A quiet beauty: The Phoney Club’s look for Ajen is a testament to the transporting power of a brand

One look at Ajen’s brand world, and you’re transported to the beauty of the Dutch landscapes, perhaps lying on a light-dappled patch of grass, or swimming in a quiet lake. Such is the power of the branding and art direction for the personal care brand by Rotterdam-based creative studio, The Phoney Club. A brand, as we all know, is more than the sum of its parts, and this is beautifully captured in Ajen’s brand world which creates a mood and feeling that doesn’t quite hinge on a single element of the design, but is evoked in the coming together of every little nuance that makes up the brand. This holistic result was born from a comprehensive approach, one where, before going into the design details, The Phone Club decided to flesh out the brand’s story. It all started with an intention to define what Ajen offers, and also find the perfect name. “From the very beginning, we worked closely with Ajen’s founders to shape a brand that rethinks personal care at its core,” Creative Director Sanne de Wild tells us. “Their vision was clear – a forever bottle made of glass and steel, paired with custom and recyclable refill packaging, delivered to your door. A concept rooted in sustainability and thoughtful design.” For the name, the team explored many possibilities, before finally landing on ‘Ajen,’ a free translation of the Old Frisian word ‘Ajēn,’ meaning “again,” reflecting the brand’s core focus on repeated use and sustainability. “Ajen became the starting point of a deeper concept, one that spoke to cycles in nature – the steady rhythm of tides, the changing seasons, and the grounding effect they have when we truly take the time to notice them,” says de Wild. “The name carried a deeply rooted Dutch heritage. It wasn’t about exotic, paradisiacal far-away destinations, but instead, it invited us to look closer at our own local nature. A lake just around the corner, the misty woodlands on a rainy winter day, the dunes on a crisp autumn afternoon.”