Bas de Koning: Discover What Makes Your Audience Click
/ Owner and graphic designer @ Studio Duel
by Elizabeth Lavis | 08 Oct 2026
"My biggest advice for aspiring designers is that design should tell a story that inspires people to take action"
Bas de Koning, owner and graphic designer for Studio Duel, believes it’s important for work to be beyond beautiful. It must have meaning. “My biggest advice for aspiring designers is that design should tell a story that inspires people to take action,” de Koning says. “To achieve that, you need to get inside the mind of your audience and discover what drives them. Don’t base your work on assumptions. Talk to your audience, listen, and find out what makes them tick.”
He comes from The Hague, which is the only major city in the Netherlands that borders the sea, and the coast has a special meaning to him. “It’s the place where I live and work, where I surf and relax,” de Koning says. “It’s where I draw my inspiration. Luckily for me, the sea is always close by.” de Koning also turns to the sea as a way to stay creative under pressure. “Our studio is just a short walk from the beach,” he says. “We have a policy that allows you to surf during working hours, and we do that regularly. I find balance by breaking up a busy workday with a good surf session. You come out of the water feeling more relaxed and inspired.”
As a child, de Koning used to draw a lot. “I mostly drew cartoons,” he says. “I loved the bold lines and bright colors. That’s where my love for graffiti began. Every weekend I’d pack my backpack with spray cans and head out with a group of friends. The transition from graffiti to graphic design felt completely natural to me.”
He and his team of creatives at Studio Duel believe that graphic design can change the world, and they only take on clients with a social or sustainable vision. “We need that world-changing drive to make our work truly impactful,” de Koning says. Their award-winning work, Onboarding Nature, is an excellent example of this and a tremendous source of pride for de Koning and his team. “The quality of the entries is incredibly high, so it’s amazing to be chosen as a winner from submissions from all over the world,” he says. “Our clients are also proud when we win an award with their project. After all, it’s a team effort.” Studio Duel celebrates their Indigo Design Award win on their website and social media channels and also makes sure to share it with clients.
de Koning credits David Carson as being one of his biggest and earliest influencers. “As a self-taught designer, he threw all the rules of the trade out the window. His work was super experimental, rock and roll, and raw, and it worked out really well for major commercial brands,” he says. “It taught me that it’s important to push the boundaries of your creativity and follow your own path.”
Onboarding Nature