Encrite

Winners Henri Winkelman Award 2020 (second place)

On November 5th, 2020, Encrite (Elmar Janse and Merel Klomp) won the Henri Winkelman Award (second place) worth of €5,000. In this interview, we discuss their ambitious career plans and look back at their time at WdKA.

What does this prize mean to you?

Merel: It feels really good to be appreciated for the work we do. In first place, you do things based on your own vision, and you do not always know how others think about it. It was an honour to receive such praising feedback from the jury. It gave us just that little bit more energy to carry on.

Elmar: And it also gives us a bit more space to invest in our development. Normally—and especially in these times—you would tend to postpone certain investments. This award offers new possibilities.

How would you position Encrite? What distinguishes you from other creative studios?

Elmar: Mainly because of our backgrounds. Merel studied Lifestyle Transformation Design and I studied Graphic Design. That combination led us to develop a pretty unique style and approach. We are not a typical advertising agency nor a design studio or production house. Encrite combines all these things, and that’s what makes us unique. We look at production from a design perspective and are always searching for alternative solutions that could lead to a better outcome.

Merel: Because of our broad backgrounds in design, we approach things differently. We do not only focus on the production part, but also look at the bigger picture. We create an entire world around a product or brand. The message we convey in the campaign can be translated to so much more. We recently developed a campaign for a brand, from concept to production, and also translated this into spatial design. We see ourselves as ‘all-round creatives’ and like to think about the little details that bring a brand to life. I think that is something noticeable about our work.

How has your idea of your creative practice changed over time?

Elmar: Merel and I never really wanted to frame ourselves in just one discipline. We notice that, when we mention our backgrounds as Graphic Designer and Lifestyle Transformation Designer, people tend to picture an image of what it must be what we do. And that image is not always true. Especially within the Academy there are so many possibilities to combine the things you like. That is the nice thing about WdKA, in my opinion.

Merel: WdKA gives you the opportunity to develop on a conceptual level. The medium you use for the implementation of your concept does not really matter. Nowadays, we introduce Encrite as a creative studio where we integrate concept, creation and production under one roof. I think we left our disciplines behind a long time ago, or never fully identified with them in the first place.

What role did WdKA play in the process of becoming the professionals you are today?

Elmar: Especially the practices were really useful. We collaborated during our practice in Branding. On this neutral ground, our disciplines kind of faded away. I think that is a huge benefit of WdKA. You can choose the practice that suits you best and within the practice there are even more possibilities.

Merel: And in the first year there was the possibility to study at a different department. We both chose advertising, and that is where Elmar and I met.

Both: Besides that, WdKA is quite unique for their workshops and facilities. We made good use of these during our time at the Academy. Especially right after graduation we missed the stations a lot.

What are you going to do with the prize money?

Elmar: We are currently working on our new website. We are investing in articulating our vision and positioning our company more prominently online.

Merel: The jury of the Henri Winkelman Award concluded that our story is very strong and that we do have a clear vision but challenged us to communicate it more strongly with the world. At the moment, we are working on this for our new website, and we are also investing in a coach that helps us decide what direction we want to go in. Working on this positioning is quite a journey and it can be confronting as well, because you are constantly reconsidering what you stand for and whether you are carrying it out successfully.

Elmar: Since graduation, our goal has been to become more all-round than other creative studios. But it’s quite a journey to get there. And the same goes for carrying out our vision—it is a process. I think that the Henri Winkelman Award helped us regain perspective on where we want to go and gave us a boost in getting there.

Merel: We have also learnt that, in order to carry out our vision, we need to be more selective in the type of commissions we take on. At some point, we entered a certain network of clients that was heading in a completely different direction. It was nice to have a lot of work coming in, but the type of work did not match our ideology. These are the moments in which we need to reflect on who we are, where we want to go, and whether this type of work contributes to getting there. Those decisions are hard, but they also ensure that we can keep developing in the direction that makes us happy.

Where do you hope to be in five years?

Elmar: I hope that we will be working on more projects that fit our vision. Besides that, our goal is to get a b-corp certificate. That is the highest achievable label in the area of sustainability and social conditions.

Merel: Indeed. I hope that this becomes our specialisation and that we will be recognised for the work we make. It would be nice to share this vision with a team. Right now, we are working together with freelancers. Some of them are contacts we made during our time at the Academy. Expanding our team would mean we could take on larger projects and increase our brand awareness.

How has the Corona crisis influenced your future plans?

Merel: We cannot complain. Most projects continue as planned and we have not experienced any big setbacks. It did slow down some of our plans, however. For example, some international projects have been temporarily put on hold. This was a pity, but it also gave us the space to focus on positioning our company. It is not necessarily a negative thing, but we do need to be flexible in these kinds of situations.

Elmar: We had to adjust some of our ambitions for 2020. But eventually, I think we are lucky and thankful that the situation is not that bad for us. If you know what you are doing and just go for it, you will often manage to succeed. I think that it is important not to give up, although it can be a long haul.

Merel: If we can get through this, we will get through anything!

Do you envision new roles and opportunities for creatives as a result of this crisis?

Merel: I think people started thinking more creatively. If we can not do things in the way we are used to, which other ways can we think of? And to do so, they appeal to the ingenuity of creatives.

Elmar: And I think there is more unity among companies and freelancers. We all want people around us on whom we can rely, especially in these difficult times. And I think that makes companies more willing to invest in long-term relationships. Also, I see that companies are seeing the crisis as an opportunity to start doing things differently, for example in terms of sustainability. And that provides opportunities for us in turn.

For more information about Encrite’s work, check out their Website and follow their journey on Instagram.