(      The studio      )

Built to hold
together.

Our philosophy.

Vantra takes on the whole system, not a piece of it. The same senior team stays on the work from the first meeting to launch.

(     Core value 01      )

Fewer people, further in.

A project runs with three or four seniors, not a rotating cast. The people in the first meeting are the people who ship it, and nothing is handed down mid-flight. Fewer hands means fewer translations, and every decision keeps the context that produced it.

(      Core value 02      )

Decide slowly, once.

Positioning takes the time it takes. Everything downstream moves faster when the argument underneath it is settled, so we hold the first decision until it holds. Once it does, identity and interface stop being opinions and start being consequences.

(      Core value 03      )

Draw what ships.

We work in the browser with your engineers from the second week, so what gets approved in review is what goes live. No redraw between sign-off and launch, no handover document standing in for the thing itself, and no surprises in the last fortnight.

(      Core value 04      )

Own the whole system.

Identity, interface, and content are one problem. We take all three, or we say no and recommend someone else. A system that only half exists does not hold: the parts drift, the rules get reinterpreted, and a year later nothing reads as one brand.

2026
Studio profile.

The 2026 Studio Profile sets out how an engagement runs, what each phase costs, and the five practices we take on — everything a first call would cover.

. PDF
Studio profile 2026

The people
on the file.

Mara Ostergaard

Founder, principal designer

Joost Rijkaard

Partner, strategy

Ada Nkemdirim

Design director, product

Kenji Mori

Director, content & motion

Priya Raghunathan

Lead, design systems

Ruben Vale

Studio director
Independent practice, Amsterdam — Lisbon
Since 2017
09
Years
Projects shipped
24
Craft awards
34
Studio people
24
Repeat clients
68%

Awards for
the work.

Award
Organisation
Year
Site of the Year — Northwind
Awwwards
2026
Brand identity — Sable
D&AD Wood Pencil
2025
Design team of the year
Dutch Design Awards
2025
Film & motion — Halcyon
FWA
2024
Independent studio of the year
European Design
2023
Interface — Fold
CSS Design Awards
2023

Build
what’s next with us

Wherever you sit at Vantra, there is room to shape real work and leave a lasting mark.