Giel Cobben

Updated Jul 30, 2026

I’m a Dutch designer based in Toronto with a focus on translating strong narratives into immersive digital experiences that break away from the mundane.



I’ve spend the past 15+ years crafting bespoke digital products and experiences spanning across web, mobile and interactive installations. With a strong focus on typography, art direction and motion, my work embraces new technologies build on top of a strong foundation of traditional design principles.

  1. 2027

  2. 2026

  3. Lijn

    Jul 30, 2026

    Lijn is a place to build your life as a single vertical timeline. You collect the moments that made you each one dated, described, and illustrated with photos or video and publish the result at you.lijn.co or on your own domain.

    The public pages are deliberately plain and fast: server-rendered, mobile-first, and readable with JavaScript switched off entirely. Just a line running down the page, and your life along it.

  4. Wortel

    Jun 14, 2026

    A minimal, native macOS terminal.

    Ghostty’s engine, stripped to what you actually use — named sessions, instant launch, instant switching. No tabs, no splits, no config to babysit. It’s finished the moment you open it.

    Download

  5. Pontueel

    May 24, 2026

    Amsterdam is a city split by water. The IJ separates the centre from Noord, and if you are on foot or on a bike, the free GVB ferry, the pont, is the only way across. Tens of thousands of people take one every day, and the timing of that crossing quietly runs your morning. Catch the pont that is about to leave and you are early. Miss it by ten seconds and you stand on a cold pier watching it pull away.



    Pontueel takes the guesswork out of it. It puts a live countdown to your ferry on your Home and Lock Screen, so a single glance tells you whether to keep walking or run. Open the app and you get a full-screen map of the IJ with the ferries making their way across it, a clean departure board, and the time to the next crossing in big, clear numerals.

    Download for iOS

  6. Wakker

    Apr 24, 2026

    Keep your Mac awake while it builds your next app

  7. Staff product designer at Shopify

    Jan 12, 2026

  8. Moved to Toronto

    Jan 5, 2026

  9. 2025

  10. 2024

  11. todays.design

    Apr 16, 2024

    todays.design a design community built around the calendar. Designers post their work, give each other feedback, and vote the best pieces up, with every day getting its own page of what people made. Browse today, or go back through the week to see what rose to the top.

  12. 2023

  13. todays.design landing page

    Jun 22, 2023

    Exciting news! Today marks the launch of a brand new design community: http://todays.design. This platform is dedicated to connecting, sharing, and celebrating the best designs every day.

    Have a look

  14. 2022

  15. Moved to Los Angeles

    Sep 2022

  16. 2021

  17. 2020

  18. Design at Moment

    Jan 2020

  19. 2019

  20. Started Freelancing

    2019

  21. 2018

  22. 2017

  23. 2016

  24. Design at Mollie

    Jan 2016

  25. 2015

  26. Designer at Framer

    Jun 2015

  27. 2014

  28. 2013

  29. 2012

  30. 2011

  31. Defringe

    Jan 2011

    The idea of a website where the overload of creative material on the internet would be filtered, aroused in late 2010. Not a renewing idea on itself, but Defringe is different. Defringe stands for quality and that results in the intuitive, comprehensive and award-winning experience.

    Out of the bulky internet, just a few things make it through our filter: the ones that fit seamlessly into Defringe’s vision. We clean up the edges for you. What stays behind is quality inspiration.

  32. 2010

  33. Designer at Wetransfer

    Oct 2010

    Made in Sketch 2 💎

  34. Moved to Amsterdam

    Sep 2010

  35. 2009

  36. 2008

  37. 2007

  38. 2006

  39. 2005

  40. 2004

  41. 2003

  42. 2002

  43. 2001

  44. 2000

  45. 1999

  46. 1998

  47. 1997

  48. 1996

  49. 1995

  50. 1994

  51. 1993

  52. 1992

  53. 1991

  54. Born

    1991