We build websites.
And the community around it.
We've spent over a decade working at the intersection of web technology and the communities that build it. We aren't a traditional agency, and this isn't a sales pitch.
We build things that work well, manage the people side so projects actually ship, and stay close to the global community that makes the web worth building for.
Here's what we actually do.
Design
UX design, interface design, and information architecture. We approach design from a technical perspective — everything we design, we know how to build.
Technology
Front-end development with a focus on HTML, CSS, accessibility, and performance. We build for the long term: resilient, well-structured, and standards-based.
Events & Community
We organize, program, and produce web industry events, from conferences to meetups. We've always been part of the global web community.
People who trust us
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Smashing Magazine
Program & project management
Shaping and running some of the web industry's most respected conferences for over seven years.
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Swire Properties
Various UX and project management projects
UX and project management across multiple digital products for one of Asia's largest property groups.
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Eend
Various design and front-end projects
Long-term design and front-end partner to a leading Dutch web agency.
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Lanson Place
Website UX design and project management
Redesigned the digital experience for a premium serviced apartment brand operating across Asia.
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Cathay Pacific
Website UX and project management
Four years of UX and project management on the digital presence of one of Asia's most recognized airlines.
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Urban Discovery
Website design and project management
Designed and delivered iDiscover Asia, a platform connecting travelers with local experiences across the region.
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Fair Agency
Various design and front-end projects
Design and front-end work that helped a small agency punch above its weight on larger projects.
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Pinkcollar
Website design and project management
Designed and managed the digital presence for a platform connecting professional women with meaningful work.
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Gemeentemuseum Den Haag
Various front-end projects
Front-end development for one of the Netherlands' most prominent art museums.
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Karwei
Front-end development
Front-end development for a national home improvement chain with hundreds of locations across the Netherlands.
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Fabrique
Front-end development
Embedded front-end developers across multiple scrum teams, shipping alongside designers, back-end engineers, and product owners.
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XS4All
Front-end development
Front-end work for one of the Netherlands' most respected internet providers, known for championing user privacy since the early web.
The humans behind the magic
This is CharisMagic — the digital home for the work of Charis Rooda and Jarijn Nijkamp. It's a place to collect what we've worked on and where we're headed next. Our work has always lived somewhere between building for the web and being part of the communities around it.
We split our time between Amsterdam and Hong Kong, which has put us in the room with a lot of different people — developers, designers, organizers — who care about the same things we do. We care about craft, honest communication, and the kind of collaboration that actually gets things finished.
Charis Rooda
Charis is a front-end developer with a focus on the "evergreen" side of the web: CSS, HTML, and accessibility. She's spent years deep in the technical community, whether organizing events like Webconf.asia or building front-end that doesn't fall apart.
She cares about performance, clean code, and making sure the web stays open and usable for everyone.
Jarijn Nijkamp
Jarijn handles the human and organizational side of the work. His focus is on project management, communication, and stakeholder management — acting as the bridge between technical teams and business goals.
Whether coordinating international events or managing complex digital projects, he keeps things aligned and moving.
Why you'll like working with us
The kind of work that holds up
We care about code that lasts. That means accessibility, performance, clean architecture, and staying current — not for the sake of it, but because it pays off. We have a deep appreciation for robustness and we aren't purists about how we get there.
Clear communication
The technical work only matters if the people involved stay aligned. We act as the bridge between teams and business goals — keeping stakeholders informed, decisions visible, and projects moving toward the finish line.
Community & events
We've been organizing and running web industry events for over a decade — from international conferences to local meetups. We know what it takes to bring people together, keep things running, and make something worth showing up for.