In the Netherlands the discussion about integration of the Dutch and the Dutch-with-a-non-Dutch-background – often referred to as ‘allochtoon’ – started at the beginning of this millennium. After 9/11 and the bestial murder of Dutch film maker Theo van Gogh in 2004, the debate became more spiteful and moved into the direction of the ‘Dutch’ versus the Muslims. Today the storm seems to have calmed down somewhat and especially this ad shows that fortunately there are still people that believe that a mixture of cultures can also enrich a country – and forms a strong basis for creativity, for that matter. It shows a henna-died hand (a tradition from Arabic, African and Indian countries) in the typical Dutch colours and style of Delft blue pottery. Simple & strong. On a dedicated website one can submit a message to underwrite the point this ad tries to make. Initiated and created by RadeMakkers.

The most brilliant ideas are usually the simplest. Take this guerrilla glow-in-the-dark sticker that lights up at night and is put on the asphalt next to the graphical bicycles that indicate you’re on an Amsterdam bicycle path. It was created by Rademakkers for Move bicycle lighting.

Weird and interesting at the same time. This commercial will definitely get some attention. Van Zwienen is a local Peugeot dealer that claims that nowhere you can get a cheaper Peugeot. It’s well executed and the message is loud and clear. We’re not sure if mother brand Peugeot will be happy about it, but job well done Rademakkers – directed by Kristjan Knigge.

Amsterdam design agency DAY won two red dot Awards this year for the in-store design of the Van Gogh Museum shop here in Amsterdam (click on picture to enlarge) and a Nike Store in Paris. Both designs also won the additional honours of ‘best of the best’ and ‘distinction for high design quality’, respectively. We’ve checked out the red dot design website and if you see how many categories and awards there are, it’s hard not to win any. Having said that, we very much like what the design agency did with the Van Gogh shop. And, while we’re at it, recently Dutch interior design agency UXUS has been appointed to design the shops for the Tate Modern. That is, both for the existing Tate Modern as well as the impressive Herzog & de Meuron extension.

Apparently there are women who work in the garden and want to look sexy while doing so. To us that sounds very odd – if not incredible. But hey, we never work in the garden. For KIXX – a company that makes working gloves – it is a very important target group. And if there are women out there that want pink working gloves to “impress” the shit out of the neighbours, KIXX is bound to find them with this appealing ad. It was created by Rademakkers and photographed by Gerrit Schreurs.