About

For the past seven years, Senior Designer Aurélia de Azambuja brings clarity, structure, and an all-too-contagious laugh to Base’s Brussels studio. Originally from Paris, her journey has taken her from the Mediterranean to New York and, finally, to Brussels—each stop shaping her perspective and deepening her curiosity. While serendipity fuels her creativity, her work is always anchored in a strategic framework—shaping ideas into seamless narratives rich with nuance and depth.

Aurélia leads with a clear conceptual direction, orchestrating teams of copywriters, illustrators, and art directors to bring bold, meaningful design to life. But her boldness goes beyond aesthetics. She’s passionate about the power of design as a tool for change, always asking the big questions—challenging her creative approach, her team, and the world around her.

Aurore hails from a small Belgian town “where carnival abounds, and champagne flows freely.” Tapping into her graphic inclinations in the early years of secondary school, she spent so much time beautifying her notebooks she often forgot to take notes altogether. Inspired by Xerox art, Joseph Albers’ color studies, and Toscani’s photo campaigns for United Colors of Benetton, Aurore took on Graphic Design and Visual Communication at La Cambre and specialized in typography and bookbinding. As a Designer at Base, she’s spent the last decade-and-a-half on the lookout for powerful visuals that, as the cliché dictates, speak louder than words. Whenever she’s not poring over InDesign or coaching interns, Aurore loves to crochet toy animals, get a whiff of fresh mountain air, and play her favorite Slow Dive album on a loop.

Raised in an environment of unapologetic openness, Bruce Vansteenwinkel knows good design isn’t just about aesthetics—it’s about radical inclusiveness. With everything he creates, Bruce intends to reach and affect people of all identities and inclinations. After learning the ropes at Base New York and honing his craft as a freelancer—for tech titans like Apple, no less—he now strengthens the Base Brussels team with his distinct optimism and curiosity. Bruce’s creative sensibilities are influenced by his zeal for architecture, a string of creative side projects, and the quirks of his fellow earthlings. But whenever he’s out of office, he’s most likely drumming up his chosen family for homemade Korean food and some sacred social time.

A self-proclaimed generalist, Coline Leclère is driven by a curious mind. She likes to dip a toe into anything even remotely interesting, which means she always has too many tabs open, several dog-eared books to finish, and a wealth of eclectic tunes to immortalize in equally haphazard mixtapes. After her Hospitality Management and Business degree left her starved for meaning, she swiftly changed course. With stopovers at SXSW and the Hoxton, she finally landed at Base Brussels as a copywriter and strategist. Coline wields her innate versatility as a tool to untangle clients’ stories, conjure up compelling brand narratives, and lay the groundwork for brands to be built. Coline likes cooking, taking her dog into nature, and hosting lavish dinners for friends from all corners of the world.

Delphine Volkaert is a textbook Sagittarius, galloping through life with an insatiable hunger for novelty. Straying from her early fondness for fashion, she studied Graphic Design at La Cambre instead, a journey that led her to explore creative techniques, UI and UX design, and sun-soaked Barcelona. Whenever Delphine sinks her teeth into a new project, her gut feeling instantly pulls her towards the right visual mood. And her flair for conjuring colors and compositions serves her well in the real world, too, as she’s recently become a florist’s apprentice. Delphine loves food, foreign languages, and foraging the web for vintage design pieces. Dreading empty days more than anything, she always has somewhere to be, someone to see, or something to experience—no matter how small it might be.

Dimitri Jeurissen arrived in Brussels when the Golden Age of Advertising was in full swing. He leapt without looking and founded Base while he was still a Graphic Design student at La Cambre. After a brief stint as a designer, Dimitri established himself as an art director for brands like Loewe and Delvaux, then moved across the pond to lead the creative direction of the New York studio. Nowadays, Dimitri fosters his natural instincts of exploring uncharted territories and gathering like-minded people. Taking a curatorial approach, he steers the Base brand down unexpected paths, such as the launch of BEople Magazine. Still, he always keeps a finger on the pulse of our projects to stay aware of what’s brewing. Having worked with photographers, artists, and museums across the globe, Dimitri has become deeply entrenched in the world of contemporary art and cultural landmarks such as Z33, iMAL or Wiels. On an occasional day off, he loves to browse the piles of unread books he keeps to remind himself of everything he doesn’t yet know.

After seeing Monet’s Giverny gardens as a kid, Paris-born Léa Wolf has taken an extraordinary liking to visiting the history-packed homes and havens of the greats. She leaves her preconceptions by the door, guzzles up the stories inside, and leaves feeling richer and more fulfilled. As a thoroughbred Designer, this is exactly how Léa likes to approach every new project—as a portal to a new, unfamiliar world. With no less than three Graphic Design degrees under her belt, she has studied every method in the book and fostered a particular gift for iconography, imagery, and art direction. Whenever she’s not following her gut down a thrilling visual rabbit hole, Léa loves to spend her days browsing galleries or vintage furniture shops, indulging in retail therapy, or unwinding with friends.

As Base’s paterfamilias, Thierry Brunfaut mentors the global teams, oversees strategic and conceptual decisions across the different studios, and protects the Base spirit he’s been moulding for nearly three decades. At the same time, his childlike whimsicality often drives him to ruffle feathers, change his mind, and ditch whatever bores him. Hailing from a family of architects, Thierry infuses Base with unbridled creativity rooted in common sense—another glaring contradiction. He self-identifies as lazy, yet his achievements speak volumes. While co-founding Base takes the gold, Thierry’s happiest when he’s teaching. He pushes the needle in the wider sector through workshops, podcasts, lectures, and think pieces. A joyful minimalist to the bone, Thierry imparts a philosophy of graphic and conceptual simplicity, illustrated beautifully in his series of “5-minute posters”. Some of Thierry’s favorite things? Football, the movie ‘Body Double’, and his own body double: Kermit the frog.

Thomas Leon grew up in a tiny village surrounded by the Jura and the French Alps. Born into a family of Mathletes, he was the creative duckling in a nest ruled by numbers. When he joined Base over a decade ago, he quickly discovered that his early years had armed him with an inherent sense of simplicity, a blissful unawareness to all things trendy, and a yearning to solve puzzles. Going back and forth between Design and Creative Direction, Thomas enjoys cracking the nut of the branding formula and setting up the sparring ring for his fellow creatives. Whenever he’s not diving head-first into the unexplored waters of impactful brands, Thomas likes to take his kids to the playground, go for a run along the Kanaal, or sit down for a good meal (he is a Frenchman, after all).

With a background in business engineering, Lola sought a non-traditional career that would unlock many doors – from art and design, to cinema and fashion. The organic structure of Base has enabled her to forge her own unique path, evolving alongside the company. Today, she effortlessly moves between planning, finance, business development and project management. She's in possession of a 360 view of what's happening, when, and how – making her the perfect sounding board and champion for every member of the team.

Lorenz is what you could call a quiet punk. Not in his look or even his attitude, but rather in the idea that he never did things following a set path. This self-taught, slightly perfectionist character never really studied graphic design at school, he learned everything by himself, reading books or following tutorials on the internet. Specialized in visual identity, he is more interested in the process than the result, and likes to dig deep into the subjects he deals with, even if it means spending long hours. When he clicks with a subject, he can’t stop clicking! Surprisingly, he compares this to his passion for Japanese noodle soups, which he experimented with for a long time before finally arriving at a convincing result. As a proponent in the “trial & error” philosophy, he is not one to stop when faced with any problem, and always puts himself in a position where he can learn and benefit from any mistakes. Outside of work, as the “discreet punk” that he is, he likes to go to independent punk shows where he enjoys the DIY side of things (which characterizes him rather well).

Cold winters, great corn, big smiles. Here is how Julie, Base’s Global Editorial Director, describes her Midwest. It comes as no surprise then, that this Chicago-born go-getter knows how to weather a storm and take on a challenge — moving from NYC to Paris, where she studied fashion business at IFM, before building up experience in fashion and beauty houses, big and small. No surprise either, that Julie knows how to shuck a cob and her way around the kitchen more generally. There’s nothing she likes more than to cook, bake*, gather people around a table and a good meal: to ‘create conviviality’, as she says. And then last but not least, no surprise that it is all dimples, enthusiasm and drive that she joined Base in Brussels in April 2023. Ready to set up its communication arm, develop new processes and new output. Working with each and everyone at Base, across design, strategy and digital, NYC, BRU, MEL and GVA, to tell stories about the work we do: somehow making culture or, in her own terms, ‘the exterior influences that shape who you are as a person. They can be intimate and less personal, span generations and country borders.’

*Come by the office on Monday, and expect a slice of homemade banana bread

For Jeroen, all the world’s a stage. Hailing from Antwerp and raised throughout the rich landscapes of Flanders, Jeroen has always had a fascination for eclectic curiosities. With his family's frequent relocations within Belgium, he cultivated strong social skills from a young age, continually crafting new friendships. During his boyhood days, quests were his currency, sometimes driving him to daring escapades, like pillaging apples from a neighborhood orchard and peddling them on street corners with his cousins. It was during these formative years that Jeroen's vivid imagination laid the foundation for his affinity for storytelling, which he channels through various artistic mediums. Photography, his silent narrative, captures worlds without words or melodies – a skill he honed through a Master's in Photography from Kask in Ghent. Another form of spinning yarns takes shape in music, where he’s center stage in two bands, lending his voice to both. From hardcore punk to the metal scene, heavy music has always offered him a cathartic release for his emotions, fostering a sense of unity and dialogue. His love for creative expression brought him to Base, where his role as Growth Director allows him to be a catalyst of sorts for sharing Base’s inventive artistry with the world. And, in case you're wondering, Jeroen is an amateur kebab connoisseur.

As a kid, Jack was constantly exploring – always asking questions, always moving. He grew up wandering the medieval streets of Bruges, curious about everything from Jan van Eyck’s 15th-century masterpieces to complex football strategies. What started as a childhood fascination with stories – told through early Flemish paintings or David Lynch films – evolved into a lifelong passion for culture in all its forms. One question has stuck with him over the years: How do ideas become something tangible? This curiosity has driven a career spanning film production, art licensing, and representing fashion photographers, as Jack thrives at the intersection of creativity and structure. Now, as a project manager at Base Brussels, he channels his "constructive chaos” energy into keeping teams aligned and ideas on track.

Jack is a self-confessed culture sponge, constantly absorbing inspiration from books, galleries, films, and music. He’s one of those people who’s impossible to pin down – in the best possible way. On weekends, you’ll likely find him running through the forest, wandering a museum, or deep in conversation with friends because for him, nothing beats real connection. His hidden superpower? He says it’s getting away with anything – but really, it’s his ability to find clarity in the chaos.

Lou is a collector of moments, small details, and beautiful things. She grew up the eldest of four in a quiet, multicultural town tucked away in southern Belgium – a place where life seemed simple on the surface, but revealed unexpected richness the closer you looked. Summers in Tuscany sparked her early curiosity – long days spent reading by the pool, wandering through old museums, and noticing the details others might miss. Over time, this quiet curiosity grew into a quiet obsession: varied cigarette packaging from around the world, odd little banana stickers, and snapshots of quirky license plates now form her personal archive.

At Base, Lou brings that same thoughtful eye to her role, quietly shaping an environment where creativity can flourish. She’s not one for the spotlight but her presence is felt in the calm she brings and the connections she nurtures. Modest, observant, and endlessly curious, Lou sees culture not just in grand gestures but in the smallest moments of everyday life. It’s a way of being present, of noticing, of collecting little fragments that make life richer.

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Anaïs sees the world as a set of parts waiting to connect. Give her a team, a plan, or a rough idea, and she’ll instinctively organize the whole. Raised in Brussels, she grew up in a creative environment, influenced in part by a father working in advertising. While he drew, she preferred taking things apart and rebuilding them, learning early on that understanding how something works is the first step to making it better. That instinct carried her through advertising studies at Saint-Luc, into design and consulting, and toward the space where creativity meets structure. Project management simply felt like the natural fit.

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