About

I was born in a small South African town called Humansdorp and grew up in Jeffreys Bay, known for its world class surf break.

From a very young age I knew that I didn’t want to work for anyone and thus kept myself motivated to go big or go home. I founded An1ken in 2007. At the time it was merely my online identity for freelancing and doing client work in the design sector. However, as time progressed, the work load became heavier and the clients became larger and thus I decided to expand.

As things evolved I made the decision to establish An1ken as a holding company for all my projects and ideas. I had to create a branch for the creative side of the group as that was the initial focus and that is how An1ken Creative was born. An1ken Creative was to be separate from the other projects, but still fall under An1ken and handle all the creative work.

An1ken Creative was my main focus up until I launched Creativeoverflow in late 2009. Creativeoverflow an online magazine for anything creative was my hub for expressing creativity in forms of inspiration, tutorials, interviews and more.

Now with multiple ventures and growing each year, we are aiming to focus on different facets in life and establish a high quality group that will encourage change through actions. Whilst this is only the beginning for the An1ken Group, we certainly want to leave our mark. One venture however that is close to my heart and in the works is the An1ken Foundation.

The foundation will help kids with talent and lack of funding attend schools and acquire a tertiary educations that would not have been possible otherwise. We will look into taking them out of the rural settlements and providing them with fresh clothing, food, housing, skills development etc. There are millions of people that are struggling daily and by raising a generation with the correct principles, values and skills we can rely on them to take things to a different level in the future.

The thing that makes An1ken so special to me is not only because I started it back in 2007, but the meaning behind the word An1ken. Originally derived from “Any One Can,” it carries an encouraging message to motivate others by saying “If others could succeed, any one can succeed.”

An1ken is a group with the authority to lead, the creativity to inspire and the will to change the world by being committed to excellence.

Well now you know a little bit about me and the An1ken group, so if you have any questions or would like to have a chat with me. Don’t hesitate to hit me up via one of the following methods below. I always love meeting new people and building business relationships.

Want to get in touch?

Regards,
Jacques van Heerden
Founder of An1ken