breda strives to present itself as the cradle of the nassaus. exhibition and brand creator nicole uniquole has been asked to frame this with an exhibition. in this concept development, possibilities are explored for a positioning exhibition on the nassaus, their relationship with breda and the influence this has had on the founding of the monarchy. the rich story of the renaissance city breda is told through historic objects in dialogue with contemporary design. with this exhibition, a relatively unknown part of our national history is made accessible to a broad and diverse audience.

the mondilab is a knowledge and textile development centre, specialized in the processing of textiles. it is an innovative lab for makers, designers, and experts in textile craft. it is the place to be where the professional maker translates their design to fabric. the lab focuses on quality, sustainability, creativity, and craftsmanship. uniquole designed mondilab’s brand identity presentation for the salone del mobile 2022 in collaboration with marten spruyt and opera design. an eye catcher, instantly putting mondilab on the map internationally.

in 2022 the association of dutch designers, together with the dutch design foundation and abn amro, again organises an event according to the “dragons’ den” formula.

“dragon” nicole uniquole, as permanent team member, interviews and evaluates the selected participants on their entrepreneurship, design qualities and future vision.

at uniquole’s initiative post nl issued a stamp for the celebration of the 250^th anniversary of king william i. the first stamp was officially presented in the german city of fulda. in 2022 it is 250 years ago that king william I was born. before william i became the first king of the netherlands he was the ruler over fulda and surrounding area. for the city of fulda this was the moment to let uniquole organise a grand exhibition on the dutch royal house for the summer of 2022. for this occasion, in collaboration with post nl, a special sheet of stamps has been issued. under uniquole’s direction the sheet of 6 stamps with three different stamps was designed by students at the university of graphic design in zwolle.

postnl has asked uniquole to annually issue a postage stamp based on the theme of dutch design. the annual series is developed in collaboration with students at the artez university of the arts in zwolle.

citing nicole uniquole from postnl magazine: “i regularly collaborate with artez, also to create the brand identity of exhibitions like the one in fulda. this way students can create designs that are applied in practice. something they can include in their portfolio. this is all incredibly important for their development.”

in collaboration with marijke meester – head of graphic design artez

couturier frans hoogendoorn has been an icon in the netherlands for over 40 years. inextricably connected with the hague, the city, the royal court, nobility and diplomacy, and through this also with the international world of fashion. since the seventies this master of crafts creates elegant designs that are clearly influenced by parisian chic in fashion. His timeless creations with international allure are worn by grand dames, amongst which several members of the royal family. The exhibition at the gemeentemuseum, curated by nicole uniquole and designed by maarten spruyt, is a celebration of the hague couturier and shows fashion illustrations alongside film and many highlights from his oeuvre.

at the request of het mauritshuis nicole uniquole selected from the museum collection based on the theme “ode to the dutch landscape”. with her own “masterly” eye she reviewed seven paintings from a completely new perspective and discovered green details revealing hidden stories. with, amongst others, a cheerful crowd in the park, an imaginary forest landscape and saint barbara, uniquole creates a bridge to the present.

with a ticket to masterly the hague 2021 visitors were granted free access to the museum. a great collaboration! “nicole’s choice at het mauritshuis” was accompanied by a handout. the graphic design and production of the handout was also provided by uniquole.

thanks to boris de munnick

long before sustainability became a notion in the (design) world masterly made the use of cardboard popular again. in collaboration with maarten spruyt and tsur reshef a remarkable chain of cardboard workspaces was created. it provided unity in diversity in a calm and coherent setting. opting for material, style and sustainability at masterly this was also translated into the execution concept by using recyclable exhibition material. annually over 85% of the cardboard pallets, boxes and boards was reused.

masterly milan curator and 10 corso como’s carla sozzani find each other in their mutual pursuit of identifying the vision of our zeitgeist. with an eye for the contemporary they each curate collections that reflect new ideas of beauty, design and meaning.

10 corso como is a multifunctional space, a meeting place, a union of culture and commerce. while wandering from the art and photography gallery to the bookshop, from the design and fashion space to the restaurant, from café to the courtyard garden or to the terrace, you will find a carefully curated mix of fashion, food, art and design. in addition to the palazzo francesco turati, 10 corso como is the ideal location for the selected designers to celebrate pioneering design, meet people, and show and sell their work in the world’s first concept store.

during the salone del mobile nicole uniquole is guest curator for 10 corso como with an exclusive presentation of dutch design.

as art director of royal delft uniquole has curated a collection of characteristic delft blue objects for a presentation at the departures terminal of schiphol. in an impressive delft blue setting the international travellers are surprised by the enlarged table showcasing various centre pieces from the collection of delft blue. commissioned by airport schiphol.

commissioned by the european ceramic workcentre uniquole realised a multi-manifestation including an exhibition, café, bookshop and lectures. here architects, designers and artists from all over the globe shared their innovative insights into design and developments in brick.

this international and interdisciplinary perspective on the ‘ceramic skin of a building’  took place at the groothandelsgebouw in rotterdam.    

if the new designs and insights shown here are put into practice even only in part, then the brick is facing a very bright future. exhibition design was provided by stijlinstituut. realisation of the manifestation was made possible by substantial support from wienerberger b.v.   

uniquole also produced the accompanying publication.

the biographic dictionary orange-nassau.

is our king a direct descendent of william I or not? which princess of orange built the oranienbaum palace in germany? why was amalia of orange – van solms so besotted with jewellery?

questions like these are answered in this book, whether you are looking for reliable historic facts on the house of orange or are just curious. all members of the (orange-) nassaus can be found in the book, in over 150 short biographies: alphabetically, through the register and/or the complete family tree.

photo frieda mellema

dutch design travels all over the world. at the request of the dutch embassies in various cities like moscow, berlin, budapest, antwerp and Stockholm uniquole has curated and produced various retrospective exhibitions of dutch design. as curator and producer uniquole also took charge of the entire organization and production of the exhibitions in these cities, including a substantial satellite programme, from logistics to pr and communication, and the accompanying catalogue.

the fentener van vlissingen fund support and stimulates art and culture projects. the fund was set up in 1961 by shv and is supported by the family business with around 47.000 employees and various activities globally. commissioned by the fund uniquole brought the presentation at hotel des indes of the selected artist eppe de haan to the attention of the press, public and art collectors.

the french car manufacturer renault and uniquole have joined forces for a grand presentation during the salone del mobile in milan. aleksandra gaca designed the interior upholstery for renault’s “symbioz” concept car. the concept car is designed as an extension of home on the road. with this concept in mind aleksandra gaca translated renault’s mission into a woven fabric. as an expert in 3d-textiles and production, gaca has given the construction of the fabric and the various yarns a strong yet soft quality. the stunning presentation of the end results was featured at masterly – the dutch in milano during the salone del mobile 2018. the senior vice president corporate design of renault, laurens van den akker, was also the keynote speaker at the masterly architects’ breakfast that year.

for 10 years uniquole acted as project manager for the via milano dutch design foundation. the foundation, set up by the dutch association of designers amongst others, aims to bring dutch design to the attention of a broad audience. new dutch design presented at the salone del mobile in milan in april was on show at one location in amsterdam the same year in september in beautifully designed exhibitions.

the amsterdam council supported the foundation with a contribution from the art programme budget. hedy d’ancona acted as president of the foundation. a large retrospective exhibition marked ten years of via milano at the oude kerk (old church) in amsterdam. this retrospective showed designs by van marcel wanders, gijs bakker, hella jongerius, richard hutten and many other highlights from 10 years of dutch design.

uniquole has developed a website for the new event location in the city center of milan: ‘the gallery milan’. the graphic design is created in collaboration with students of artez university zwolle.

www.thegallerymilan.com

uniquole in the role of art director for royal leerdam crystal has involved designers like jan jansen, marlies dekkers and ans marcus in the design of new glass objects. the former dutch glass factory leerdam has a rich history. founded in 1878 it reached out to artists for designs. famous names such as k.p.c. de bazel, andries copier, h.p. berlage and frank lloyd wright have designed for the glass factory. royal leerdam crystal expressed a desire to revive this tradition. The continued collaboration between royal leerdam and uniquole has lead to and well frequented exhibitions. the photography for royal leerdam continues to be provided by uniquole.

‘when in all cities and countries each shopping street becomes virtually interchangeable, alienation sets in. we feel lost in more of the same. again and again. everywhere. how can you find yourself in the masses? who feels a sense of belonging in this no man’s land?’

the intrinsic values of every city offer an inexhaustible source of information, to be continuously translated and defined; ‘this is sooooo the hague’, ‘oh how typically leiden’. consumers don’t just spend money on purchasing products but are mostly looking for experiences.

in service of councils uniquole defines the dna of a city (historically, contemporary, future). the layout of the future (retail)offer aligns seamlessly. for more information contact uniquole.

“icons of the mail” shows the design history of postnl in a nutshell. uniquole, at the request of postnl, organised an exhibition during the launch of the online platform: “icons of the mail”.

for nicole uniquole , founder and curator of masterly, in 2008 the decision was clear. this design festival completely revolves around craftsmanship and artisan techniques. for a decade uniquole has offered a strong platform to self-producing designers who do not have their own shop. nicole uniquole’s forward vision has proven itself beyond a doubt.

a richly illustrated book in a4 size, 2cm thick and weighing 1 kilo! an ode to craftsmanship. jan taminiau, iris van herpen, hella jongerius, bernard heesen, christien meindertsma, mieke meijer and many other designers show how they are inspired by traditional craftsmanship. with articles by jeroen junte en minke simon thomas (boijmans van beuningen).

 production: uniquole. 

in collaboration with the fund for culture participation

SOLD OUT

photo: frieda mellema

the dutch design awards (dda) annually reward the best in the area of dutch design. with an award ceremony, retrospective exhibition during the dutch design week and the publication of the dutch design year book, dda is a platform for dutch design with a comprehensive scope.

uniquole acted as head jury for a year. that year the prizes were awarded by jort kelder

following the success of the dutch edition of the biographic dictionary orange-nassau an updated german edition is now also available.

the text is written by reinildis van ditzhuyzen. the art direction is done by nicole uniquole. dtp is provided by heleen van haaren.

uniquole realised a sales exhibition of the conceptual jewellery label chi ha paura…? by gijs bakker at colette. this former concept store in paris became a landmark in the city, and icon in the world of fashion and design.  this inspiring shop at the rue du faubourg saint honoré, one of the most beautiful shopping streets in paris, drew in crowds from all over the world, who would stand in line at for o’clock in the morning, just to catch a sneak preview. uniquole provided the overall concept and execution for the exhibition, in art direction, styling and organization. 

as curator and consultant uniquole has an extensive and exclusive network at her disposal to identify trends on the leading edge of design. this inside information in the first stage is translated into effective presentations, commissioned by clients such as corso como and de bijenkorf concept and department stores. in collaboration with de modefabriek and stijlinsituut amsterdam uniquole curated collections for the fashion trade fairs by de modefabriek. twice a year the superstores formed a fusion between a pocket size design department store and a mini museum, containing the collections curated by uniquole with innovative fashion and design products, mostly from the netherlands. 

an interactive crossover between a one-stop-shopping experience and a trend forum in the shape of a concept store. the concept of the superstores revolved around creativity, shopping, relaxing and entertainment, and at the same time be seriously informed on leading developments in style, design and original retail concepts.