My essay on memberful design,
now on TNW.

This was the week of the biggest virtual, creative conference of the year, Adobe MAX. The long list of speakers, quite frankly, was mind-boggling (Wes Anderson! Ava DuVernay!) — and I was invited to share my thoughts on memberful design as well.

In 30 minutes, I shared the most important insights from our projects and our multi-year collaboration with NYU, in which we learned that it's meaningful member initiatives that lead to the richest user experiences. In case you missed it — the video is available on the website of Adobe.

I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on this memberful design vision. If you have friends or team members for whom this is relevant, I’d love it if you shared it with them.

If the editorial teams wouldn't have their our own app, they would be solely reliant on third party platforms, like Spotify. We can't guarantee that these providers have the same data minimization policy that the journalism platform has. The app offers members a privacy-friendly way to listen to the stories.

Uncover the systems that underpin our world. No hype. No ads. Just a healthy dose of noise-cancelling journalism.

Based in Tokyo, Renews aims to bring change to the conservative Japanese media landscape, as a centerstage for the expertise of its members. This journalism startup chose Momkai to design its brand from the ground up. Our portfolio case and 1-minute video are now live.

We helped the world renowned, 40-year old architecture firm Benthem Crouwel to make a big leap online. With offices in Amsterdam, Paris and Düsseldorf the company works on projects ranging from public buildings to urban masterplans and infrastructural projects — amongst others Stedelijk Museum, Schiphol Airport, and Charles de Gaulle station.

Sensible and surprising buildings, they're their simple solutions to complex problems. Now with a communications strategy, brand refinement and an online portfolio to match it.

On 30 September 2019, after a record-breaking crowdfunding campaign we helped to launch The Correspondent. Located across four continents, the team set out to dig deeper than the headlines and centre previously unheard voices. It’s safe to say we could not have predicted what the year ahead would look like. No one did.

If you’re not a member, join now and choose how much you pay for your membership. Because quality journalism should be affordable to everyone. Find out what the editors got planned for year two.

Cofounder Daily Paper

In our design podcast we dive into the world of Daily Paper. Fueled by the rich heritage of African culture wrapped in contemporary designs, Daily Paper has truly become one of the fastest growing fashion brands out of Europe. Verwondering streams on Spotify and iTunes.

Through mechanisms in the Japanese media landscape, important social topics often remain underexposed. That's where Renews now comes in. This journalism startup was launched last week in Tokyo and aims to be a new centerstage for expert voices.

"In Japan, unlike elsewhere, media organs generally avoid controversy and partisanship, making the major concern not public distrust but public indifference."

Hayashi Kaori
Professor at University of Tokyo

This is the first step by the Renews team towards a new benchmark for online news in Japan. The design sets it apart within the very conservative media landscape of Japan. The member experience has a playful style, making it approachable — and breaking with traditions.

We love the illustrations by Sho Fujita. Our lead designer Martijn van Dam worked closely with him on location in Tokyo and via Zoom. Once our portfolio case is finished, we'll share it right away.

2020

We received news that our Dutch-Brazilian colleague Joca van der Horst has been nominated for a talent award at the DIA, the Dutch Interactive Awards! Working every day with him we clearly think that such a driven, talented, and kind designer should be the winner here.

Fun fact: Joca did his internship at Momkai, returned to the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), finished his Master in Fine Art & Design at the Piet Zwart Institute in Rotterdam, and then came back to the Momkai team. The DIA award ceremony is in November. We as colleagues and clients will root for you Joca!

Artist and former architect

Now live, an episode with the artist that designed a new World Flag. I filmed Sarah van Sonsbeeck in her studio, as she’s my new podcast guest in Verwondering — now on Spotify and iTunes.

“Corona inspires populist leaders to close borders. I believe a crisis calls for solidarity and openness: This flag with all the colors of all the flags of the world but open borders between the colors allowing them to blend and share territories hopes to inspire this open thinking we need.”

De Volkskrant, the Dutch newspaper of record, put the spotlight on our calm book designs this Saturday. Reviewing the creative direction for Rutger Bregman and other correspondents and highlighting the success of this restrained approach. For context, the Saturday edition is the most widely circulated, with over 1 million readers in print alone.

The Guardian calls Bregman's new work 'the Sapiens of 2020'. Above you see our designs. I sincerely enjoyed reading the book. Believing in kindness can act as the foundation for achieving true change in our society. The Dutch edition already sold over 280,000 copies. Last week 'Humankind' entered The New York Times best sellers list at 11.

New Regency, the Hollywood studio behind '12 Years a Slave' and 'The Revenant' has won the battle for film rights of a chapter in the book. It's the story of six Tongan teenagers stranded on an island, dubbed as the “real-life Lord of the Flies”. It's pre-publication was insanely popular, with over 7 million reads.

About Momkai on LinkedIn

"I love this cover. All the international editions (including US) struggled to find the balance between showing that this book was about the early days of Netflix, but was - more importantly (to me) - about the process of making dreams come true, no matter what those dreams were. Mostly I wanted to make it clear to readers this wasn’t “The Netflix” story. This cover design did this beautifully. Congrats to the team."

Made by Momkai

VanMoof builds electric bikes. As VentureBeat wrote, the company has raised €12.5 million in funding last month. The COVID-19 crisis served as a “catalyst”, as cities around the world ease lockdown restrictions and consider safer commuting options for people returning to work. We congratulate them with this big moment and are glad that we helped them in the past to lay crucial online foundations.

Allow us to re-highlight our previous work for them. VanMoof wanted more control: no more third-party retailers. A radical change in which digital is the focal point. We helped them to make that transition. From learning the story, becoming a member to choosing your bike — VanMoof believes the whole shebang should be delightfully effortless.

Cofounder of Yoni

We launched a new show with the Yoni cofounder. This immensely popular sustainable brand makes organic cotton tampons, pads and liners free from plastic, chemicals and shame. Their mission is to bring women - and other people - in the know about all things vulva.

Verwondering is our Dutch podcast about what makes design work. My guest and I explore what makes good design work by looking together, each from our own perspective. Since design begs to be seen, we combine it with a platform full of images.

We all work remote until further notice

We follow the Dutch government. We’re taking this precaution to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. We do this out of solidarity with others, and to make sure that we don’t get a fever all at once. This way, we can continue to work with all of you, our clients and partners, and do our creative projects to the best of our ability (especially now).

Working long distance is our routine

At this moment we work closely with clients in Washington DC, Tokyo, London, New York, San Francisco, and throughout the Netherlands. As a team we are experienced in helping you to meet deadlines in times of uncertainty. We love to help and lead video meetings in Zoom and Whereby, with structure and focus.

In these times you might have some spare time to read. We're happy to share that a book has been published about De Correspondent and Momkai and our road to the launch of The Correspondent. Written by an independent journalist, Leendert van der Valk, on his own initiative. Published and designed completely independent from us too.

Because we find it important that fellow entrepreneurs, journalists, and other interested parties can learn from our mistakes (and successes!), and because we always expect transparency from other organizations, we gave Leendert full access to our design agency and journalism company. He was allowed to speak to whoever he wanted, and write freely about how things are going with us.

In a span of over two years, Leendert interviewed the four founders regularly, yours truly included. He also spoke to various colleagues and attended important meetings and moments on the editorial staff in Amsterdam and in the campaign office in New York.

All his findings can now be read in his book. Even though it is somewhat uncomfortable to see such intimate moments that you experience together publicly presented and discussed, we are very proud to be two organizations that give independent and critical journalism all the space it needs, even when it concerns ourselves.

We hope the Dutch readers amongst you like it!

Perfect for binge-listening: Verwondering, our Dutch podcast about what makes design work. My guest and I explore what makes good design work by looking together, each from our own perspective. Since design begs to be seen, we combine it with a platform full of images. This week we will launch a new gallery and episode with Richard van der Laken, founder of What Design Can Do. Stay tuned.

NOW LIVE 🚀 After years of preparations and a thrilling crowdfund campaign The Correspondent has officially launched. We are proud to introduce the first five correspondents. They're based in New Delhi, Lagos, Minnesota, Trento and London.

Thanks to the support of over 50,000 members (and counting!) from more than 130 countries, we’re proud to launch this platform for unbreaking news.

On behalf of all who helped to make this dream a reality my fellow cofounder at The Correspondent, Rob Wijnberg, welcomes all members and supporters to this new journalism platform.

We at Momkai are the strategic partner for entrepreneurs and change-makers. Together, we design and launch meaningful initiatives, to build brands that last.

Earlier this year we shared the principles underpinning the creative direction of this global platform and campaign down in writing, offering insight and inspiration for clients, designers, and journalists.

Magazine Fantastic Man called him 'the Netherlands’ unofficial chief designer'. In our latest Dutch design podcast Ernst-Jan Pfauth and I talk about the legacy of Wim Crouwel. In Verwondering we explore why his design work and grids are so inspirational. And since design begs to be seen, we combine our podcast with a gallery full of his work: the visual show notes — from Stedelijk Museum posters to a font for Joy Division.

This weekend the city of Warsaw, Poland reported a sudden influx of designers. It hosted the European Design Conference and its Awards Ceremony, during which the global Unbreaking News crowdfunding campaign won twice — an honour and a delight for all the teams, partners, and freelancers involved.

Both the passport sized Founding Principles booklet (pictured above)as well as the fun and one-off Unbreaking Newspaper were awarded these design prizes, one gold and one bronze, amidst fierce competition. Big thanks also to Tim Beijer and Matt Ipcar for helping us to find the best possible printing offices.

With the summer vacations coming up we dedicate two episodes of Verwondering to the wonderful art of travel. Our Dutch podcast about what makes design work is available on Spotify, iTunes, and Soundcloud.

11. The world of map designs June 12
"Soms kijk je naar een kaart om de weg te vinden. Andere keren tuur je ernaar om weg te dromen. Hoe houden ontwerpers daar nou rekening mee? Van Google Earth tot verdwenen steden en spookstraten: we gaan op ontdekkingsreis."

12. How to design a moon landing July 10
"De grootste raket ooit gebouwd is ontworpen door een wetenschapper die in het geheim uit Nazi-Duitsland is ontvoerd. En dat is nog niet eens het spannendste verhaal in deze podcast over ontwerpen voor de ruimtevaart. Lift off!"

This week, we helped to launch the online platform The Embassy of Good Science during the 6th World Conference on Research Integrity in Hong Kong. A novel initiative that received millions from the European Union and that aims to stimulate the conduct of good science.

Research integrity is vital. Unfortunately, it was not yet self-evident how to safeguard it. For the past two years, Momkai has worked closely with the initiators: professor Guy Widdershoven, his team at Amsterdam UMC, and nineteen universities and organisations around Europe.

Momkai took on a connecting role, cofounding and designing the initiative from the ground up. We started by defining The Embassy’s principles. This written vision, in the form of a declaration, creates focus and guided the co-creation of the name and the designs. Our launch animation made its debut in Hong Kong.

The identity was fully developed to create a powerful and trustworthy first impression. From logo and icons to conference booths and a major online platform. With clear guidelines to inspire ease of use. The website features cases and methods to help the community. The Wiki approach enables researchers to take control.

In addition to our visual design language, we created a down to earth and optimistic tone-of-voice and writing style. One that matches the goal of demystifying the abstract world of research ethics and integrity, into understandable and inspiring cases.

The front cover of Dutch newspaper Het Parool featured an article about the launch of the platform. Lex Bouter, professor in methodology and integrity at Vrije Universiteit: “To make sure that we learn from each others good examples and keep each other focused on doing the right thing. We have to be able to discuss dilemmas and admit that sometimes we just don’t really know what to do”.

Last year we helped to design Oncode Institute from the ground up. This new world-class centre for cancer research was officially launched by Her Majesty Queen Máxima, starting with a special animation created by Momkai. We are delighted to learn that our video has now won a prestigious iF Design Award.

And after winning an international Red Dot Design Award for the Momkai website, the team is over the moon to also win an iF Design Award for the same portfolio. Next month we will be in Munich to collect these awards and perhaps a few beers along the way.

Today I share on Medium my learnings on how to design a campaign on your own terms — and break world records along the way.

Jessica Best is The Correspondent's partnership manager and played a vital role in its crowdfunding campaign. She helped me to put the principles underpinning the creative direction down in writing, offering insight and inspiration for journalists, designers, and clients.

As creative director my Momkai team and I welcome new projects that make a positive impact in the world.

You can reach me at: harald@momkai.com

🙏

Thanks to all of you the Momkai team is still over the moon about our last month: 45,888 members from over 140 countries joined the movement for Unbreaking News, setting a crowdfunding world record.

It might be fun to share what others have been saying.

Take journalist Leendert van der Valk. He followed the campaign for a book that will be published this year. I'm grateful for his extensive backstage story about Momkai in NRC. We've translated it for all our international friends.

"The Correspondent has raised $2.6 million for its international expansion. The crowdfunding campaign was designed by Momkai, under the direction of Harald Dunnink. For Dunnink, it was the moonshot he’d dreamed of for so long."

'Cultivating calm on a global stage'

"This success reflects three years of diligent preparation; cohesive design elements; and putting people at the center. While people have frequently congratulated the team on its good luck, noting Jay Rosen’s high profile December appearance on The Daily Show, The Correspondent *did not* get lucky in crowdfunding $2.6M."

'The Correspondent became the largest journalism crowdfunding project in history without one story on its site. Here's how'

"The Correspondent, an English-language version of the Dutch Web site De Correspondent, is trying to “unbreak the news.” It won’t run ads. It won’t collect data (or, at least, not much). It won’t have subscribers. Like NPR, it will be free for everyone, supported by members, who pay what they can."

'Does Journalism Have a Future?'

The best one is this sweet tweet. Couldn't agree more!

"There are lots of great nuggets in Goligoski's and Pilhofer's write-up of The Correspondent but my favourite is that an intern at Momkai came up with the 'Unbreaking news' tagline during a strategy session. Top work Joanna Bax👏"

'Unbreaking news'

The Correspondent. Six years of hard work, now for a global audience of 15 million to see. On my favourite show. One that I've watched since 2002, the year that Momkai started. Pinch me.

Thank you Jay Rosen, you were pitch-perfect. Thank you Trevor Noah, the kindest robot I ever met. Thank you The Daily Show, for granting us the spotlight. Thank you Ernst Pfauth, Rob Wijnberg, and Sebastian Kersten, my companions who moved mountains behind the scenes to land this. Thank you to all colleagues and partners, for giving your absolute best. And last but not least, thank you to all members for supporting The Correspondent.

On December 6 a black Escalade, sent by the show, picked us up at Jay Rosen's house on Washington Square Park in New York. In his words: "It was great to arrive at The Daily Show with what they call in the entertainment business a posse. (All dressed in black like bodyguards.) Rob, EJ and Harald. I usually go to media appearances solo 😎"

The pleasure was all ours Jay! Follow me backstage at The Daily Show as I filmed everything for our social channels. What a day.

The last four days of our campaign to unbreak the news start NOW. If we raise $2.5 million by Friday, The Correspondent will become a reality. If we don’t, it won’t. It’s that simple. So will you join us, and more than 34,000 others, by becoming a founding member today?

Every single person who makes a contribution, no matter the amount, will bring us one step closer to getting it off the ground. If we reach our fundraising goal, you’ll get a year’s membership to a platform that investigates not just what’s happening in the world but why it’s happening, and how we can progress together.

We are so close. But we can’t do this without you 🙏

For the past three years I have been working on the launch strategy of The Correspondent in New York and Amsterdam, together with my cofounders and the teams at Momkai and De Correspondent. All because there are many people who, like us, believe news can serve us and our communities better.

For the past three weeks we have been absolutely blown away by the support our campaign has received: more than 15,000 people from all over the world (101 countries at last count!) who have responded to our call to unbreak the news - collectively raising more than $1 million so far.

I must say that the view from the rocket ship is rather nice. The launch itself was solid, the strategy played out great in real life and I'm proud of all our teams. But there's still a long way to go before we arrive on the moon. Plus we think Mars is good-looking, too.

If enough people help us raise a minimum of $2.5 million by December 14, The Correspondent will become the English-language platform for unbreaking news. Together, we can change what news is about, how it’s made, and how it’s funded.

Momkai designed a complete campaign in all its outings, from the digital concept to our very own news van. A dedicated Momkai team worked together with Blue State Digital in New York City to lay out the strategy for this movement for unbreaking news.

Together with the development team of De Correspondent we have built a custom crowdfunding platform. With Bureau NY we created a series of launch videos in which, amongst others, Nate Silver, Rosanne Cash, and DeRay Mckesson explain our mission.

One of the best days of my career. Two awesome teams finally united. Three companies created. Four founders thrilled. Five years in the making. What a joy to welcome our De Correspondent team into its new two-floor office at the Barentszplein, Momkai's home base for years.

If you want to know the story about how we got here, newspaper Het Parool wrote a profile on yours truly. From selling drawings to my brothers as a kid, to where we are today: casually talking about design in Momkai's new podcast.

We are grateful for winning two design awards. One for The Book of Thanks (Dankboek). Written by my De Correspondent cofounder Ernst-Jan Pfauth and designed by Momkai's Martijn van Dam. The book in short: when you keep aiming for more and better, you forget to be thankful for what you already have.

In my case, I’m thankful for an awesome team. The effort put into Momkai.com paid off, as it has won a Red Dot Design Award too. Big kudos to them, all our clients and partners for letting us create these beautiful cases for them. Can’t wait for that big gala in Berlin.

Last month Ernst-Jan (there he is again!) and I launched a new Dutch podcast about what makes design work. In the latest episode, we ask ourselves how design can influence behaviour. We go from Uber's evil tricks to cute bike angels that fly around New York. Yes, with design you can change the world for the better - but there's a dark side too.

Thank you Edo Dijksterhuis, for writing a great profile in newspaper Het Parool. The story of how we started the studio, designed if our lives depended on it and where we are today: casually talking about design in Momkai's new podcast.

Today, we launch the first three episodes of our podcast. In these 30-minute conversations, fellow cofounder of The Correspondent Ernst-Jan Pfauth and yours truly share personal experiences that inspired us. Our aim is to explore what makes good design work by looking together, each from our own perspective. And since design begs to be seen, we combine our podcast with a new platform full of images: the visual show notes.

Our pitch in Dutch:

Verwondering is een podcast over design waar je beter van gaat kijken. Momkai-oprichter Harald Dunnink en De Correspondent uitgever Ernst-Jan Pfauth vertellen elkaar elke aflevering over een ervaring die hen inspireerde. Samen verkennen ze wat een ontwerp goed maakt. Luister hoe je door samen beter te kijken, meer kunt zien.

Thanks to producer Botte Jellema we manage to create a show with Ernst in New York and me in Botte's studio in Amsterdam. As you can see in the photos above the best sound booth in Ernst's home is that cosy closet in the hallway — yes indeed, a true podkast!

One year ago, the four cofounders of De Correspondent (Rob, Ernst-Jan, Sebastian and me) shared the plan for a global edition of our journalism platform. Today, I am proud to announce two key partnerships for making The Correspondent for the English-speaking world a reality.

Omidyar Network —an investment fund set up by eBay co-founder Pierre Omidyar— is granting $950,000 in runway funding, bringing the total funding to $1.8 million. Also, Blue State Digital —the agency behind both of Obama’s digital campaigns for president— will team up with us at Momkai to help build the global campaign from New York and London.

In our New York outpost, close to the beautiful Flatiron Building, I work with the other founders on our plans for The Correspondent and to build connections for Momkai. In London, we have the pleasure to welcome Imperial College as a new client. With their Grantham Institute, we started working on platforms for environmental action.

The digital design nerd in me loved my last trip. From getting contacted by Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia (photo) to sitting down with Tim O'Reilly, maker of the first commercial website. Design veteran Marcel van Os —one of 7 who designed the very first iOS together with Steve Jobs— even gave an inside look into the Apple headquarters.

P.S. all flights are being compensated with Trees For All :-)

We are delighted to see that in the weeks after launching our new portfolio, it collected four different Site of the Day awards. It has been honoured by Awwwards, CSS Design Awards, CSS Winner and by Mindsparkle Magazine. Of course, I'm more than happy to use this news as a lovely excuse to reshare our new website.

It's always a joy to welcome the Danish design students from the school I one day hope to pronounce correctly, Erhvervsakademi Sjaelland. Forty of them visited Momkai last month (photo) to get an inside look at our work and studio. If you are an international student and looking for an internship, know that we just opened new positions.

Next to that, we are looking for a Senior UX Designer to join the team and take the lead in research, workshops and prototyping. Become part of a design studio that builds brands and platforms that serve a purpose.

For every team, it’s vital to take the occasional step back in order to move forward, towards new frontiers. Writing down our design philosophy helped us to focus on our mission of cultivating calm, so that only the content can drive you to distraction. Recently, we redefined our profile: a design studio that build brands and platforms that serve a purpose.

Finally, we now have the clear and simple portfolio online to match it all. Please do let us know what you think as we are here to learn. We would be honoured if you would share it with your community. Proost!

There's never a day that I don't enjoy going to work. Since 2002, we have shared our journey with the dreamers and thinkers we seek to empower. Let me take this opportunity to say a big thanks to all the clients, partners, and freelancers who have worked with us these past 15+ years.

I must say I'm sincerely and utterly grateful to the Momkai team for always giving their absolute best and I salute my talented and inspiring colleagues at our other ventures De Correspondent and Include.

MENDO's book The Workshop opens the doors of studios and ateliers of Dutch creatives such as Erwin Olaf and Sarah van Sonsbeeck. We were delighted that Momkai was a part of this ensemble. MENDO initiates and designs its own books. Starting in 2018 these are being produced and sold by teNeues, a household name in the international publishing world.

The book was created last year by writer Renée Leeuw, photographer Iris Duvekot, and designer Joost Albronda. It shows the environments in which creatives are at their most vulnerable and at their strongest.

Design conference Digitized just released the footage of their big event. A few months ago I was pleased to receive an invitation to speak at the Οnassis Cultural Centre in Greece. When Athena summons you to her city, you better do as the goddess pleases. Check out the presentation if you'd like to learn more about our approach to strategy and design.

For the past two years, Momkai has been working on the launch of Oncode Institute, an independent institute dedicated to understanding cancer and translating research into practice faster.

Together we are not building a new building, we are creating a knowledge community where top scientists work on a common goal: helping more patients survive, improving the quality of life for those afflicted, and ultimately curing cancer.

We are proud to have designed Oncode Institute from the ground up: from its name to the full identity, from the tagline to the founding principles book, from the digital platform to the royal launch event. Always in close collaboration with the Oncode team, the five Founding Scientists, and the four funders who invest € 120 million in five years.

Last week Her Majesty Queen Maxima launched the institute. Renowned scientists including Hans Clevers, cofounder of Oncode, Robbert Dijkgraaf, director at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and David Livingston, director at the Harvard Cancer Center, shared their perspectives on Oncode.

A big thanks to Toneelgroep Amsterdam and all the freelancers for helping to create an action-packed day and to the Momkai team for giving their absolute best. For me personally, it was a real joy and an honour to design our very first royal opening ceremony.

If you want to know more about this project, I had the pleasure of having two conversations with young designer Eugeniu Esanu. He is the host of a podcast about design and business called Laroche.fm. He invited yours truly to talk about the creative work for this new cancer institute.