children in large tree house in the woods

Who Neue?

Founded by Robert Valentine, Neue Amsterdam is a strategic design and communications agency based in San Francisco.

You Had Me at Desire

Our mission is to create desire. All else follows—memorable branding, deeper customer engagement and increased revenue. Our approach utilizes strategic positioning, authentic storytelling and insightful design.

woman from the waist in a puffy skirt down lying on the floor in a miniaturized room

Capabilities

Brand Strategy

  • Brand DNA Definition
  • Brand Positioning & Strategy
  • Brand Architecture
  • Research
  • Competitive Audit

Creative Communications

  • Creative Direction & Art Direction
  • Naming & Messaging
  • Brand Identity & Visual Expression
  • Brand Guidelines
  • Brand & Product Storytelling
  • Integrated Advertising
  • Retail Expression
  • Packaging
  • Editorial Design
  • Book & Catalog Design
  • Merchandise Story Curation
  • & Pagination

Digital Marketing

  • Website &
  • E-Commerce Design
  • Content Strategy
  • Experience Design
  • Digital Integrated Campaigns

Business Development

  • New & Existing Businesses
  • Brand & Product Extensions
  • Brand Strategy
  • Financial Planning
  • Demand Planning (Inventory)

Product Assortment

  • Strategy & Curation
  • Product Development
  • Product Sourcing & Production
  • Supply Chain & Operations
Collaborations

Collaborations

ART / CULTURE

  • RH Contemporary Art
  • Metropolitan Museum of Art
  • Museum of Modern Art
  • Whitney Museum of American Art

BEAUTY & FRAGRANCE

  • Ann Gottlieb Associates
  • Aveda
  • Bobbi Brown
  • MDSolarSciences
  • Nest New York
  • Sephora
  • Trish McEvoy

ENTERTAINMENT / RETAIL

  • Turner Classic Movies
  • RH Music

FASHION / RETAIL

  • Ann Taylor Loft
  • Bloomingdale’s
  • Eileen Fisher
  • Henri Bendel
  • J.Crew
  • Façonnable
  • L.L. Bean Signature
  • Neiman Marcus
  • Noriko Maeda
  • Orvis
  • Ralph Lauren
  • Sundance
  • Target
  • Victoria’s Secret

FOOTWEAR

  • Bandolino
  • Cole Haan
  • Johnston & Murphy
  • Naturalizer
  • Nine West

HEALTHCARE

  • Health Net
  • United Healthcare

JEWELRY / ACCESSORIES

  • Kwiat Diamonds
  • Nancy Gonzalez Handbags
  • Neiman Marcus

HOME / RETAIL

  • Conran’s Habitat
  • Flor
  • Kravet Fabrics
  • RH
  • Rialto
  • Wedgwood
  • Williams Sonoma

HOSPITALITY / CONTRACT

  • Interface
  • Kravet Fabrics
  • Tai Ping Carpets
  • RH Contract

PUBLISHING / RETAIL

  • Barns & Noble
  • Chic Simple Book Series
  • Cindy Crawford
  • Condé Nast
  • Country Home Magazine
  • Gilbert Paper
  • Knopf Publishers
  • Martha Stewart Living
  • Mohawk Fine Papers
  • RealSimple Magazine
  • Sappi Fine Paper
  • Strathmore Paper
  • The New Yorker
  • Trish McEvoy

PRO BONO / PHILANTHROPY

  • Accessories Council of New York
  • Be Original Americas
  • Charity:Water
  • DIFFA
  • Oprah Winfrey Angel Network
  • The White House
oil painting of a bouquet of red and pink flowers

Valentine At-a-Glance

Robert Valentine has spearheaded branding and advertising campaigns for a multitude of prestigious brands, including Fortune 500 companies, fashion houses, artisans, celebrities and lifestyle personalities. He has also launched a host of notable brands including Real Simple (the most successful magazine launch in Time, Inc.’s history); the Chic Simple book series (which birthed the lifestyle book category); and Martha Stewart Omnimedia, where he was an early contributor to both the magazine and cookbooks.

Ancient & Recent History

Before establishing The Valentine Group New York in 1991, Robert held creative management positions with Conran’s Habitat (London), Bloomingdale’s (New York), and design art direction roles at Dayton Hudson and Donaldson’s department stores, Seitz Yamamoto Moss, and Grey Advertising in Minneapolis. He joined Toth+Co in (Boston) in 2010. In 2012, he formed Neue Amsterdam while performing double duty as the SVP Creative Director of RH from 2015-2016.

In addition to his own book, “Catalog Design: The Art of Creating Desire,” co-authored with Dianna Edwards in 2001, Valentine has been published in several books and publications such as Graphis, Communication Arts, Print and ID Magazine.

Valentine has received numerous design awards, including The Society of Publication Designers and Addy Awards. He has served on The Board of the AIGA New York Chapter (1992-93), and his work is part of the permanent collections at the Cooper Hewitt, Victoria & Albert, and Smithsonian Museums.