Outspoken Entourage Team - Mark Ruitenberg & Nicola Ruitenberg

Nicola’s working life has been long and varied and somehow it has all accumulated to bring her to where she is today – Studio Director of Outspoken Entourage.

As the Studio Director, she deals with all new client enquiries as well as managing the work flow for the team, ensuring all deadlines are met and all loops are close

She’s also ridiculously passionate about digital marketing and the results you can get through developing a strategic plan and rolling that out across all digital platforms.

Nic’s all about the numbers, data and stats - why bother doing something if you can’t see actual results?

She loves learning about your business and helping it grow.

If you have a project coming up and you think OE could help, get in touch with Nicola for an informal Zoom (BYO coffee!).

Mark Ruitenberg heads up the creative department as a partner of Outspoken Entourage.

Mark started out in the graphic design industry in the late 1990s in an industry mainly centred around print collateral. The past 20+ years has seen an ever-evolving industry transitioning from print through to the current digital landscape.

Mark created his first commercial website circa 2001. At that time Google had only been around for a couple of years and Yahoo and Excite were the dominant search engines.

Mark’s passion in trying to outdo each and every project he is involved with has been his driving force throughout his career.

Mark uses his direct experience in both small business and multi-national corporations such as Nestle to assist clients in creating a brand that they can be proud of that speaks to their ideal client.

Whilst Mark is able to accomplish many styles to suit each design brief, his passion particularly for personal projects errs on the side of brutalism design allowing a no-rules raw aesthetic. On the other end of the spectrum, Mark is passionate in exploring minimalism design and takes influences from the work of Michael Bierut and Paula Scher.

Mark has been accepted as an Accredited Designer™ of the Design Institute of Australia. The DIA has an ongoing CPD program which members need to maintain. This accreditation ensures that you are in very capable hands with its member's commitment to ongoing education and ethics within the design industry.

Mark was shortlisted in the Designers Australia 2021 Awards for his work in creating a logo and brand identity for CVCON (Clarence Valley Conservatorium). This nationwide awards program recognises Australia's top designers in their respective fields.

His label design for a distillery claimed a Bronze Award in the Design Category of the World Drink Awards based in the UK in 2021. This showcases the best alcohol products in the world with a variety of categories from packaging design through to taste. In 2022 his design for the same Vodka label received another Bronze Design Award and a new design for a Gin label also received the Bronze Design Award.

Mark has also achieved awards and recognition for website design in International Competitions ranging from 2019-2022 including Site of the Day for his work on a luxury builder's website..

‍

Zoe was born in the South of Western Australia in 2011. Since she was introduced to Mark in the same year, they have been inseparable ever since.

Zoe has lived in Perth, Inner Sydney, Coffs Harbour and now in the funky suburb of West Melbourne.

She enjoys carefully prepared home cooked meals and will inform anyone attempting to palm off generic dog food of their inability to grasp her refined palette.

She can often be found by the window in Outspoken Entourage HQ keeping an eye on the surroundings and ensuring couriers, postal workers and other dogs retain their distance.

Other times, she's soundly snoozing under Mark's desk and if you're lucky enough, on your Zoom, you may just hear her snore!

Valentino Enzo Ruitenberg's Italian pedigree adds a European flair to round out the core Outspoken Entourage team.

Born on Valentines Day, he is the youngest of the team and whilst his title is Welcoming Committee Team Leader, he understands that he has much to learn on his manners and behaviour when in the office.

Valentino will no doubt ensure all online visitors will be aware of his presence and whilst his initial nature may appear hostile, he is sweet-natured and more than happy to get his mug on Zoom as much as possible.

Valentino will remind the team on several occasions during the day if a ball game has been overlooked and during the afternoons, he retires to his quarters for a well deserved nap.