Company DNA

VOUW (pronounced ‘vow’) was founded in 2017 by Mingus Vogel and Justus Bruns, who met while studying Industrial Design Engineering at Delft University of Technology. Early on, they formed an art collective, working on unconventional projects like an airplane food event.

While Justus managed a foundation in New York, Times Square Art Square, and Mingus ran a shoe company in Kenya, they both kept up their passion for graphic design, creating digital content for brands like Prorail, KNVB, and DSM.

In 2017, Justus and Mingus sat together to decide what they truly wanted to achieve. This is when they formulated their goal:

“We want to have a factory space where we can bring any of our ideas to life, together with a team of brilliant people who are smarter than us.”

This broad goal marked the beginning of VOUW. They defined that VOUW should always involve new technologies, embrace different cultures by working in various countries, and create meaningful work. Their vision of the studio became known as Slowtech—using technology that encourages people to slow down.

They weren’t entirely sure how to achieve this goal, but when they heard of someone looking for a light installation in Kuala Lumpur, they decided to jump on the opportunity. With their last bit of savings, they traveled to Kuala Lumpur to propose their first large-scale project, City Gazing. Despite having no prior experience with light artworks, they successfully completed the installation, which remains the largest City Gazing to date.

This experience taught them the value of hands-on work, leading to their next project at the Amsterdam Light Festival, where they took full control of the process. From there, City Gazing evolved, with the Singapore edition becoming the first animated version, showcasing the city’s growth over the past century.

In 2019, they developed Chairwave, their first interactive and kinetic work, marking a new milestone. The following year, VOUW proposed Bloomlight for the Taiwan Lantern Festival, managing to complete the project within a tight four-month timeline.

A significant challenge came when the government of Katara in Doha requested permanent Bloomlights for their new hotel. VOUW redesigned the installation from scratch, completing it just before the World Cup.

In 2023, VOUW created the Poem Booth during an AI hackathon. Initially a playful concept, it quickly gained traction, leading to its debut at Lowlands 2023 and subsequent installations in Sharjah, Sydney, and beyond. The Poem Booth is now being developed as VOUW’s first spin-off venture.

Throughout these projects, VOUW has steadily gained recognition. Chairwave was named Best of Social Design at Dutch Design Week, City Gazing has been shown in numerous cities, and the Poem Booth continues to engage audiences globally.