We don't just build brands. We give them a soul.
Aleph is a creative agency devoted to building brands that are not just beautiful but deeply, unmistakably alive. We believe a strong brand is not something you construct. It's something you uncover.
Before we design anything, we listen.
THE ALEPH METHOD
In Yoga, they teach us that a rich life is one where body, mind, and soul are in balance. I believe the same principle applies to branding.
We often rely on strategy (the mind) and design (the body) to craft a brand. But there’s something essential missing:
THE SOUL
What does it mean for a brand to have a soul? It’s about more than just how your brand looks or the strategy behind it. It’s about how it makes people feel. Does it resonate? Does it touch hearts?
At Aleph, we ask the deeper questions. How do people feel when they encounter your brand? What purpose does your brand serve in the bigger picture? What is the color of its soul?
We do this Because we believe that when you design from the soul, you reach people at a deep level, you touch them at their soul.
Soul. Mind. Body.
THE ALEPH METHOD
01 Soul
We begin by listening. Through a series of guided conversations, reflections and meditations, we uncover the essence of your brand: what it stands for, what it believes and the energy that has always been there. Whether you’re building a personal brand or leading an organisation, this becomes the foundation everything else grows from.
02 Strategy
Together, we translate what we’ve uncovered into your Brand Energetics Map. This map captures the unique energy of your brand and becomes the compass for every strategic decision that follows: from positioning and messaging to culture, customer experience and growth.
Rather than making strategy first, we build your strategy around the Brand Energetics Map.
03 Design
Once the strategy is clear, we bring it to life. Every expression of your brand: its visual identity, voice, website and experience is designed to reflect the energy you’ve uncovered. The result isn’t just a beautiful brand.
It’s one that feels unmistakably you.
Hi, I’m Iris.
I listen to what wants to come through.
I come from a family of people who trusted their vision before the world understood it. My grandparents turned their furniture store from classical to modern in 1970. Many people didn't get it, but they followed what they felt. My father combined a furniture store with an architecture studio, a concept that didn't exist yet. They were all, in their own way, shape-givers. People who gave form to something they could feel before they could prove it.
I grew up with that in my cells.
In 2019 I was art director at Secrid, a brand with over 8000 retailers in 80 countries. I travelled to New York, Florence, Milan, Paris. I led teams, shaped creative direction, attended trend lectures. A life I had always dreamed of. I was 25, and on paper I had everything. But somewhere underneath all of it, something was asking for more space.
So my partner and I did something that felt a little crazy. We quit our jobs, sold our house, built a camper out of a blue Mercedes Sprinter in a rented garage during lockdown and we left.
Standing by the sea, in the forest, in the mountains, I heard something I hadn't heard in a long time. A voice that came from the inside.
And I realised: you can't design a feeling with your mind. A brand wants to be felt from the inside out.
That's where Aleph was born. And that is the work I do now: helping founders stop searching outside themselves for the right words and the right visuals, and start listening to what is already there. Because your brand doesn't need to be finished before it's allowed to breathe. It just needs to be true and get the space to move through you.
How we can work together
Every journey begins at the same place: your soul.
From there, we build something that is uniquely yours.
01 Creative Direction
Your brand exists. Now it needs to grow consistently, coherently and without losing its soul. As your creative director, I oversee campaigns, content and collateral across your organisation, ensuring the energy stays intact at every level and every touchpoint. For teams ready to scale without losing what makes them special.
02 Brand Intensive
An intensive 7-hour session where we bring your brand fully to life, from soul to strategy to visual concept. Two weeks later, you receive a complete brandguide: colours, logo, typography and brand story. Everything you need to show up with clarity and confidence.
03 Deep Dive
For founders and organisations ready to build from the ground up. We shape your positioning, visual identity and creative direction plus we bring it to life across every touchpoint. For those ready to go all in on what their brand is truly meant to become.
04 Speaker/ Host
Want to bring soulful branding to your team or community? I lead workshops and keynotes on conscious brand-building, visual identity and designing from the inside out.
Built for founders who feel more than they can say.
You have a vision. You know your brand is meant to be big, beautiful and alive, you just haven't found the words, or the visuals, to match it yet. That's exactly where we begin.
For solo founders building something from the soul and for organisations with 10, 50 or 120 people who have outgrown their brand and are ready to realign it with where they are truly going.
You feel your brand doesn't fully reflect who you are yet
You're building something with purpose, not just profit
You want a brand that feels as true as it looks
You're ready to slow down, go deep and create from a real place
You believe the way you show up in the world matters
Ready to build a brand that feels like you?
Let's start with a conversation. A free 30-minute discovery call to explore where your brand is now, and where it's meant to go.
Listen Up
Listen to the What’s next podcast with Iris on the impact of design. (it’s in dutch)