Illustrator living and working in Antwerp, Belgium.

Graphic designer and maker of all things pretty

Studio M specializes in art direction, graphic design and branding and offers a 360° approach to print, video, and creative consulting. Prior to founding her own studio, Elisabeth Mestdagh studied design and visual communication in Antwerp, Ghent and Berlin. She trained with Base Design, assisted Paul Boudens and spent a year at Baron & Baron in New York City where she worked on projects for clients such as Dior, Maison Margiela, Nars and The Metropolitan Museum. Elisabeth is an experienced print designer and a frequent collaborator of the Antwerp Fashion Academy’s alumni.

Jo De Baerdemaeker (typojo) is an Antwerp-based independent Belgian typeface designer and researcher. He holds an MA in Typeface Design and was awarded a PhD from the University of Reading. His interests are designing, researching and writing about world script typefaces (particularly on Tibetan, Lantsa, Mongolian and Javanese), the evolution of Belgian typefaces, and multilingual typography. He is elected Vice-President of ATypI (Association Typographique Internationale) and ATypI Country Delegate for Belgium, currently teaches at LUCA School of Arts (campus Sint-Lucas Gent), and is a guest lecturer at various international art programmes and universities. He was external examiner for ÉSAD (Amiens) post-diplôme students in 2011, and for the TypeMedia 2014 department at KABK (Den Haag). Currently, Jo is Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Royal Asiatic Society (London).  Jo is a regular speaker at international conferences, and curates exhibitions on type (design) and typography. Apart from designing fonts, Jo also works as a font & typography consultant for companies, holds international workshops on type design, and organises unique Type Walks in Antwerp and other cities in Belgium.  In 2012 he founded Studio Type in Antwerp (Belgium), and collaborates with international design agencies and type foundries, such as: Tiro Typeworks, Type Together, Typotheque, Dalton Maag, Monotype, Microsoft, Google, The New York Times, WIELS, Nottingham Contemporary, Sara De Bondt, Literatuur Vlaanderen, Stad Antwerpen, This is Antwerp, Karel de Grote Hogeschool, Branding Today, Museum Plantin-Moretus, The University of Reading, and Vlaamse Overheid. Jo was awarded the first honorary title ‘New Flemish Master in Fine Arts’ by Sven Gatz, Minister of Culture from Flanders, during the Henry van de Velde Awards in Bozar (Brussels) on January 19, 2017.

Potgrond is an Antwerp-based branding studio. We work for people who do and think sustainably. Because good things take time—and time is the one ingredient you need to build a brand that lasts.