Brand and website for a book-focused platform

Context

Elastik, a design agency based in The Hague, works on both digital and offline projects. Books were part of that offline work too, but they didn't quite fit: Elastik positions itself as a digital agency, while book design is a different discipline altogether, with its own audience and its own story. During my three month internship, I was asked to solve that: build a standalone brand for the book side of Elastik's business, aimed at companies producing anniversary books, annual reports, photo books and similar publications. The project covered full branding and a website designed and built within the project deadline.

Problem

The issue went deeper than naming. Books are often seen as old or dusty, while Elastik positions itself as an innovative agency. To pull book design away from that dusty image and make it feel just as relevant as their digital work, the brand needed to stand on its own.

Role and Approach

I was responsible for execution: naming, visual identity and the website build. Strategy was shaped together with Bob, the owner of Elastik, and design and development were done in close collaboration with Sander (senior developer) and Mark (senior designer).

Decisions and Trade-offs

For the name, we weighed keeping "boeken" (books) for recognisability against a name that would break entirely from the existing discipline. We chose to keep "boeken," so it's immediately clear what the brand is about, and paired it with "lab," a word that signals experimentation and innovation. That combination was meant to show that book design can be just as forward thinking as digital design.

Result

Boekenlab was well received within Elastik. Due to time and budget, the brand wasn't actively developed further right after my internship, but the visual identity has held up. Elastik is now working on an update to the website, still built on the branding I designed.