Illustrator. Creative Director. Visual Storyteller.
For over 35 years, Hein van der Heijden has been creating images that earn a second look and stay with you long after. Born in the Netherlands and rooted in the creative culture of Deventer, he brought his craft to Atlanta in 2009 — and never stopped working.
Hein operates at a rare intersection: he is both an independent illustrator and creative director through his studio Deshein LLC, and Senior Manager of Creative Design at GMS, one of Atlanta’s leading building materials distributors. It’s a combination that reflects his range — equally at home developing a character for a children’s magazine, directing a large-scale brand campaign, or crafting an editorial illustration that makes a reader pause mid-page.
Over the course of his career, he has worked with some of the world’s most recognizable names — Coca-Cola, Domino’s, Powerade, Nickelodeon, EMI Records, Elekta, and Assurant among them — as well as platinum recording artist Muse, the Dutch Government, and civic clients like the City of Suwanee, GA, where he has served as both creative director and designer. His work has been recognized with multiple Marcom and Hermes Awards, including Platinum and Gold distinctions for illustration and graphic design.
But ask Hein what drives him and he’ll tell you it has nothing to do with awards. Storytelling, he’ll say, is as old as we are as a species. It’s the heart of how we communicate — it can be art, it can be history. It’s what sets us apart. That belief lives in every line he draws, every image he builds, every brief he takes on.
He works from Atlanta. He works everywhere.
Freckles captured by HP van Velthoven
Bragging rights… ^-^. Numerous Gold and Platinum Awards for Design, Direction and Illustration over the past years...
“One of the most amazing visual storytellers I’ve ever worked with. Incredibly talented. He is not only a great artist, but a wonderful human being. Very kind and generous, with a fantastic sense of humor.”
— J. Naranjo, New York, NY
“His visual mastery truly amazes me.”
— D. McKenzie - New York, NY
“Without a doubt the most creative person I have ever had the pleasure of working with. His ability to listen to the client and pull the ideas out of their mind… and to see him visualize those is an actual joy to watch.”
— J. Gould - Decatur, GA
Let’s work together!
Shoot me an email at info@deshein.com, or call me: +1 (404) 538 1216
Tupelo Street SE, Atlanta, GA 30317
WHY THAT STAR AS A LOGO?
Ever since I was a little boy I heard about a miraculous place called Myrtle Beach. I anticipated it to be everything as gorgeous as portrayed in the series Boardwalk Empire. Decades -after I moved to the States- I finally got to see it with a few friends. And one could hear my childhood vision shatter like it was china falling on a tiled floor. I have never seen such a sad broken hole in a state with so many hideous neon colored shirts collected on a beach. It was not a deception, it was murder of a childhood dream. I did not even take one single picture that day, which is really rare. At least, that’s what I thought. Later I was editing a bunch of SD cards and saw one picture of a plastic star on a cinema’s announcement board. This star -although having the regular 5 arms- I wanted to use somehow, but thought it was a little too presumptuous to make myself a star. so I eliminated one arm. (I might become a star one day but I am not where I need to be yet.)
It’s that constant reminder that there is beauty, always and everywhere. <3
It all started around four. My mother did not take the pencil from my hands, encouraged me to keep drawing and designing, deprived me from naps and cracked the whip. Relentlessly. And it paid off. For over 30 years I am the proud owner of my little big studio. I tell stories through illustrations, graphic design and photography. And—obviously—I love doing it.
Around fifteen years ago I moved to the States (oh, the things we do for love) and ever since have been working with numerous clients here, from start-ups to Fortune 300 names. Providing them with illustrations, photography, graphic design and—oddly enough for this Dutch guy—copy. Foreign eyes see things in a different perspective and foreign ears hear things in a different tone. I hear that my return is always unexpected but on target.
On the list of companies I have had the pleasure of working with are many. Among them Powerade, Assurant, Muse, Blof, Coca-Cola, Domino's, Elekta, Nickelodeon, Coors and The City of Suwanee. But most important is working with people who are willing to jump in, no matter the size of the name on the building. Those who are not ready at 5 o'clock, those who take risks. Those who roll up their sleeves and go and keep going. What truly matters is the angles of the corners of the client's mouth at the end of the project, UP. Whether it was 'just' a logo, a branding campaign, a full corporate identity build, a new product pushed or a picture of the new guy at the front desk.
I was taught to work hard and I do. Because that's how you get stuff done. 'Not good enough' does not exist, try again is key. Until it is right, keep pushing yourself. And don't say it's good too soon. It's how I see the world, almost how a second way of breathing. Shapes, lines and colors. That's what the world is made of. My world anyway...
See my work online or come see me in my studio, give me a call. Because apart from telling my own stories, I can tell -and sell- yours.
