Studio GraphicHunters

Building a design studio

Project

In June 2022, Studio GraphicHunters was founded, and I was approached to fill the company's first position as Studio Manager. Working closely with founder and Creative Director Ché Heijnen, I served as his right-hand person, taking responsibility for the operational side of the business while he focused on its creative direction.

From the outset, my role was to establish and manage the studio's day-to-day operations, ensuring that projects, processes, and client relationships ran smoothly and efficiently. This partnership allowed the studio to balance strong creative output with a solid operational foundation during its formative years.

Role

As Studio Manager, I was responsible for setting up, optimizing, and overseeing all operational processes on a daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly basis. This included monitoring key performance indicators (KPIs), managing client relationships, overseeing invoicing and project management, creating visual proposals, and pitching new business opportunities.

A significant part of my role involved building, mentoring, and coaching a team of talented young designers while fostering a productive and collaborative studio environment. I was also responsible for managing the office space and ensuring that both the team and operations could perform at their highest potential.

Beyond day-to-day management, the position required me to develop, implement, analyze, and continuously refine business strategies and workflows. Through a process of iteration and improvement, I helped create a healthy, sustainable, and growth-oriented business operation.

Credits

Special credits to Ché & the team.

Starting up

Studio GraphicHunters is a boutique design studio specializing in brand identities and campaigns for A+ brands within the sports industry. By focusing exclusively on sports, we established a clear market position and built long-term relationships with leading international clients.

Starting as a three-person team in a shared business center, we quickly grew into a dedicated studio in the heart of Den Bosch. Over the following two years, we expanded to six in-house team members and an international creator network of more than 25 designers, animators, illustrators, and creative specialists.

Together, we built a scalable and sustainable business, creating an operational foundation that enabled the studio to continue growing while allowing a senior project manager to confidently take over the day-to-day operations.

My role

We started with a clear vision and a strong sense of direction. Working closely with the Creative Director, I defined our operational workflows and translated them into scalable systems using tools such as Asana, Harvest, Forecast, Discord, Figma, and Dropbox. Through continuous refinement, these systems became the operational foundation that still supports the studio today.

Together, we built a highly talented team of in-house and freelance creatives from around the world. Alongside managing project workflows, I coached team members on a daily basis and held bi-weekly one-on-one sessions focused on performance, personal development, and career growth, while implementing KPIs tailored to each individual's strengths and ambitions.

As is often the case in a startup, my role extended well beyond studio management. I also served as Client Lead and Project Manager, overseeing budgeting, planning, creative proposals, account management, and invoicing across more than 500 projects over two years. In addition, I continuously optimized team effectiveness, pricing strategies, business opportunities, cash flow, and operational reporting.

My background as a creative professional enabled me to bridge the gap between clients and the creative team, providing strategic and creative direction where needed. I regularly contributed to concept development, art direction, animation, video editing, and design to help deliver the highest quality work for our clients.