reorientation: design becomes not just a service, but a site of inquiry.
In this expanding practice, Arbouw situates himself within a broader lineage of designers transitioning into art, where the boundaries between disciplines dissolve. His background in identity systems and visual communication continues to inform the work, but is increasingly leveraged to question ideas of authorship, production and value. As his focus on print and object-making deepens, Arbouw’s work points toward a hybrid practice—one that retains the rigour of graphic design while embracing the autonomy and ambiguity of contemporary art.
Born The Hague, The Netherlands 1989
Lives and works on the South Coast NSW, Australia
Koen Arbouw is a multidisciplinary designer whose practice sits at the intersection of commercial design and emerging artistic inquiry. Born in the Netherlands and raised in New Zealand, he has developed an international perspective that underpins a career spanning leading studios and global brands. Over more than a decade, Arbouw has worked across agencies and in-house roles—including positions at studios such as Landor, Maud and M35, and as design lead at Bear Meets Eagle On Fire—building a body of work that moves fluidly between strategy, identity and form.
Trained within the discipline of graphic design, Arbouw’s early and ongoing work reflects a deep engagement with visual systems and communication. His portfolio spans corporate identity, digital platforms, publications, packaging and spatial environments, often developed as cohesive brand ecosystems rather than isolated outputs. Projects for clients such as Nike, Google and AFTRS demonstrate a capacity to translate complex ideas into refined visual languages, while his time as in-house design director for cycling brand Attaquer expanded this approach into product and material outcomes.
Central to Arbouw’s design methodology is an understanding of the designer as both author and mediator—someone who constructs meaning through typography, image and system, while responding to the needs of clients, audiences and contexts. This grounding in applied design has resulted in a practice defined by precision, clarity and an attention to how ideas circulate in the world through both digital and physical forms.
More recently, Arbouw’s work has begun to shift beyond the conventions of commercial design into a more self-directed artistic practice. This evolution is particularly evident in his exploration of print and object-making, where the outcomes are no longer purely communicative but also material and experiential. Through limited-edition prints, publications and sculptural objects, he extends graphic design’s formal language into three-dimensional space—treating typography, repetition and production processes as subjects in themselves rather than simply tools.
These works often draw on the logic of reproduction and iteration—echoing the systems-thinking inherent in branding—while embracing imperfection, tactility and variation. Series-based objects and prints suggest an ongoing investigation into how meaning shifts when design is removed from its commercial function and repositioned within an artistic context. The move from screen to surface, from client to author, marks a subtle but significant reorientation: design becomes not just a service, but a site of inquiry.
In this expanding practice, Arbouw situates himself within a broader lineage of designers transitioning into art, where the boundaries between disciplines dissolve. His background in identity systems and visual communication continues to inform the work, but is increasingly leveraged to question ideas of authorship, production and value. As his focus on print and object-making deepens, Arbouw’s work points toward a hybrid practice—one that retains the rigour of graphic design while embracing the autonomy and ambiguity of contemporary art.
♥
I’m a designer and creative director with over a decade of experience, primarily on the agency side, partnering with brands to shape their identities from an external perspective. My work spans corporate identity systems, digital experiences, publications, and products, as well as environments, packaging, and comprehensive brand worlds.
To discuss any upcoming projects contact:
info@koenarbouw.com
+61 490 770 597
I’m a designer and creative director with over a decade of experience, primarily on the agency side, partnering with brands to shape their identities from an external perspective. My work spans corporate identity systems, digital experiences, publications, and products, as well as environments, packaging, and comprehensive brand worlds.
To discuss any upcoming projects contact:
info@koenarbouw.com
+61 490 770 597