Vision & Identity
Perception of people
From an early age I was curious about the reasoning of people’s behavior and how they perceive the world. Soon enough I discovered that what is considered ‘normal’ for one, can be something entirely different for someone else. Thus there is not one right perception and not an absolute truth of things.
I believe that great transformative concepts have a significant effect and sustainable result on society.
KnapZack – Graduation project
KnapZack is a digital portfolio tool designed to integrate within the educational program of primary schools. It allows children to store learning experiences from their point of view, enabling them to look back and reflect upon activities through the use of technology that is available for schools. In schools children develop skills that regular methods prescribe to them. ‘KnapZack’ is designed so children can explore and develop skills that actually matter to them.
The project took place from February 2014 until December 2014 in which I established an internship at the education consultancy Onderwijs Maak Je Samen and cooperated with 4 primary schools in the Netherlands. With this project I tried to integrate innovation in education from a bottom-up approach. From the start of the project the children and teachers of primary schools were involved in the development of KnapZack, by using several methods of participatory design. Because of this approach, the design fits well in the workflow of schools.
This is a milestone because of my design approach and execution. The participatory design approach represents how I want to design in all my future projects. Also the KnapZack portfolio shows my ambition to create transformative concepts and how I can succeed in doing this.
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What always interested me in design is that there is the possibility to change someone’s perception and behavior on things. A phenomenal movie or a well-designed product can already cause such a ‘transformation’. Within Industrial Design I learned how to create transformative concepts.
My Final master project (Milestone 6)
Design for transformation needs to be balanced between the connection with society and a new envisioned reality.
I want to empower people to make the most of their opportunities
Transform toward…
I believe in a world where everyone has a contribution with his or her personal qualities and the things he or she likes to do. If everyone is able to find this fulfillment in life, we can live a happy life while creating a sustainable societal environment.
There are two elements that are important for me to
Design for transformation
Participatory Design
I achieve this connection with society by inviting my stakeholder to participate in my design process. (Milestones 3, 5 and 6)
Milestones
These events have a significant role in my development as a designer
Learning about perception and cultures
studie trip to china
Imagineering elements
The process of creating experiential concepts is called imagineering. During the development of a design I take into account how users can experience my designs. During my study Industrial Design I learned to take care of these 6 elements that have an influence on how people experience my design. (Milestones 1, 2 and 6)
Product
Environment
Personel
Communication
Identity
Network
KnapZack – Graduation project
KnapZack is a digital portfolio tool designed to integrate within the educational program of primary schools. It allows children to store learning experiences from their point of view, enabling them to look back and reflect upon activities through the use of technology that is available for schools. In schools children develop skills that regular methods prescribe to them. ‘KnapZack’ is designed so children can explore and develop skills that actually matter to them.
The project took place from February 2014 until December 2014 in which I established an internship at the education consultancy Onderwijs Maak Je Samen and cooperated with 4 primary schools in the Netherlands. With this project I tried to integrate innovation in education from a bottom-up approach. From the start of the project the children and teachers of primary schools were involved in the development of KnapZack, by using several methods of participatory design. Because of this approach, the design fits well in the workflow of schools.
This is a milestone because of my design approach and execution. The participatory design approach represents how I want to design in all my future projects. Also the KnapZack portfolio shows my ambition to create transformative concepts and how I can succeed in doing this.
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Smallplayer
In 2013 I was involved with a startup company in media players. We developed the concept of Smallplayer, based on the opensource software XBMC and released the product in November that year. My contribution to this project is mainly focused on the user experience, including communication, interface and interaction design. This was the first time the company took a serious step towards user experience. I was able to do this by integrating Smallplayer into my research project of my master Industrial Design.
For me it was the first time I was able to contribute my skills as a designer from a participatory design approach to bring a product on the market. It also showed me a new perspective on design research. The research methods I applied in my project contributed to my research topic as well as for marketing purposes of the company. I used the same strategy again in the development of KnapZack (Final Master Project).
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De Jongens van de TU
From August to December 2011 I had the opportunity to take over the small visual marketing company of a friend in which I worked for the past 2 years. During those months I started the campaign “de Jongens van de TU”, that pushed the company forward. From 2 employees in July we went to 9 employees in October and the amount and size of the projects increased. This campaign was set up to create an authentic vision towards the company for clients and for employees. Eventually the company took over the name as well. Currently the company has an office at De Smalle Haven.
The experience of this was an enormous boost in knowledge and skills on all kinds of levels. It proofs for me that could carry my vision into effect in a real-life company. It was also the first time I applied the Imagineering building-blocks to create the idea of the campaign.
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Journey to Asia, Indonesia, New Zealand and China
In 2012 I traveled for 5 months through New Zealand, Indonesia (together with Mitchell Jacobs) and South East Asia. By being in these foreign countries I was fascinated how “normality” is perceived so differently and how this is deeply rooted in the cultures of these countries. If you talk about culture and culture differences, most people think about food, structures, religion, day schedule. I believe culture is defined by the choices people make in their everyday life. We can only discover the perception the people in these countries by being there and getting immersed in the local culture.
More recently I traveled to China to do a workshop with Dutch and Chinese students of three week in the area of Shanghai. It was interesting to learn about the Chinese culture by working closely together, which is a different approach than when you are traveling through the country.
Perception is a crucial element design for transformation. To be able to create transformative concepts we first need to understand what the current perception is of people and how this is rooted in their being.
Reflection Asia, Indonesia and New Zealand
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Internship at Tinker
During my internship at Tinker Imagineers in 2010 I worked on a project for the Floriade 2012, which let the audience perceive the “story” of Nederland Bloeit in 4 stages. I learned about experience design and how I could create an experience in such a setting. First the visitors would see the designed pavilion of Nederland Bloeit (Aesthetic), then the visitors will enter and they find themselves a bar with all kinds of little agri-cultural products on them. Curiosity will invite them to take place at the bar and try out one of the products (Entertainment). If the visitor gets that product a little movie about the heritage of that product starts to play (Educational). On top of that the visitor encounters the farmer that he/she had just seen on that movie and starts a conversation (Escapism). This one concept covered all the four realms of an experience.
The company itself was also very inspiring to be part of and taught me a lot about how to create a pleasant and inspiring work environment. This I have applied during my time at De Jongens van de TU.
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Creating a movie
What started as an impulse small project to complete in two weeks became an ambitious movie project that took three years to complete. I explored my interests in movie making and decided to take it to highest level that was possible for me. In Februari 2011 the movie had its premiere in an art-house theater in Alkmaar.
Afterwards I discovered that there were two things that I liked most about this project. The first was the creation of a story on screen and taking control in how people will perceive this story. I learned what elements were an influence on people’s emotion and perception in relation to film. The second was the setting in which I could direct and bring people together to create something. It actually didn’t matter what we created, but the bigger the group became the more fun it gave me. These conclusions I have made afterwards, but was the start of developing my interests in experience design and creation with a team.
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Inspiring people
During my master I was inspired by interviews with Ricardo Semler. he speaks about how he empowers his employers of all the projects he started and how they become involved in the goal of the project by personal motivation and satisfaction. His idea of giving the control to the actual workers, employees or even children in case of his school project is something I want establish in my design projects as well.
Jan Rotmans tells about how society is ready to transform the societal structures of today, because the current institutions that are in control cannot maintain there purpose anymore. This inspired me to think about how I as a designer can contribute my skills in relation to the changing societal structures, such as education. For the full episode (dutch) watch: http://tegenlicht.vpro.nl/afleveringen/2012-2013/transitienl.html
