Creating, founding, and publishing The Folks of Amsterdam, an independent journalistic platform that encourages authenticity and celebrates creativity. Built from scratch and turned into a successful brand with three sold-out events, dozens of published stories and videos, and a limited edition table book sold in famous independent bookstores.
Co-created with Jerome de Lint, Siji Jabbar, and Paul Roest.
Services
Brand strategy
Brand identity
Naming
Platform & Digital design
Website
Event design
Social media strategy & content
Publishing
PR & relations
Sharing and learning
as a community builder
The Folks of Amsterdam represents the glories and failures of everyone who launches a business. Each interview is designed to reveal insights into how the creative entrepreneur takes on the darker chapters of his/her life and career. As a result, the platform is a source of learning as each candidate shares their honest business story.
Sold out events
The Folks of Amsterdam started as a digital magazine. Soon after, I launched The Folks Talks; events where people could meet, share and learn. All events sold out immediatly.
Video portraits
By launching 30” video portraits, online visitors could browse through content quickly and get to know Folks in a hurry. To keep things authentic, most videos are a compilation of one-takes, portraying people as natural as possible.
Extra, extra,
read all about it.
In 2021, I created and published a table book featuring the best stories to inspire folks. The magazine is sold at famous independent magazine stores in Amsterdam, Berlin, the UK, and Zurich, such as Do You Read Me? MagCulture, and the Monocle Kiosk.
The Folks Magazine is the biggest project I’ve ever worked on. And I believe it is far from finished, as people want to open up as much as they want to learn. We're entering a new era where it's all about 'we' instead of 'me'’ and that's something we should continue to encourage. I’d love to share my thoughts and learnings with you.
More info
Founder and co-founders
Founder/creative director - Dorien Franken
Editor at large - Siji Jabbar
Photography - Jerome de Lint
Film and edit - Paul Roest (RubenPaulRuben)
Event partners
Massive Music / A’DAM&Co.
QO Hotel Amsterdam
BNO.nl
Writers
Daphne van Langen
Inge Oosterhoff
Siji Jabbar
Dorien Franken
Read also
Adformatie
Fonk
Medium