Identity
I see myself as a reliable, empathetic, and optimistic designer that is easy to work with, listens to others, and believes that everything is possible.
From a young age I have always been curious. Exploring the world and nature
around me. Easily inspired by the things I see and experience, the people I
meet and talk to, and other cultures. My curiosity makes me a creative
person. I easily come up with new ideas during brainstorm sessions and
throughout the process. I believe there are no bad ideas and no idea is too
crazy. I approach challenges with an open mind and a determination to
explore unconventional solutions. I believe that everything is possible.
I am a team player who is easy to work with. Making sure that everyone feels
comfortable sharing their thoughts, ideas, and feelings is very important to
me. Respect for each other plays a major role for me. I believe you learn a lot
from others. Their way of working, cultural views, and design ideas are
important for me. By learning from others I broaden my skills and develop
myself as a designer. During projects I believe it is important to have fun and
enjoy the things I am working on. During projects I am usually the planner
who keeps track of what we have done and what we still need to do. I am
good at documenting the steps we have taken throughout the design
process. This also ensures clarity and alignment within the team. Being an
empathic person, I am able to understand my team members feelings and
opinions. Nonetheless, I am well able to share my own constructive opinions
and insights, contributing to successful and open team work.
I am a visionary and structured person, which makes it easy for me to
prioritize the things that I need to do. Because of this I am well able to write
short and long term goals and I know the importance of different tasks that
need to be done. With my visionary mindset I am able to see how my design
decisions and final designs will influence the future. So, while making design
decisions I always think about how my choices will not only influence the
project but also the future.
I am also a very visual person and I have a strong imagination. Being able to
visualize my ideas immediately helps me a lot during the brainstorming and
prototyping phases. Imagining how my designs could look like within the real
setting helps during the design process.
I tackle problems with a hands-on user centered approach. Working with my
hands and with materials helps me come up with new ideas and helps me
become more creative. I create experiences that have a positive impact on
the users and the world around them. Closely collaborating with the users
and understanding their needs helps me creating meaningful experiences.
With my empathic mindset I am well able to resonate and understand the
users.
Vision
I see my role as a designer to be social critic. I want to create experiences that start conversations and educate people about societal issues.
I see myself as a critical social designer that wants to make people think
about societal issues. Using design as a powerful tool to educate. Educating
people about social issues, to create awareness, start a conversation, and
help people form their opinion. Educating people through design to create
understanding of each other’s views and opinions.
I vision my role to start conversations about taboos, stigma’s, and social
issues. Combining psychology and design to cultivate empathy and
understanding between people. Using design to evoke emotions, stimulate
thought, and facilitate meaningful discussions. I aim to create interactive
experiences that raise awareness about pressing social issues and
encourage people to form informed opinions. In the end my vision is to spark
a dialogue that leads to better understanding and empathy among
individuals and communities.
I vision my designs as interactive experiences. Depending on the topic the
form of these experiences differ, from workshops, toolkits and games to
artworks. I aim to create dynamic and engaging experiences that serve as a
platform for exploration and learning, encouraging dialogues among
participants.
With my designs I want to advocate for social sustainability and have a
positive impact. I envision a future where design is recognized as a powerful
force for social change, influencing policy-making within municipalities and
(political) institutes. Using design to create awareness for social issues I
want to showcase the importance to the institutes. Followed by a
collaboration with those institutes, I aim to integrate social sustainability into
policy making. By advocating design initiatives that address social issues, I
strive to create positive, lasting impacts that uplift individuals and
communities.
With my designs I want to address serious topics and issues that can be
difficult to discuss. I believe that using humour and satire can lower the
threshold these topics may have. Through playful exploration and satire, I
want to create experiences where individuals feel comfortable confronting
challenging subjects. By infusing playfulness and humour into the
experiences I want to encourage curiosity and spark the desire to learn and
understand more deeply. This will foster empathy, provoke thought, and
ultimately lead to meaningful conversations. Leading to greater awareness
and understanding of important social issues.
