About me
Thinking about people: Their systems, situations, and services
Educated in graphic and product design with
an MA at the Royal college of Art. I now focus
on designing systems. Working in teams of
specialists and users.
Design for me is about people, how they live think and do. Since I finished my master in Design at the Royal College of Art in London (2007) I prefer to see design as a collaboration. A collaboration with experts forming a team to innovate systems, situations and services in a social way.
Questioning everything to find the real problem and increasing the quality of life by changing the daily. It is design but with a social innovation at its core. I figured that I cannot just make things, there must be a reason, an explanation, and preferably a socially related question. Although material experimentation is a big part of my work, the context, and why I work on a project always has to do with a social happening. I react to what I see, hear and feel. Sometimes supporting and solving problems, sometimes commenting and taking a stand. Design in my eyes is a service that has to find its position in our society. And a designer is a person that has the ability to think about objects, materials, situations and systems from a different perspective by asking the right questions solve or to provoke. To offer a solution in any possible way.
A nice quote as an approach that almost always brings you where you want to go with charm, risk and appealingly randomness is one of Zaphod Beeblebrox from Douglas Adams, ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy’:
‘I don’t know what I’m looking for.’ ‘Why not?’ ‘Because … because … I think it might be because if I knew I wouldn’t be able to look for them.’
With my experience I am researching to and building on how designers can contribute to making our world a bit more understandable. This in collaboration with experts and users to capture the spirit of the ‘now’ and push this forward into future scenarios on how we can live together in new ways, providing the steps to work towards that goal. Can we convince governments and business to work with creatives to create stunning solutions for our todays social issues. Is this more human / social approach not the way to make money? My ambition is to lead creatives, business and government in this thinking, helping them find out what this means and how it works I see myself as director of processes where I guide the players of the system to learn who they are and how to do better by being good through finding and doing.
How can we work together to design betterways of living together.
My aspirations
Today we see that the role of the designer is constantly evolving and expanding. From designing objects to designing systems and services. Working together with experts and users to develop innovative ways of designing and living with products not seen as the goal but used as a tool. This is applicable for all creative disciplines. Designers are in essence communicators, some do this better through objects some better in print or other media. The product is not the goal but the medium. We see that more and more companies, governments and designers become aware of the value this role can add to the development of systems and services. To develop long term sustainable solutions that make the experience between the service provider and service user more empathetic and engaging. What is key to this kind of approach is the way awareness of the situation is created. This is what most of my projects are about. Creating the right kind of transparency.
The changing role of the designer
A brief introductien
A project in collaboration with the Utrecht
University hospital to create a vision on ways
the polyclinic of the future will operate. What
will be it’s future role and what the experiences
be like for the patients/ customesr in this system
and how can we improve or invent new ways of
engaging with the various services on or at the
polyclinic?
As part of ‘The mobile workshop group’ (Me and three other designers), recently conducted a workshop in Ljubljana, Slovenia, based on the role of research and the different aspects and depths that this can bring in the design process. We asked students to research and map an object they found in the nearby area and design a future scenario based on a selection of research topics like: context, technology, use, ... We paid attention to the social aspect of these subjects and how people live with them, what are the rituals, habits and things we take for granted and why are they like this. Currently we are developing workshops for Designe act Moscow, the Korean cultural institute London for during the London Design week 2009 and are setting up a returning workshop program for for the Ljubljana design college.
A recent project involved developing an alternative vision for a highway development project in the Netherlands. It focused on how the people living in that area would benefit from this new road without losing their locality. What image can a fast road have other than being anonymous? How is it used by travellers and the people who live around the area and what is the role of the province in this development?
One of my biggest aspirations at the moment is setting up a project that is about designing services using local collective intelligence. Meaning that local art collages form a think tanks that works togther with business and local governments to take a look at how they can improve local social issues by research. This can be on the subjects of healthcare, mobility, identity, ... Important is how to create an attitude that supports change. This project I am setting up in collaboration with Jessica Charleworth and is now taking shape at Mome, Budapest and in Moscow in Collaboration with the British council.
Please see the projects section for more detailed explanations and visuals.
Experience ( a selection of projects )